Pier businesses feared destruction in fire scare

Family fears ‘losing everything’ as blaze breaks out on closed Southport Pier

A Southport business owner has spoken of her “sheer horror” after a fire broke out on the town’s historic pier — where her family businesses have already stood idle for nearly three years.

Natalie Jamieson-Morrison said she feared their units would be destroyed when she was woken in the early hours of Saturday to be told that flames had taken hold.

“This felt like the cherry on top of everything we’ve been through,” she said. “My heart sank when I heard the news.”

The Jamieson family, who have traded on the pier for more than two decades, employing up to 30 staff in peak season, were forced to shut all their concessions in December 2022 after safety concerns closed the Grade II-listed structure.

The fire, which began outside their souvenir shop and smoothie bar, was later confirmed by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to have been “accidental” and likely caused by an electrical fault. Sefton Council said damage was limited.

But Jamieson-Morrison said the latest incident had deepened the family’s despair. “It has completely devastated our family and our livelihood, along with our whole workforce who were put out of work with one day’s notice,” she said.

She added that her father, Colin Jamieson, 70, who built up the pier businesses over 40 years, was heartbroken. “This business has been his life’s work, his legacy for his family, and he is forced to stand by and watch it crumble,” she said.

The family had invested £250,000 into new kiosks and a café shortly before the pier’s enforced closure. “Now it is just sitting and rotting away,” she said.

Jamieson-Morrison called for urgent progress on restoration — and compensation for traders. “We would be ecstatic if work could begin as promised,” she said. “But we also desperately need a package to get us back up and running again.”

Southport MP Patrick Hurley said he was relieved the blaze had not caused significant damage and vowed to push for the pier’s restoration to move swiftly, after Chancellor Rachel Reeves earmarked funding for the project through the new Growth Mission Fund.

Sefton Council confirmed it was liaising with ministers over next steps, while the Treasury said further details on the fund would be announced in the coming weeks.

Built in 1860, Southport Pier is the second longest in the UK and has been closed since 2022.