Friday‘s warehouse fire at Asos‘s distribution centre in Barnsley is being treated as arson, South Yorkshire Police have confirmed.
More than 50 firefighters tackled flames which broke out at around 22:00pm on Friday and has caused “substantial damage.”
Asos has begun taking orders again this morning.
500 workers were safely evacuated from the five-story building and nobody was hurt.
Asos said on a holding page on its website “We have pressed pause on the ASOS website, this is due to a fire in our Barnsley distribution centre in the early hours of Saturday.”
The blaze, which spread to four floors of the warehouse, is believed to have damaged 20 per cent of its stock. Asos has been a City favourite of late but has endured a recent rocky period. The company saw its shares fall 31 per cent in a profit warning two weeks ago as it warned of slowing sales, higher warehouse costs and increased discounting.
Simon Rodgers, Investigating fire officer for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: “ASOS staff had a good evacuation process in place which assisted the emergency services and allowed the fire to be brought under control more quickly.”
