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Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is prosecuting five companies for failing to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, following an investigation into a major fire at Beechmere retirement village in Crewe in August 2019. To keep residents, partners and the media informed about the progress of legal proceedings, the information below will be continually updated over the coming months.
On 8 August 2019, the Beechmere retirement village on Rolls Avenue, Crewe, was destroyed by fire. More than 150 residents lost their homes and possessions and while none were injured, the impact on their lives has been significant.
The fire was one of the biggest ever attended by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service with 70 firefighters deployed at its height to bring it under control.
Since 2019 the Service has worked tirelessly to investigate the cause of the fire and establish any potential breaches of fire safety legislation. This has been a long and complex process owing to the scale of the fire and the number of parties involved in designing, building, maintaining and managing the building.
As a result of the investigation, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is bringing charges against five companies for failing to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 at Beechmere.
The companies Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is prosecuting are listed below. Avantage (Cheshire) Limited, Your Housing Limited, Morgan Sindall Property Services, WSP UK Limited and Total Fire Group Limited are pleading not guilty to the charges. Please click on the arrow for details of the charges .
Contracted to procure the design, build and finance of Beechmere and operate the village. Avantage is a subsidiary of Your Housing Limited.
Count 1 - Article 8(1)(b) Failure to take measures to prevent the spread of fire in the premises.
Counts 2, 3 and 4 - Article 9(1) Failure to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment which placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 5 - Article 15(1)(a) Failure to establish and give effect to appropriate procedures of the premises, including safety drills to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to relevant persons, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 6 - Article 22(1)(a) Failure to co-operate and co-ordinate with other responsible persons, namely Your Housing Group Limited and/or Morgan Sindall Property Services Limited and/or Total Fire Group Limited, so far as was necessary to enable compliance with the prohibitions placed upon them, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Employed staff at Beechmere and as such was the ‘responsible person’ for fire safety measures as defined by Article 3(a) of the Fire Safety (Regulatory Reform) Order 2005.
Count 7 - Article 8(1)(b) Failure to take such general fire precautions, by failing to take measures to reduce the risk of the spread of fire on the premises, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 10 - Article 9(1) Failure to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 11 - Article 15(1)(a) Failure to establish and give effect to appropriate procedures, including safety drills to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to relevant persons, by failing to properly maintain an appropriate fire evacuation procedure, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 12 - Article 20(1) Failure to ensure that the employer of any employees from an outside undertaking, namely M.A.C (Roofing and Contractors) Limited who were working in or on the premises was provided with comprehensible and relevant information on the risks to those employees; and the preventative and protective measures taken by the responsible person, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 14 - Article 22(1)(a) failure to co-operate with other responsible persons namely, Total Fire Group Limited, so far as necessary to enable compliance with the requirements and prohibitions placed upon them, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
The facilities management subcontractor to Avantage, with responsibility for responsive repairs and cyclical maintenance.
Count 17 - Article 9(3) Failure to review the fire risk assessment dated 22nd September 2009, when there was reason to suspect that it was no longer valid and where changes to the assessment were required, they failed to make them, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 18 - Article 17(1) Failure to safeguard the safety of relevant persons by ensuring that any facilities, equipment and devices provided in respect of the premises were subject to a suitable system of maintenance and were maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Contracted to produce a detailed fire strategy in 2007 and in 2008 produce an operational fire safety manual and carry out a fire risk assessment of Beechmere.
Count 20 - Article 9(1) Failure to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 21 - Article 22(1)(a) Failed to co-operate with another responsible person, namely Avantage (Cheshire) Limited, so far as was necessary to enable compliance with the requirements and prohibitions placed upon you, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Contracted to carry out fire risk assessments in August 2017 and August 2018 at Beechmere retirement village.
Count 22 - Article 9(1) Failure to make a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
Count 23 - Article 22(1)(a) Failure to co-operate and co-ordinate with other responsible persons, namely Your Housing Group Limited and/or Morgan Sindall Property Services Limited, so far as was necessary to enable compliance with the requirements and prohibitions placed upon them, which failure placed one or more relevant persons at risk of death or serious injury in case of fire.
19/11/24 – The list of counts has been rationalised and amended. A trial date of 6 May 2025 has been set.
During the course of the investigation, alleged breaches of the Order were also discovered at another retirement village, Hazelmere on Hambleton Way, Winsford.
Remedial work to rectify these issues has already been carried out at Hazelmere and the other ‘mere’ retirement complexes in the area that were built to the same design specification and managed by Your Housing. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is satisfied that fire risk in these properties is now appropriately managed.
3/7/23 - CFRS update on Beechmere investigation
6/5/25 – scheduled start date for 10-week trial
23-24/5/24 – hearing to consider applications to dismiss charges to recommence
22/4/24 – pre-trial hearing to consider defendants’ applications to dismiss charges. Adjourned to to a date to be confirmed.
14/11/23 – first pre-trial preparation hearing at Chester Crown Court
17/10/23 – initial hearing at Warrington Magistrates’ Court, at which the companies were asked to enter pleas and the case was referred to Crown Court for trial
8/8/23 – original date for all six companies to appear at Warrington Magistrates’ Court
29/6/23 – summons served to all six companies
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service regrets that it cannot enter into detailed discussion about its investigation or specific charges owing to legal proceedings being active.
However, for general enquiries about the fire or forthcoming hearings, please contact the Service’s Media Desk on 01606 868880 or email communications@cheshirefire.gov.uk
The Desk is staffed between 8:30 and 16:30, Monday to Friday.
Photographs of the incident may be used by media organisations when covering this case. To save them at high resolution, please right click on the image and save as a .jpg file. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service should be credited in captions.
