Blaze at Jedburgh butcher’s shop leaves business ‘on the rocks’

Jedburgh butcher, Ryan Briggs outside his shop which has been damaged by an arson attack. Photo: Bill McBurnie.

A butcher in Jedburgh has been left devastated after an early morning blaze left his business ‘on the rocks’.

Ryan Briggs has spent the last two-and-a-half years building up a large customer base for his outlet, Briggsy’s in the town’s High Street, attracting a clientèle from across the Borders.

But all his efforts have been placed in jeopardy after a blaze in the early hours of Tuesday, October 25, caused serious damage to the front of the premises.

He has been forced to close up shop and faces a bill in excess of £20,000 as a result of the repairs needed and loss of produce.

Now shell-shocked Ryan is attempting to pick up the pieces but has admitted the fire has placed the future of his business at risk.

He said: “It’s gutting to be honest. I’ve owned the business for two-and-a-half years but I’ve actually been in the shop for just under ten years. I’ve worked hard to build up what we’ve got.

“It appears that a bin was put on fire outside the shop and it spread onto the front of the shop and it’s an old building, it has a wooden shop front, and it smashed the glass and done a lot external damage and a few bits and bobs inside, a few bits of machinery inside have been damaged too.

“The biggest loss is the stock, the produce, the meat that has been left in the shop, with the smoke damage it’s not safe to be sold and right now, with the insurance and the investigation and everything else, I’m not allowed to trade in the shop.

“I’m looking at a loss of £20,000-plus. It’s a huge blow – this could put us on the rocks. I was hoping for a nice quick turnaround but with the whole investigation and the extent of the damage and the meat to be disposed of it’s going to be a week, a week-plus before I can reopen.

“We have a massive range of customers right across the Borders that travel to us, mainly at the weekend and we are serving one thousand-plus customers a week and 40 per cent of them will be visitors to the town.”

Ryan thanked the fire service for their prompt attendance at the scene, which prevented further damage and potentially saved lives.

He added: “We were lucky in a sense that the fire brigade got here in time to stop it spreading. There are two flats above us, if that fire had spread higher up or to the side – the only way in and out – it could have been devastating for lives, not just the business.