ASAP Supplies ransacked
Peter Edwards: 'like being hit by a hurricane'
BREAK IN: During the early hours of Friday morning 3 April, thieves broken in to the Beccles based ASAP Supplies and stole a substantial amount of equipment made of brass, bronze and copper.
Then there were NPT skin fittings, valves, deck fillers, cleats and fairleads. There were also Faria temperature sender probes. A-ZAP wiring looms. Racor anodised fuel filter fittings.
All items will carry the small yellow ASAP Supplies label, complete with the part number.
Chief executive Peter Edwards said this was a hell of blow for all the team at ASAP, which has worked so hard to get sales back in-line with current economic trends.
‘The break-in is hard to take and, linked with the loss of our valuable stock, was all made worse as most likely it is only going to be melted down,’ fumed Mr Edwards. ‘But the sickening thing is the unwanted destruction of equipment, like computers and other electrical appliances and the damage and mess which it created.’
The thieves seemed intent on causing as much damage as possible, especially in the warehouse, where complete racks were wiped out and the contents thrown around the building. ‘No area was left unaffected,’ said Mr Edwards. ‘It was like we had been hit by a hurricane!’
The ASAP team couldn’t get full entry to their building until the Police forensic teams had finished their investigations, but by late Friday morning they were able to make a start on clearing up the mess.
‘Over the weekend staff came in so we could log all the missing items and make sure we were ready to open up for business on Monday morning,’ said Mr Edwards. ‘Friday’s events did lead to a small blip in service to our customers, but we do expect to be able to meet all our customers' needs and orders during the build up to Easter. We can only apologise for any inconvenience to our customers.’
One small glimmer of hope became apparent when the ASAP staff found clear images of the culprits on the internal cameras. These are now in the hands of the Police…
Mr Edwards says if anyone in the trade is offered any of the above at 'knock down prices' would they try and get as much detail as possible and then let ASAP know, so the information can be forwarded to the Police .
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