Red Grill House owners action cleaning firm after 2020 fire
A claim for damages amounting to more than £1.75m. is being made by the owners of the Red Grill House against a cleaning company, which it claims was responsible for a fire.
The popular premises sustained extensive damage when fire broke out on 20 January 2020.
Red Guernsey Ltd and Rosso (Guernsey) Ltd are actioning Q3 Services (CI) Ltd for £1,758,152.03, plus interest and costs.
Red and Rosso operated the Red Grill House and Rosso Pizza Bar and Grill in the Pollet.
The court papers claim that this fire was caused by grease deposits in the extraction canopies and ducting linked to a charcoal grill oven in Red’s kitchen.
It is claimed that Q3 had failed to clean the canopies and ducting of the oven adequately ‘and/or at all’ and ‘failed to advise or warn the plaintiffs adequately and/or at all on its cleaning operations, issues with accessing certain parts of the ducting, and the risks of fire associated with the extraction ducting’.
A third restaurant connected to the site, Tinto, was operated by a sister company of Red and Rosso and while it was also damaged, the premises were insured separately and its damage and losses are not a part of the claim.
Q3 was previously known as OCS One Complete Solution Ltd and was a specialist cleaning contractor which offered commercial cleaning services, including kitchen equipment and extraction systems. It was taken on in 2012 to provide cleaning services at the premises and a deal was struck for Q3 to service the canopies and extraction ducting quarterly.
It is claimed that ‘any reasonably competent specialist cleaning contractor' would have been aware that the insurance industry standard policy term was for all extraction systems including flues, extraction motors, fans and the entire length of any ducting to be cleaned periodically, the claimants said in papers filed by the court.
In addition, such a company would have adopted good practice guidance in relation to the inspection and cleaning. These included providing pre- and post-clean photos, and details of areas accessed.
The cleaners would have been aware of the extent of the extraction ducting which would have required cleaning, said the court papers.
But after the fire there were heavy grease deposits found throughout the ducting system, claimed Red and Rosso, indicating that the cleaners had not cleaned the entire extraction system at any point before the fire.
Previously, following heavy smoke coming from the extraction system in July 2018, Q3 was instructed to give the system a complete clean and the companies understood that this was being done.
‘The defendant prima facie appears only to have cleaned certain areas of accessible ducting with no further advice, warning or information provided as to the limitations or otherwise relating to the clean and/or the risk of fire whether upon or after undertaking each clean. The said fire was caused by the defendant’s breaches of contact and/or negligence.’
