Surrey Fire & Rescue received a call at 3am yesterday (Thursday 15 August) to report a fire at the commercial printer and mailing house's Staines production facility.

Ten fire engines and multiple specialist units attended, arriving at the scene around 3.15am to find fire had broken out on the ground floor and roof of the building.

While a full damage assessment is still underway, Penrose managing director Layne Penrose said it was “extensive” and showed possible signs of arson, although the cause is currently being investigated. No staff were on site at the time of the blaze and there have been no reports of anyone injured.

“Luckily we have a very robust business continuity plan in place, and we have managed to keep things going,” he said. “Clients are still getting their deliveries on time and we are working hard to get back up and running as soon as possible.

“I would like to thank our industry partners, our staff, our clients and our suppliers for their flexibility and offers of help. Together we will pull together and get back to business as normal.

“We have a wonderfully solid business and a strong balance sheet, so I am excited about getting back up to full speed.”

Crews are still attending hot spots onsite today

Firefighters attended the scene for around six hours, according to Esher Fire Station. On its Facebook page, the station said that crews had to work past the typical four-hour limit set for crew welfare due to shortages across the Surrey service.

During the incident, the A30 was closed in both directions so fire crews could deal with the blaze. The road has since been reopened.

The fire service is currently working with Surrey Police to establish the cause of the fire. An investigation remains ongoing.

Surrey Fire & Rescue continued to dampen down hotspots at the site this morning.

Penrose Group provided litho print on a range of Heidelberg machines ranging from B3 to B1 as well as digital print specialising in high-volume mono and full-colour, and also offered a range of mailing and finishing services onsite.

Founded in 1957, the company also runs mailing, logistics, print management, web and creative, and web-to-print services. It employs 20 members of staff and has a sales office in central London.