When fire destroys or damages business premises, the costs and consequences go far beyond rebuilding.
Loss of stock and assets, the interruption to trading, supply chain disruption, environmental damage, and even, horrifically, human casualties are just some of the havoc fire can wreak. The outcome is inevitably extremely costly – an average loss of over £657,000 per case and £12 billion annually to the UK economy, according to the Fire Industry Association.
In this piece, we explore more of the costs and issues associated with a fire in your business, and highlight why quality fire protection is critical.
The fire damage balance sheet
The financial breakdown of how a fire affects your business demonstrates just how widely the consequences are spread.
Recent research shows the percentages of your losses will amount to 43% for building damage, 18% for business interruption (e.g. lost sales), 7% for contents damage, and 10% for stock and machinery, amongst others.
And it’s important to bear in mind that some sectors are prone to more extensive fire losses than others. Manufacturing, for example, suffered losses exceeding £800 million in the UK at the latest count.
Retail premises, for their part, experience the highest frequency of incidents – 15% of all major fires, in fact.
But fire is no respecter of statistics. Whatever your sector, your premises will burn if fire takes hold.
The costs you can’t see
The balance sheet tells only part of the story, however. In addition, fire incidents can damage reputation and public trust, which has a knock-on effect on business-critical activities like investment, not to mention customer confidence.
Many businesses, sadly, are unable to recover. According to Fire Service figures, following a serious fire, 25% of businesses never re-open, whilst 80% of companies that don’t recover in a month are likely to go out of business.
And even businesses that do recover face substantially higher costs, as their insurance premiums soar.
But it’s not just your business that bears the brunt. Fire causes damage to the environment, including to soil and watercourses, which, as well as being a wider consequence in itself, can reduce property values, adversely affecting both neighbouring businesses and the local community.
Why fire protection matters
Whilst detection systems, reactive solutions like sprinklers, and fire safety aids like extinguishers are all extremely important active fire prevention measures, one of the most effective fire protection approaches is built into the very fabric of the building.
We call this passive fire protection (PFP). It requires no human intervention or activation; it’s always there, and it’s always on, 24/7/365.
PFP covers solutions like fire stopping, compartmentation, and fire doors, and works by slowing down or stopping the progress of the fire, thereby protecting escape routes, and giving occupants more time to reach a safe place.
But this kind of fire protection matters not only because it can drastically reduce the damage and cost to human life caused if your building suffers a fire.
It’s also an integral part of a compliant Fire Risk Assessment (FRA), which, in turn, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it is your legal obligation to complete and keep updated.
Take action – protect your business from fire
As qualified, certified, accredited specialists in commercial fire protection, with decades of experience, at Commercial Fire Protection we help you get ahead of the fire risk, avoid massive costs, and damage, and stay on the right side of the law.
Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you address the fire hazards in your commercial building – and request your copy of our FREE Guide to Fire Protection Compliance here.
