A travel agent owner has spoken out after her Inverness unit burned to the ground in the weekend’s massive Fairways Business Park fire.
Julia Macleay was at her home on Saturday night when, over a phone call, she was told the bad news about her business SJ Travel Centre.
Her son was driving home when he rang to tell her: “Mum, your shop is on fire.”
Immediately, Julia rushed to business park where a scene beyond her worst nightmares was unfolding.
Police said that the blaze, which engulfed numerous units, was ‘wilful’ and that a car was ‘deliberately’ driven into one of the units.
It eventually claimed Harry Gow Bakery, the SJ Travel Centre, fishmongers Scottish Premium Seafood and hairdresser HFM.
There was also damage to the entrance at the Kart Raceway, which was cordoned-off yesterday.
Julia told the Press and Journal: “I was in shock. I just thought ‘what’s going on?’.
“When they told me it was a car, I thought ‘how would a car go in?’.
“We thought it was our travel agency originally, but then we saw it was the fish shop.
“I stood and I watched the building burn to the ground and I just couldn’t believe it.”
Julia, who has worked at SJ Travel Centre for 10 years, says the shop ‘is her life’.
“SJ Travel Centre is my life, and it’s my business,” she said.
“Those businesses in there were a community. We all liked each other, we all spoke and helped each other.
“The sense of community between the businesses has now been lost.”
‘We stood and watched it burn down’
When Julia arrived at the scene, she stood with other business owners as they watched their units burn to the ground.
A major joint fire and police investigation is ongoing.
“We just all couldn’t believe it,” she told us.
“We just had to stand and watch.
“When I came home, I couldn’t even sleep. I was in complete and utter shock.”
Police are hunting a balaclava-clad man who drove a car into the shops before fleeing the scene.
He is understood to have made-off in a second vehicle.
Six fire crews were sent to the scene and battled the “well-developed” fire for hours.
Julia said: “To know that the fire was deliberate – I think that makes it worse.
“If it was an electrical fault, you could get your head around it a bit better.
“But to know it’s deliberate, and that a person did this, is terrible.
“It has affected so many people.
“Some of the people from the barbers and hairdressers are self-employed.
“It’s affected everybody and has damaged quite a lot of people’s lives.”
Owner ‘devastated’ after new shop burns hours ahead of opening
Julia said it was especially devastating as her new shop, Spirit Journey Gifts, was just days away from opening.
“Our SJ Gifts was actually ready to open to the public today. So I’ve lost two units in there.
It was during the Covid pandemic that Julia set up Spirit Journey Gifts.
“I spent some time buying some really nice stuff and we had an online shop,” she said.
“When the unit came up, I thought it would be really nice to take it.
“We’ve been doing it up since Christmas. And we had some really beautiful furniture in there.
“We were planning to open our doors on Monday for a soft launch.
“For me, that’s just heart-breaking as it was going to be exciting and something new.”
Julia has now said that they may not look for another unit in the future, and that the gift shop will just remain online.
Community come together to support Inverness business while they seek out new temporary unit
Julia and her team are already seeking out a new unit for the SJ Travel Centre.
And the support from the Inverness business community has been a huge help at a difficult time.
“We’ve lost every single computer and printer. Currys were really good. They gave us paper and batteries.”
“We’ve been offered various offices, as well as a unit. Later today we’re going to see those places.
“We’re looking for something temporarily.
“But, obviously, since the building needs to be rebuilt, and we don’t know how long that will take, we may need somewhere we can stay for some time.
“All small businesses and the community have been absolutely fantastic.”
Julia has reassured all her customers that no holidays have been affected by the fire, as all her booking information is securely stored in the cloud.
Conversation