Businesses affected by Bank Buildings fire urge people power to help rebuild

A Belfast pizza shop owner has urged the public to come out and support businesses affected by the Bank Buildings fire.

Pizza Boutique on Castle Street was among a number of businesses forced to close for two days following the enormous blaze on Tuesday.

Joint owner James Neilly said his staff were delighted to reopen on Thursday but said he was worried about the impact of the lost trade.

Having only been open for one year, Mr Neilly urged people power to help businesses like his recover.

A cordon around the immediate area put in place by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) was reduced on Thursday morning.

However 14 businesses remain within that zone.

Mr Neilly was one of the business owners who was able to get back to work on Thursday.

He said it has been a devastating week for Belfast trade, adding he is gutted for those whose employment has been affected.

Mr Neilly has called for support for businesses from Belfast City Council, Land and Property Services and the people.

“The message has to be firmly that we are open for business,” he said.

“We need the local people of Belfast to come out and support us, to support local businesses.”

Mourne Seafood Bar was also forced to close for two days, resulting in estimated lost revenue of £10,000.

Its Bank Street premises reopened on Thursday morning and was looking forward to serving a fully booked restaurant that evening.

Joint-owner Bob McCoubrey said their premises escaped without damage.

“We are lucky in that we don’t rely on passing traffic, people coming to us have booked,” he said.

“It has been much more difficult more businesses on Castle Street who reply on footfall.”

Land and Property Services (LPS) have responded to calls for rates relief for businesses which cannot use their properties.

“Details of the fourteen businesses which remain within the cordon area have been supplied to LPS,” it said in a statement.

“As these premises are currently inaccessible and inoperable the LPS District Valuer will review the Net Annual Value (NAV) assessment on each of these properties as a matter of urgency.

“LPS will also liaise with these ratepayers directly in regards to their resultant rate liability.”

Hospitality Ulster is seeking avenues of compensation for affected businesses.

Colin Neill said many of the small businesses “cannot sustain the financial losses caused by forced closures”.

“Whilst securing compensation is by no way straight forward, we have instructed one of Northern Ireland legal firm, McCartan, Turkington, Breen, to explore all options for compensation due to direct loss of business as a result of the Primark fire,” he said.

On Thursday, firefighters remained at the Castle Street scene where they continued to deal with small pockets of fire still burning within the building.

There were further structural collapse within the building overnight between Wednesday and Thursday.

Belfast City Council held a multi-agency meeting at City Hall to co-ordinate movements.

Lord Mayor Deirdre Hargey said structural engineers who have assessed the remains of the building are hopeful that the historic facade can be saved.

She said: “Bank Buildings is an important part of Belfast’s built heritage. Every effort will be made to preserve the building and save the facade.

“Structural engineers continue to assess the building as far as is possible in the current circumstances, and are currently looking at how they might be able to preserve the facade; this is a complex piece of bespoke engineering and it will be some time before the building can be properly assessed.”

Ms Hargey added that council officers are also liaising with representatives from Primark, and will assist if they seek alternate premises in the city centre.

More than 350 people worked at the Primark store at Bank Buildings, which was being refurbished and extended at an estimated of cost £30 million.