Fire breaks out at vacant Aristocrat shop in Bishop’s Stortford
A fire broke out at the vacant former Aristocrat shop in Bishop’s Stortford town centre at lunchtime on Wednesday (August 28).
Six fire crews and an aerial ladder were at the scene of the former high-end women’s and men’s fashion store at The Chantry in Hadham Road.
Police closed Hadham Road between its junctions with Bells Hill and with the Northgate End/Link Road traffic lights, as well as the whole of North Street, at about 1pm. All roads were reopened by 3pm.
Herts Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS) was called at 12.41pm and the first fire engine arrived at the scene at 12.47pm.
A spokesman for the service told the Indie at 2.10pm: “I can confirm we currently have six fire engines and an aerial ladder platform dealing with a fire at The Chantry, Hadham Road. This is an ongoing incident and we’d ask people to avoid the immediate area while we work to extinguish the fire.”
Four HFRS fire engines – from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford, Cheshunt and Hoddesdon – were joined by two Essex County Fire and Rescue Service engines from Harlow and an aerial ladder platform from Stevenage.
The fire appears to be linked to work going on at the building. A resident who lives nearby told the Indie at the scene that a workman had been burning old paint off a window frame when it caught fire.
On the Indie’s Facebook page, Helen Kenny commented: “We were having lunch at Dada opposite and one of the guys working inside said they were burning off paint from the wood frames and it caught fire.”
A hole appeared in the tiled roof of the left-hand side of the building, through which smoke was billowing.
Earlier this year, Aristocrat went into voluntary liquidation under new ownership after almost four decades in the town. It had debts totalling £881,167.
Brother and sister founders Lawrence Taylor and Janet Malcolmson, the former owners, told the Indie in mid-July that news of the company’s demise had come as a “total shock”.
The siblings started Aristocrat in 1976 in Chingford, where they retained a shop until 2013. At one point they employed 16 staff.
They moved into The Chantry in 1987 and had a second store in Florence Walk, during which time they accrued thousands of customers. They decided to sell because they were looking to scale back and retire.
They sold the business in March to Oliver Tookman, chief executive of the Aldrich Group Ltd, an owner-managed group of companies running independent designer fashion stores, including Robert Goddard, which has 10 shops stretching from Lincoln to Surrey. Mr Tookman is also a director of Robert Goddard Ltd.
A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire Constabulary told the Indie: “Police are currently assisting the fire service at the scene of a building fire in Hadham Road, Bishop’s Stortford. Road closures are in place at Bells Hill, Northgate End and North Street. People are asked to please avoid the area at this time.”
Pictures by Will Alderton, JJD Media, and Paul Winspear
