Last year a well known high street retailer was fined a record £400,000 (with costs of £136,052) after pleading guilty to two breaches of fire safety legislation, following a serious fire at its Oxford Street store in London. The fire was attended by 35 fire engines and about 150 fire-fighters and about 450 people were evacuated from the store and surrounding premises. It is understood that the building's fire alarm sounded and that the alarm was reset on at least one occasion. The first call to the fire service did not come until an office worker in an adjacent building took action. This delay meant that the fire had already broken through the second floor windows when fire-fighters arrived. Crews remained on the scene for the next three days and part of Oxford Street was closed to traffic and the public for two days.
The cause of the fire was not established and the store was subsequently demolished. The retailer pleaded guilty to having an inadequate fire risk assessment, which had several flaws, including no record of the appropriate procedures to be taken during a fire alarm. They also pleaded guilty to providing insufficient staff training, which led to a delayed evacuation of the premises.