Blaze re-ignited firm's desire to be the best

01/06/2011

 When a fire broke out at Bartoline in May 2003, the Beverley-based business watched as its stock went up in smoke.

The blaze could be seen from as far away as Hull and Bridlington with flames shooting hundreds of feet in the air.

Thankfully every single employee at the family-owned business escaped unharmed, although the factory, offices and warehouses were burnt to the ground.

But instead of pouring water onto the firm's future, the owners of the instead viewed the incident as a chance to rebuild a bigger and better factory that would help it to secure its position as the leading UK manufacturer of pre-packed solvents, woodcare products, fillers, wallcovering adhesives and other home improvement products.

Bartoline's subsequent recovery plan resulted in new state-of-the-art premises, providing the most modern and safe factory in Europe for packaging of solvents and associated products.

Now the company, one of the town's biggest employers with more than 95 staff , has leased 28,000 square feet of warehouse on the adjacent Excel Business Park.

Originally created for Armstrong's engineers, the site was bought by Blackcrown Industrial Properties who have now completed the first phase of its refurbishment.

Simon Barton, director of Bartoline Limited, said: "We have been renting property on the estate for three years but have now moved into newly refurbished units, which are very high quality.

"Bartoline was founded in Hull in 1876 but moved to Barmston Close in the 1960s, predominantly to enable the business's expansion.

"Although the fire was terrible at the time, it enabled us to enhance the business by replacing the factory and offices with state-of-the-art buildings.

"It also provided a stepping stone to expand the business which we were unable to do before the fire."

Dave Garness, of Garness Jones Limited, and Ben Medhurst, of PPH Commercial, acted as joint agents on the deal.

Mr Medhurst said: "I am delighted that we have been able to agree this first important letting on the Excel Business Park to Bartoline.

"The refurbishment of this accommodation is the start of a phased redevelopment of the business park and we have already got positive enquiries from other occupiers looking to move to the site.

"I am confident we will be able to make further announcements on new lettings in the near future."

Mr Garness added: "With the economic climate in recent years, it has been difficult to get developments like this off the ground and the commitment by both landlord and tenant was essential to complete the transaction.

"I expect this letting will be the catalyst to further occupier leasing space at Excel Business Park in conjunction with the continued refurbishment works to be carried out by the landlord."