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Ex Vat Inc Vat
Ex Vat Inc Vat

Whittlesford Warehouse Fire update

20th May 2025

Following the fire at our Whittlesford warehouse, our sales, purchasing and operations teams have been working hard to move operations to other sites. With a very few exceptions (detailed below) we are despatching all orders on time, so we'd like to reassure customers that they can continue to trade with us as normal.

Through despatching stock from our other warehouses and dropshipping from other suppliers, and thanks to rapid deliveries of replacement stock from manufacturers, almost all product lines are now available for immediate despatch. There are a few limited exceptions:

  • Solshares are in limited supply in Glasgow, and stock is allocated to current orders. We will be able to despatch new orders from the 11th June when new stock arrives.
  • Eleven Energy battery system availability will also be limited until the 11th of June.
  • Atmoce batteries will not be available until the end of June.
  • Some lower value accessories are not currently available for off grid systems. We are in the process of obtaining replacement stock and in the meantime can in most cases provide an alternative - please ask your account handler if you need help.
  • Some heat pump cylinders will be in limited supply until replacement stock is manufactured. In most cases we can offer a suitable alternative. Please talk to your account handler.
For all other lines we are able to despatch orders as normal. Stock that was in the Whittlesford warehouse has been removed from our stock system, so stock levels on the website are accurate. We can often fulfil orders even where no stock is shown by shipping from a third party. Please check with your account handler if you are unsure of availability, but please be reassured that the vast majority of orders are being despatched as normal.

There has inevitably been speculation as to the cause of the fire, particularly as we distribute lithium ion batteries and they were present in the warehouse. At present there is no indication that lithium ion batteries were the cause of the fire, although a number of batteries were subsequently destroyed as the blaze spread through the building.

A fire investigator has attended the scene. We have yet to receive a full report, and the cause may never be known as the building is structurally unsound which limits the investigations that can take place. However, it appears most likely that the fire started in the central area of the warehouse, possibly near the main incoming electrical supply. There were no batteries stored in this area. We have CCTV footage of the rear of the warehouse where batteries were stored. There is no sign of any fire in this area before the CCTV footage cuts out, again suggesting that the fire started elsewhere. The fire service took the decision not to enter the building to fight the fire due to the pre-stressed concrete portal frame construction, which becomes weakened when exposed to prolonged heat. As far as we are aware at this time (and we should stress that no firm conclusions have yet been reached), lithium ion batteries neither caused the fire or affected the outcome.

It's a testament to the huge amount of work that our team put in and their positive attitude that on Monday, the first working day after the fire, a remarkable 98% of orders on our system were despatched to our customers. We'd also like to thank the many external people and companies that have sent supportive messages and offered help - including many fellow distributors who have offered to drop ship products for us for a period. Many manufacturers have also bent over backwards to expedite the shipping of replacement stock. It has been humbling and touching to see so many people rally round. Thank you.


Whittlesford Warehouse Fire

18th May 2025

In the early hours of Saturday 17th May a fire broke out at our warehouse in Whittlesford. Although the fire service attended as soon as the alarm was given, the fire spread rapidly and they decided that due to the risk of building collapse they would not attempt to fight the fire but just contain it within the building. All stock within the building was destroyed or damaged by the fire.

The directors met within a few hours of receiving the news, and immediately initiated business continuity planning. We are fortunate that we operate from a number of sites, and stock is split across warehouses. Although there will be some impact to orders over the short term on a few lines, we expect to rapidly move despatch capacity to our other warehouses.

There will be more impact on some divisions of the business than others:
  • Solar and storage orders will be mostly unaffected, as these are mainly despatched from our warehouses at Coldhams Business Park in Cherry Hinton and Rutherglen, Glasgow. However, a small number of product lines were stored only at Whittlesford. Some orders will be delayed until we can get new stock in.
  • Offgrid orders were despatched only from Whittlesford. We will revert to using our Milton warehouse for despatching offgrid stock, but it will take a few days to bring in new stock and make this operational. Some orders will be delayed in the meantime, but where possible we will dropship orders from other stockists so that customers are not impacted.
  • Heat pump orders were primarily despatched from Whittlesford, but most lines of stock are replicated in Rutherglen and we expect to be able to despatch the majority of orders from there. There are some lines that were only stocked in Whittlesford where we will offer you an alternative product, dropship the order from another supplier, or delay the order until we can bring new stock in. We will work as quickly as we can to bring our smaller Milton warehouse back into operation to service heat pump orders. Until that is operational orders to the south and west of England may take longer to arrive due to the transport distance from Rutherglen.
Our sales staff are working hard to notify customers of any affected orders, and our purchasing and operations teams are doing all they can to be fully operational from other premises as soon as possible. We will do our very best to keep disruption to a minimum, but with a major incident of this nature some is unfortunately inevitable.

Please don't hesitate to contact any member of our staff for further information, but please be aware that we expect our telephone lines and email inboxes to be busier than normal over the next few days.

We very much appreciate your understanding if you are affected, and we are extremely grateful for the many kind and supportive messages we have already received from customers and suppliers.