Higgsy's, the award-winning burger bar loved by locals, has suffered devastating fire damage. The owners share their shock and the extensive damage caused to their business.
00:00Tell us a bit about before we get into it, how the business started and you built up a great reputation over the past couple of years you've been here.
00:07Yeah, so the business started with us as a desire to do some really good food for local customers and get a name for ourselves for the quality of food.
00:18That's what we've managed to achieve over the last nearly three years now.
00:22Yes, very happy with it, very happy with the support and the reputation we've got.
00:27Yeah, we can see from the scientists behind you there, they've voted Cambridge's Best Burgers a couple of years in a row, is that right?
00:31That's right, yeah, last year and this year, yeah, Cambridge's Best Burgers.
00:35So, yes, something we're very happy about, very proud of.
00:38Absolutely, and then on a less positive note then, so just describe the scene that you found this morning.
00:45So when we came down, the area was cornered off as a crime scene, so there's police tape everywhere.
00:51And the damage was behind us, lots of exterior damage to the timber cladding.
00:55It's the shipping container itself.
00:58So lots of the timber cladding damage, actually the fire came through a hole from an electric source.
01:04So the fire spread inside and it's done lots of material damage inside to walls, floors and ceilings and different pieces of equipment and fixtures and fittings.
01:13So we're looking at potentially completely replacing it or renovation?
01:16Er, I think it's going to be a case of replacing all the cladding and replacing all the soft fittings inside, as well as the access hatch on the front, the serving hatch on the front that the fire brigade had to bend beyond recognition to get in and fight the fire.
01:32Yeah, no, you must say, you know, you're in their state.
01:34I'm saying this is your business, your livelihood, both of you.
01:36Yeah, yeah, this is what we do.
01:38Yeah, we don't do anything else.
01:39This pays the bills and this is something we've worked so hard for in the last three years.
01:43So, yeah, it is, it's very upsetting and very surreal at the moment.
01:49It hasn't just affected us, it's affected our children as well.
01:59I guess if there's any positives, I mean, I guess the support from the community, there's been a lot of comments on Facebook, a lot of, a GoFundMe's really been set up, hasn't it?
02:11So, your support has been fantastic, really reassuring and gives us a drive to, you know, to make sure that we, as soon as possible, get back to serving people the food that they love.
02:24Yeah, you know, I'm aware we're only a few hours on, but in sort of, to the next steps, yeah, so where do we go from here sort of right now?
02:31So, Amber and I need to sit down and regroup, really, make a plan, and really write down what needs to be replaced, how we replace that, when we can do this, when we can do that.
02:44So, yeah, the next 24 hours are probably going to be quite a lot of planning and assessing, I think.
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