A fire broke out in the early hours of the 30th July 2012 in the famous Chinese restaurant, almost 15 years after a serious blaze had devastated the building.

Manchester

A fire broke out in the early hours of the 30th July 2012 in the famous Chinese restaurant, almost 15 years after a serious blaze had devastated the building. Harris Balcombe also worked on this initial incident, which destroyed most of their premises and necessitated a move to temporary accommodation. Although this more recent fire was not as destructive, the owners were keen to show customers that the restaurant would again continue to run despite the damage. This was concentrated in one half of the basement kitchen (although the smoke reached further), where stock, contents and fixtures and fittings were completely written off.

As a nationally-recognised brand, it was essential to the client that the business reopen as soon as possible. We took on and managed this major business interruption claim, convincing the loss adjusters to accelerate the works, which were based on a schedule carefully drawn up by our chartered surveyors that aimed to minimise disruption to the restaurant.

We closed off the basement kitchen, creating an external entrance that contractors could use without disturbing the chefs and ground floor restaurants or the banqueting facilities on the first and second floors. Thanks to our help, all of this was paid for by insurers, and the restaurant was able to partially reopen after only five days of closure.