Stockport in Focus: Fire Safety, Risk and Compliance
Stockport sits at the southern edge of Greater Manchester, straddling the River Mersey and the M60, and its fire safety environment is shaped by an unusually varied mix of building stock. The town has a significant concentration of Victorian and Edwardian mill buildings, many of which have been converted to residential apartments, office suites or creative industry space — and some of which remain partly or wholly unused. The town centre itself, with the Merseyway shopping centre, the Underbanks and the Market Place, generates a significant retail and food and drink economy, while the residential stock of Edgeley, Reddish, Brinnington and Heaton Norris encompasses a range of property types, ownerships and occupancy patterns. Hazel Grove, Bramhall and Cheadle cover the more affluent southern belt with a mix of suburban housing and commercial activity. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority for the FSO across Stockport, and is currently working from Whitehill Community Fire Station while the central Stockport station undergoes rebuild.
For responsible persons across Stockport's varied premises, the FSO places a direct legal duty to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and to keep it under review. Our fire risk assessments in Stockport page sets out how we work. Two incidents from the past eighteen months illustrate the range of fire risk that responsible persons in the borough are managing.
Fire at Compstall Mill, Compstall Road, Stockport — March 2024
At around 9.40pm on Friday 1 March 2024, GMFRS received calls to reports of a fire at a derelict mill on Compstall Road, Stockport. Five fire engines from Marple, Offerton, Hyde, Whitehill and Stockport fire stations attended the incident. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used hose reels to extinguish the fire, which had spread to the top floor of the mill. A cordon was put in place and Compstall Road was closed near the incident while the fire was brought under control. Firefighters remained at the scene into Saturday morning, damping down. The cause of the fire was not confirmed.
Compstall Mill is a large former textile mill on Compstall Road in the Bredbury area of Stockport. It is one of a number of former mill buildings across Stockport's industrial heritage estate that have passed through various phases of occupancy, vacancy and proposed redevelopment over recent decades. The building suffered a further, larger fire in August 2024, when eight fire engines plus a specialist Technical Response Unit attended a fire on Andrew Street at the same complex.
Fire crews arrive at Compstall Mill, Compstall Road, Stockport, 1 March 2024. Video: YouTube.
Stockport has one of the densest concentrations of former textile mill buildings in the North West, and a significant proportion of those buildings have passed through extended periods of vacancy, partial use or ongoing redevelopment. The Compstall Mill fires — two confirmed incidents in the same building within six months, with a combined response of thirteen fire engines and specialist appliances — illustrate a pattern that is repeated across Stockport's mill estate: vacant buildings with large open floor plates, original timber roof structures, combustible historic fabric and inadequate perimeter security are among the highest-risk building types for fire, and for arson in particular. The responsible person for any mill building in Stockport — whether in active use, partially let, awaiting development or in transition — carries FSO duties for the parts of the premises under their control, and those duties must reflect the specific risk profile of a large, multi-storey, often partially-void building in which a fire, once established on the upper floors, can be extremely difficult to control without significant aerial resource. A fire risk assessment for a mill building in any stage of occupancy should specifically address the fire load in the roof structure, the adequacy of any compartmentation between floors, and whether the current state of the building is consistent with the assessment's findings. For vacant mill units with live or partially let units in the same building, Article 22 of the FSO requires coordination between responsible persons, and the managing agent or freeholder has a specific obligation to ensure that the vacancy of part of the building does not create gaps in the fire safety provision for the occupied parts.
House Fire, Bradfield Close, Reddish, Stockport — March 2025
At around half past midnight on Tuesday 4 March 2025, firefighters were called to reports of a fire at a residential property on Bradfield Close in the Reddish area of Stockport. Eight fire engines from Gorton, Stockport, Ashton, Blackley, Whitehill, Philips Park and Hyde fire stations, along with the aerial ladder platform, the Enhanced Rescue Unit and the Air Unit, were quickly mobilised to the scene. Firefighters worked to extinguish a fire that had spread from the original property to the neighbouring property, using jets, hose reels and a thermal imaging camera. The fire was extinguished and some crews remained at the scene making the buildings safe. Emergency services spent a number of hours at the scene throughout the night and into the morning. The causes were under investigation.
Emergency services on Bradfield Close, Reddish, Stockport following an overnight house fire, 4 March 2025. Video: YouTube / Manchester Evening News.
A house fire on an overnight call that requires eight fire engines, an aerial ladder platform, an Enhanced Rescue Unit and the Air Unit — ten separate resources — illustrates how rapidly a residential fire can develop when it is not detected early. The fire at Bradfield Close spread from one property to its neighbour before crews arrived, which is consistent with the pattern seen in domestic fires involving shared structure, roof voids or party walls where the compartmentation between adjacent properties is inadequate or compromised. Reddish is part of Stockport's inner residential belt, characterised by post-war housing that was not built with modern fire safety compartmentation standards. For landlords of HMO properties in Reddish, Edgeley, Brinnington and the other inner residential areas of Stockport, the HMO licensing conditions imposed by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council include specific requirements for detection, compartmentation and means of escape that go beyond the basic obligations the FSO places on a single-family dwelling. A fire risk assessment for any HMO in a converted or modified residential property must address the staircase as a protected route, the condition of fire doors giving onto it, and whether the detection system would raise an alarm early enough to allow all occupants to escape. Fire door inspections are particularly important in properties where the original layout has been modified and where doors separating the kitchen, staircase and bedrooms may have been informally replaced over the years.
Fire Safety Duties for Responsible Persons Across Stockport
Mill conversions and heritage commercial premises. Stockport's converted mill buildings, concentrated in Portwood, Edgeley, Heaton Norris and Heaviley, present a specific fire safety challenge: they are large, complex structures in which modern fit-outs — residential units, offices, studios — have been introduced into original fabric that was never designed for compartmented multi-occupancy. A fire risk assessment for any converted mill must address the original structure's fire load (particularly the roof void and any retained timber elements), the adequacy of the compartmentation introduced during conversion, and whether the escape strategy is consistent with the actual layout of the building after all the works that have been carried out. Where original windows and staircases have been retained as features, their role in fire spread and the interaction with the modern escape provision must be addressed.
Town centre retail and the Merseyway centre. Stockport town centre's retail estate, anchored by the Merseyway Shopping Centre and the Princes Street retail area, generates significant public occupancy in buildings that include both modern purpose-built retail and historic structures in the Underbanks conservation area. Managing agents responsible for the common parts of any multi-occupier retail centre carry FSO obligations alongside the individual retail and hospitality tenants, and coordination under Article 22 of the FSO is particularly important in covered shopping environments where a fire in any unit affects the shared escape routes for all others. Our service for managing agents addresses these multi-occupier obligations.
Residential blocks and the growing flatted stock. Stockport's town centre and inner residential areas include a growing number of flatted residential developments, many in converted industrial or commercial buildings. The common parts of these blocks fall within the FSO, and the managing agent must ensure that a current fire risk assessment is in place, is consistent with the Fire Safety Act 2021 requirements, and that the fire door inspection programme for flat entrance doors meets the schedule required by the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 for the building's height.
HMOs and the private rented sector. Stockport has a significant HMO market, particularly around the town centre, Edgeley and the areas near the railway station. Our HMO fire safety service covers the specific requirements under the FSO and Stockport Council's licensing conditions.
Fire Safety Support for Stockport
Fletcher Risk Management provides fire risk assessments in Stockport for responsible persons across the borough's varied building stock. We cover our full range of services: fire door inspections, fire safety training, evacuation plans, fire safety policies and evacuation chair training.
Fire safety support across the North West and North Wales
Fletcher Risk Management provides fire risk assessments, fire door inspections and fire safety training for responsible persons across Chester, Cheshire, the Wirral, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, North Wales and beyond. To discuss your requirements, please get in touch.
This article is intended for general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. Responsible persons should seek professional advice tailored to their specific premises and circumstances. Fletcher Risk Management Ltd provides fire risk assessments, fire door inspections, and fire safety training across the North West and North Wales. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority for the FSO in Stockport.