‘Wiltshire Pub of the Year' partially destroyed in fire
A recently-reopened Wiltshire pub which counts Soho House chief executive Nick Jones among its investors is likely to remain closed for up to six months after it was partially destroyed by fire.
More than 50 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze at the Beckford Arms near Tilsbury, which is thought to have started in a bin store in the early hours of Friday 16 July.
Head chef Pravin Nayar led all 16 guests to safety after one of them triggered the fire alarm. Nayar, who was the manager on duty, was sleeping in the staff flat when the fire broke out.
The 18th-century coaching inn reopened under new owners Charlie Luxton and Dan Brod in August last year, after a refurbishment costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Jones, who is also owner of the Babington House hotel in Somerset, is also an investor in the business, which had recently been named "Wiltshire Pub of the Year".
Brod said: "Obviously our first concern was to deal with the guests. Charlie and I are obviously devastated by the fire but very luckily no one was hurt and our thoughts now turn to a major rebuilding project and getting the pub open again as soon as possible.
"We estimate it could take up to six months to reopen as the building is listed and timing will depend on the co-operation of Wiltshire Council's planning department. We have had to cancel at least 500 bookings over the next six months and were fully booked on weekends up until December.
"Charlie and I wanted to thank in particular the Wiltshire Fire Brigade, who were all superb, our staff who showed up straight away to help out and the local community who were wonderful turning up the next day with much-needed cups of coffee and even home-baked cakes. We owe it to everyone to rebuild the pub to its former glory."
He added that guests were rehoused in local B&Bs with the help of local B&B owner Claire Martin.
Deputy chief fire officer Simon Ralph Jones, of Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, said at the scene: "There was an extensive fire in the ground-floor area which had gone into the first floor and into the roof as well and affected an adjoining property where there was one resident. We've got it under control now but we've lost part of the building where the fire was very fierce when we arrived. We've got a lot of debris and the fire investigation team are looking through that."
