Polygon carries out complete Italian job for fire-hit food and drink business

Although situated just outside Newcastle in the northeast of England, Italica is a business with its roots firmly in Italy - as the company’s name suggests. It is from Italy that the company sources the wide range of authentic, quality products that it imports on behalf of its customer base, from pasta and cheeses to speciality meats, wines and liqueurs. In November 2021, the company’s operations were dramatically impacted when a fire ripped through the ground and first-floor of their office building.

The blaze caused damage to the building and the contents within, leaving Italica unsure about the extent of the disruption to its business and unclear on how to begin the recovery process. Luckily, the owners of the business decided to make contact directly with our team at Polygon UK, who they knew as experts in property damage management. From this point, Polygon’s Area Operations Manager, Dean Coyles, picked up the baton on their behalf, providing guidance on the way forward and assisting in the liaison between Italica, the landlord of the premises, and the separate insurance providers for building and contents. Polygon was subsequently engaged to manage the entire restoration process, providing end-to-end continuity of service from recovery of contents through to building repair and complete reinstatement works. 

Managing an extensive project

In the early phase of Polygon’s engagement, a great deal of co-ordination was required to manage all the various parties involved and ensure all the necessary approvals were in place to proceed. When this was finalised, Polygon was then able to devise a schedule of building work and secure the delivery of supplies and the labour required to support the project’s delivery. From week one, Italica was provided with a temporary office to enable them to maintain business continuity, and there was continual dialogue between the owners and the Polygon project management team throughout to ensure momentum was maintained and key milestones were met.

Five months after the project was given the green light, Italica was able to return to a completely refurbished office. Following final inspection and sign off on the work, the delighted owners thanked the Polygon UK team for their professionalism and praised the respect they showed to both the company’s possessions and their time. Overall, they said Polygon has “made what was a very difficult situation easy”.