A FIRM devastated after a huge blaze ripped through its factory - causing up to £10m damage - is already back in production.
Bosses at Elland shopfitting company Design And Display today said they hoped the factory's fire-ravaged hulk on the Lowfields Business Park, near the Calderdale Way, would be demolished and rebuilt in just four months.
They are now temporarily moving to an empty 30,000 sq ft factory not far from where their original base burned down on Saturday night. The aim is to be back to 50% of the production capacity by the end of next week.
The fire is being treated as suspicious and was one of the biggest West Yorkshire has ever seen.
At its height there were 45 appliances from all over the county with more than 150 firefighters battling the huge inferno.
Two youths aged 13 and 14 were arrested in connection with the blaze and released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Fire crews have been damping down at the devastated factory all week and demolition crews are already on site bulldozing the mangled wreckage to make way for the new factory.
Chairman and managing director Clive Lloyd, who founded the company 15 years ago, said: "The steel frame for the new factory is already being made. We reckon it will take four weeks to demolish the site and clear it and then 12 weeks to rebuild the factory.
"We had 100,000 sq ft here, but lost about 75,000 sq ft to the fire. The rest was saved and luckily that included finished stock which had been made to order for customers."
The company has grown every year and is now Britain's biggest manufacturer of panel-based retail equipment. It makes mainly MDF panels which are used in shops nationwide as counters and display units. Design And Display sells to all Britain's major retailers.
The company employs 100 people and Mr Lloyd has praised them for the amazing spirit they have shown over the last few days.
"Some came down on Saturday night into Sunday morning when the factory was on fire and cried alongside the directors," he said. "We know the key to our success has been the commitment of our workforce which has been proved in this crisis.
"They have been brilliant and are now busy re-establishing the temporary factory. Machinery we need to manufacture is being shipped over from Italy, France and Germany this weekend to be installed next week.
"We have managed to get temporary production going in the North East of England and some have travelled up there to work. Our customers have been very understanding too and some have even placed orders since the fire which shows the faith they have in us."
He revealed that local companies had also rallied around and work had been sub-contracted to them to make sure deadlines were met.
He added: "The cost of the damage and getting back to normal is going to be well over £5m and could be as high as £10m."
