Earlier this week, reports surfaced that the Sony/PIAS warehouse fire in London that obliterated massive stocks of CDs and records last month could have been instigated as a planned heist by master criminals, but an executive for the company says nothing could be further from the truth.
While London's Telegraph paper pointed to people in the security industry suggesting professional thieves pulled up to the warehouse with special cutting instruments and looted the joint before calling in other gangs to cover up their tracks, Peter Thompson, MD of PIAS UK, says the story is total hogwash.
"There is absolutely no truth in the Telegraph story," Thompson told Billboard.
One of the most damning parts of the allegedly fabricated story was that it suggested thieves ransacked the building and grabbed televisions and gaming consoles, which Thompson says would have been impossible.
"The Sony warehouse does not even store any hardware such as TVs and PlayStations."
Sony DADC has since started up a new distribution centre in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, England. The August blaze, which took place during the London riots, eliminated thousands of copies of stock from independent labels including Domino, Warp and imprints tied to the Beggars Group (XL, 4AD, Matador).
While London's Telegraph paper pointed to people in the security industry suggesting professional thieves pulled up to the warehouse with special cutting instruments and looted the joint before calling in other gangs to cover up their tracks, Peter Thompson, MD of PIAS UK, says the story is total hogwash.
"There is absolutely no truth in the Telegraph story," Thompson told Billboard.
One of the most damning parts of the allegedly fabricated story was that it suggested thieves ransacked the building and grabbed televisions and gaming consoles, which Thompson says would have been impossible.
"The Sony warehouse does not even store any hardware such as TVs and PlayStations."
Sony DADC has since started up a new distribution centre in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, England. The August blaze, which took place during the London riots, eliminated thousands of copies of stock from independent labels including Domino, Warp and imprints tied to the Beggars Group (XL, 4AD, Matador).
