The headquarters of Impamark was burned down over the weekend after a nearby unit caught fire, with the blaze taking almost 24 hours to put out
The headquarters of an Essex-based branded merchandise distributor, Impamark, has burned down after a next-door unit caught fire on January 24th.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service were called to the building near Marsh Road at around 4pm local time. According to an incident report from the Fire and Rescue Service, relief crews from Harlow, Colchester, Clacton, Grays, Brentwood, and Orsett were on the scene to tackle the fire throughout the night.
Those living near the scene of the fire in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, were advised to keep windows and doors shut during the fire. No injuries were reported, with the fire extinguished nearly a full day later on Saturday, January 25th at 2pm.
At the time of the incident, Essex County Fire and Rescue station manager, Scott Fretton, said: "The building is completely alight and firefighters are making steady progress, but expect to be here overnight.
“There is still a lot of low-level smoke in the area so if you live nearby please keep your windows and doors shut."
In an official statement on Impamark’s website, it says: “We would like to make everyone aware that on Friday January 24th, there was a fire in one of our neighbouring units on the Dammerwick Estate.
“We are very pleased to say that there were no injuries to anyone on site. However, the Impamark office has suffered extensive damage. Our office teams will be working remotely and are still available by email and phone.”
Impamark managing director, Nicky Crisp, wrote about the aftermath of the blaze on LinkedIn. On the post, Crisp comments: “Just experienced one of the hardest 24 hours in the history of Impamark.
“The unit next door on our estate went up in flames yesterday afternoon and catastrophically we have lost everything at Impamark. Our offices have gone overnight along with 55 years of history.”
According to Crisp, the company has already found a new premises to continue operations following the fire. She continues: “However, the UK team have been working so hard and already we believe we have located new premises at Dammerwick Farm which will be ready in a few weeks.
“We will be working from home in the short term, but in spite of everything it will be business as usual on Monday (January 27th).”
In her post, Crisp thanks both the fire crew who tackled the blaze as well as representatives from across the print and merchandising industries who gave messages of support following the fire.
Crisp adds: “Thank you to the ten fire crews and 22 fire vehicles from across Essex who worked tirelessly to save the rest of the farm.
“Thank you also for the wonderful messages of support that I have received. It has been overwhelming.”
In the replies to Crisp’s LinkedIn post, companies and representatives from across the merchandising, print, and related sectors have shared their sadness at the news and offered their support.
Merchandise supplier, Just Pads, commented: “All of us here at JustPads are so sorry to hear about this. If we can do anything to support please let us know.”
Hayley Stannard, senior sales executive at Latex Group Promotional Merchandise, added: “This is awful, especially the history and memories that have been lost. Hoping that you are all settled in to your new site soon.”
Ian Barham, account manager UK & Ireland at BIC Graphic Europe, says: “So sorry to her this Nicky. Glad to hear that everyone is okay though. If there's anything we can do to help, just ask. Sending our best to the Impamark team.”
