London Riots Destroy Warehouse Stock Owned by Adele’s Record Label

Adele's UK record label, XL Recordings, received a major blow after a riot-induced fire destroyed a London warehouse containing goods owned by many of the country's independent labels.

According to the BBC, the fire tore through an Enfield building owned by Sony DADC. The unit was the main headquarters for the UK's biggest distributor of indie music, Pias, which handles over 150 labels, including Domino (Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys), Memphis Industries and Wall Of Sound (Röyksopp, Penguin Prison).

After its website was flooded with traffic, Pias released an official statement via Twitter: “...PIAS is working closely with SonyDADC who are implementing their emergency plans. PIAS's UK offices in London and all other areas of our business are unaffected..."

Spencer Hickman from the Rough Trade East record store told BBC 6music news: "For us it's devastating. It's a lot of labels that are distributed by Pias. It's complete chaos, we don't know how long it's going to take them to get back on their feet. It looks like people have lost everything that was in the warehouse. I'm sure there are labels which aren't insured. I'm sure there will be labels that will go bust."

The violent riots began last Thursday and, according to the New York Times, are developing into what is considered "the worst outbreak of social unrest in Britain in 25 years."