Dixons and Epson UK HQs closed by oil depot blaze

Dixons and Epson say that have not been affected by the closure of their head offices due to the fire at Hemel Hempstead which broke out on Sunday morning.

Both Dixons and Epson have their head offices close to the Buncefield fuel depot, but reported that trading had not been badly affected by the fire.

"All of our staff are safe, and there has been no disruption to business," said Gina Jones, a public relations manager for Dixons Services Group. Both Dixons and Epson said that while their head offices were closed, staff would be working at different locations.

"The administrative headquarters at Hemel Hempstead have been closed today, and staff are working at alternative locations," said Jones.

"It's business as usual. We're operating out of offices in Uxbridge, to our disaster recovery plan," said an Epson spokesperson.

Neither company had any information about the extent of damage to the offices, as the area around the fire is inaccessible.

"We haven't had access to the building, as the area is sealed off. We haven't been able to ascertain what damage there has been," said Epson.

"I don't have any information about the extent of the damage. The offices are over a mile away from the depot," said Dixons.

Both companies reported that goods distribution had not been affected as company warehouses were in different locations.

"Our warehouses are in different places in the UK, and we can operate our core business from different locations. All of our main stores systems are up. We are trading as normal, and distribution has not been affected," said Dixons.

"Our warehouses are not part of Hemel, so haven't been affected," said Epson. "There are 90 people in the offices we set up yesterday. We shipped in equipment and people yesterday, and extra staff are arriving tomorrow. There shouldn't be any disruption today, as core staff from all areas of the business are here."

Servers are remote, so computer operations were normal for Epson.

"Our main network runs out of Holland, so there's been no effect whatsoever," said Epson. "Disaster management has been rolled out and has been effective. There has been no loss of service to the end user."

Epson did not anticipate any movement in its share price as a result of the fire.