The Cost of Fire to Your Business

To put it mildly, fires at commercial premises can cause business owners no end of problems. In addition to the danger to life for those working in or visiting the premises, there are numerous immediate financial costs, together with longer damage to reputation and a business’ general viability.

Despite this, it’s amazing how many businesses seem to take a casual approach to their fire safety measures. The assumption is, presumably, that it won’t happen to them. However, it is estimated that there are some 22,000 workplace fires every year in the UK, so clearly there are businesses suffering from these kinds of events on a regular basis. 

This article will look at some of the main direct costs your business is likely to incur should you have a significant fire at your premises.

Cost of repair

Perhaps the most obvious and immediate cost to your business is what it takes to put things right, from carrying out renovations and repairs to the structure of the building to replacing damaged and destroyed furniture, equipment and stock. 

Even if the whole of the above costs are covered by your insurance, you’re likely to see a significant increase in your premiums, so either way you’ll still be carrying a noticeable financial hit from the experience. And that’s even before you consider the cost of being shut for a period of time.

Loss of turnover

However quickly you get back on your feet, you’ll almost certainly have a period when you’ll be unable to trade. Depending on the severity of the incident and the damage to your premises and equipment, that could be days, weeks or even months. And while you’re not earning, you’ll probably still be having to pay your staff, unless you want them all to go and get other jobs and leave you to start again entirely from scratch once everything’s been sorted.

And that period when you’re not trading may not just cost you in the short term through loss of earnings, because it could easily lead to a change in the way your trading partners and customers view you.

Loss of reputation

Many businesses have people who rely on them in one way or another. That could be other businesses relying on you to buy the supplies that they produce, or it could be the people who rely on you for your particular service or product. If you’re out of action for a while and unable to trade, they may turn to others to fill the gap, and you might not find it so easy to regain those partnerships.

Starting over might mean having to buy and sell on worse terms as you won’t have years of goodwill and mutual dependence to fall back on. 

Staff absence and low morale 

There’s no doubt that having a fire that significantly affects a company is also likely to have a similarly negative impact on the morale of those working there. People may feel unsafe returning afterwards, and they’ll be particularly reluctant if there’s any suggestion that what damage has been done was a result of the owner or manager not taking their fire safety responsibilities – and therefore the lives of their staff – as seriously as they should have. Whether it results in increased absenteeism or losing experienced members of the team, a loss of morale can eat away at a business and be very difficult to put right. 

Loss of data and documentation

We’ve mentioned the damage to buildings and equipment, but the loss of key data and documents can have just as much of a negative long-term impact on the effectiveness of a business. 

Fines for breaches of fire safety regulations

When there’s a fire at your premises, there will be an investigation afterwards to both discover the cause and also to check that you were doing everything you should have been doing in terms of fire safety. If you weren’t, you could be liable for substantial fines.

You can help protect your business from the damaging effects of a fire with the best in fire safety supplies and solutions at Fire Safety Equipment. We always offer customers nationwide fast delivery on our great range of fire extinguishers, fire safety signs and other fire safety accessories. 

Place your order online today or call us for more information and advice on fire safety equipment.