THE boss of a Northallerton firm which was devastated by fire has praised his workers for raising the company from the ashes.

At the official opening of a new sales centre in the town, North Yorkshire Timber chairman David Cook said recovery from last October's blaze was down to the efforts of people from all quarters of the firm.

The fire caused millions of pounds of damage to stock and machinery and put nearly 60 jobs at risk.

Last Friday, in NYT's 25th anniversary year, Richmond MP William Hague performed the opening ceremony of a temporary base for the firm at Willow Beck Road.

And Mr Cook put out this message: "We are here, back and stronger - 25 years on."

The fire destroyed the main 35,000sq ft building at NYT's 4.6 acre head office, distribution and sales centre at Springwell Lane. To safeguard local jobs, NYT redeployed 21 staff to other branches as reduced operations continued from the fire-hit site.

By February, a new storage, delivery and fabrication centre had been set up in a 120,000sq ft warehouse at Brompton-on-Swale and the new centre at Willow Beck Road had been fitted out, ready for trade.

"We are proud to have safeguarded the 60 or so jobs in Northallerton and we have done that largely because of the flexibility of our staff," said Mr Cook.

"We intend to make this year one to remember."

Mr Cook said that, last spring, NYT had decided to stay in Springwell Lane. "We said we would stay put and expand," he said, "but the fire made us rethink. This was a quick move in response to what happened."

The Willow Beck Road building is owned by Safeway and had been standing empty for some time.

The firm will be on site until the end of the year as plans for a new depot on the Darlington Road industrial estate are taking shape. "That will be a permanent base which will enable us to expand," said Mr Cook.

Recalling the fire, he said: "The biggest emotion was watching a business you had nurtured for 25 years be engulfed with flames. You cannot be conditioned to the despair of that.

"But the following day, we realised what we had to do and we were enthusiastic about the challenge ahead. All this has brought the company together and that is very satisfying."

Mr Hague said: "We are here to celebrate two things; one is your silver anniversary which reflects a lot of hard work.

"This is an important employer in Northallerton. In a town which predominantly has small businesses, this is vital employment and the local community recognises that.

"But we are also here to celebrate recovery from the ashes. It is an enormous blow to any business to have such a devastating experience, a catastrophe. To recover from that to a fully-functioning business with big plans for the future in a few months is a great tribute which bodes well for the future.

"To show such resilience and rebound from disaster is amazing. It is a hard grind to do that and we admire you for it. I hope the company goes from strength to strength."

Northallerton mayor Coun Tony Hall said: "NYT is one of the companies we cherish in Northallerton. A lot of people in the town have jobs here and there is spin-off trade too.

"Facing the problems of that fire and turning the situation round in such a short space of time was quite an achievement. I am sure they had the chance to move elsewhere but we are delighted they chose to stay and make their base here."

North Yorkshire Timber was founded in Northallerton in 1979, with other branches acquired as the years went by. Turnover is now almost £10m and the company employs 100 people.

NYT's customer base is still predominantly trade, but the firm is achieving growth in the home improvement/retail market too.

Mr Cook co-founded the company, with Peter Kershaw joining in 1985, becoming managing director in 1997