A MEAT factory which was destroyed by a major fire is rising from the ashes after bosses announce plans to re-open in Inverclyde.

David Jess, who runs McKechnie Jess, is bouncing back from the devastating blaze which ripped through his firm’s Port Glasgow Road site in the early hours of last Wednesday.

The blaze-ravaged building was  left so badly damaged that it had to be demolished on Saturday afternoon but Mr Jess is determined to get the facility back up and running as soon as possible.

He said: “We have got a plan for McKechnie Jess going forward in the short term to ensure our customers are supplied and that our staff are looked after.

“We also hope to be back up and running in Inverclyde.

“We will know more about that this time next week.”

Mr Jess says he’s been overwhelmed by the support shown by the people of Inverclyde followin the fire.

He said: “Every day gets a bit better.

“The messages of support we’ve received locally have been absolutely amazing.

“It has been very uplifting to get that support.

“I’ve had so many texts and emails so I’ve been getting home at about 8.30pm, having my dinner then replying to people until about 11pm each night.

“It’s nice to know that people are thinking about you.

“That’s nearly 30 years we have been involved with that site, so a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into it, and it’s all gone.”

Mr Jess said that the impact of the fire really hit home when he held a meeting with another company.

He said: “What was really sad was that we had a meeting with a company who offered to help us.

“Like us they are a family-owned company and when we went into their board room they had all these family photos up.

“It made me think of all the photos of our family we’ve lost.

“It’s wee daft things like that — 50 years of memories that don’t hold any real value to anyone else apart from us.”

The Greenock factory employed 50 people, who have been redeployed to work at the company’s sister plant in Twechar near Cumbernauld.

Mr Jess added: “The staff and management team have been absolutely amazing.

“They have been driving everything forward.”

Meanwhile the investigation into the blaze is ‘still ongoing’, say Scottish Fire and Rescue.