A Logistics firm which saw its warehouse destroyed by a massive fire has found a new £4.5 million base.
Last September, staff at Dee Set saw their premises at Sneyd Industrial Estate in Burslem go up in flames.
The fire, thought to be accidental, completely destroyed the warehouse and thousands of health and beauty products destined for the company's biggest client, Asda.
Work was temporarily transferred to Lowfield Drive in Wolstanton, but the firm has now bought the former Royal Doulton distribution warehouse on Victoria Road, Fenton, for £4.5 million.
Bosses are now planning to relocate the firm's three operations in North Staffordshire - logistics, fulfilment and storage - under one roof.
Royal Doulton, which has rented the 170,000 sq ft site from owner Legal And General since 1979, has taken a leaseback on part of the building for 12 months while it moves its distribution operation to Stone.
Dee Set, which employs 160 people in North Staffordshire and 1,300 across the country, stores, picks, packs, delivers and merchandises lines such as L'Oreal, Maybelline, Rimmel and Max Factor, as well as Asda's own brand George.
Managing director Walter Latham, pictured, said: "After the fire we took on a two-year lease at the warehouse in Wolstanton, but we were always going to look for a property for the longer term. Royal Doulton was looking to sub-let the Victoria Road site. We didn't want to take that on, but it looked absolutely perfect for us, so we decided to look into buying it. Royal Doulton has agreed to completely exit the site by the end of March.
"We've actually started moving some storage into the building, and we've got builders in at the moment doing some modifications."
Mr Latham said Dee Set's logistics operation should transfer to Victoria Road from its current home in Cobridge by August, while storage and picking will move from Parkhouse Industrial Estate in Chesterton the following month.
He added: "We're looking at about May next year to move our fulfilment activity out of Wolstanton, so everything will be under one roof.
"The warehouse we lost was 38,000 sq ft, so this is absolutely ideal for us.
"The main thing that attracted us was the yard area and loading facility. There is no doubt having everything under one roof will increase efficiency."
Dee Set had considered rebuilding the Burslem warehouse, but the potential cost proved prohibitive, at up to £12 million.
The firm is in the latter stages of sorting out insurance claims related to the fire, expected to reach around £5.5 million.
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Source: The Sentinel
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