Fire crews arrived at the site at 2.30am last Saturday (22 November) to tackle a serious fire, but it wasnt brought under control until later that afternoon. None of the companys staff were working at the time.

The 2,500m2 production unit was 100% damaged by fire, according to the Tyne & Wear Fire Brigade, but firefighters saved an adjacent 900m2 warehouse. No one was injured in the blaze.

Washington Fire Station station officer Chris Lowther said 10 appliances were used along with three special appliances and two aerial platforms.

During the course of the fire there was an explosion and fire brigade personnel were forced to partially withdraw, though none was injured, said Lowther.

Police were also called to the incident and closed two nearby roads because smoke was hampering visibility.

As PrintWeek went to press investigators from the fire brigades Arson Task Force were trying to establish the cause of the blaze, although they stressed that this was procedural and that there were no suspicious circumstances at the time.

Staff have been contacting clients that had work on-site and have been trying to reroute production.

The groups other companies Reed Clean-Pack in Gateshead and Reed Print Direct Mail in Sunderland were unaffected by the fire.

Reed Print & Design has sales of more than 24m and is at number 85 in this years PrintWeek Top 500.

No one from the firm was available for comment as PrintWeek went to press.

Fire crews from Suffolk and Norfolk were called to a small blaze at book printer Clays, the Bungay-based St Ives subsidiary, in the early hours of Monday (24 November).

The blaze, which involved the firms glue tanks, took just under an hour to bring under control and fire crews evacuated the plant.

Story by John Davies