Specialized UK headquarters hit by 'devastating' blaze

The Specialized UK headquarters went up in flames last night, in a fire that took four hours for the London Fire Brigade to control.

Specialized has confirmed that the fire at its Barwell Business Park address has had a "devastating effect" on its UK offices. No one was hurt in the blaze.

Twelve fire engines and around eighty firefighters tackled the fire, and the London Fire Brigade stated that a warehouse unit, on the business park which is also home to Canyon's UK office, was destroyed.

Specialized's UK head of marketing, Kirsty Woodcock told Cycling Weekly: "Last night, we were notified that a fire had affected our UK headquarters in Chessington. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but sadly the fire has had a devastating effect to our offices. There will be some short-term changes to certain business operations, but our warehouse is located elsewhere and riders should not be concerned."

A source, who did not want to be named, but was at the scene told Cycling Weekly: "From what I saw the place is gutted."

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Brigade’s Fire Investigation Unit and the Metropolitan Police Service.

The Chessington HQ contains office space, a showroom - visited frequently by our tech team pre-Covid - a workshop and demo bikes. Retail and warranty stock is kept in a separate warehouse, according to local bike shop owners. Bike brands across the board are already struggling with stock issues, with demand outstripping supply due to the effect of the Covid pandemic and Brexit contributing in the UK.

The fire was reported at around 6.30pm in the evening on Saturday, February 6 and was declared under control four hours later.

Just after 10pm on Saturday February 6, the London Fire Brigade tweeted: "The fire at Barwell Business Park in #chessington is now under control. Crews will remain on scene making the area safe and road closures will remain in place. Local residents should keep windows closed due to the smoke."

Station Commander Neil Guyett, who attended the scene, said: “Fire crews arrived to find a well-developed fire and worked hard to bring it under control in what was a protracted incident. There was thick smoke issuing across the business park."

Fire crews from Surbiton, Kingston, Sutton, Twickenham, Croydon and Norbury fire stations attended.

The Salvation Army also sent one of its incident Response Vehicles to support the efforts. According to Get Surrey, Leatherhead Road where the business park is based was blocked in both directions while emergency services were at the scene, and the road was still closed at midnight.

The London Fire Brigade press office was not able to confirm the businesses affected but did confirm that no injuries were sustained as a result of the fire.