Hayley Howard and Nikki Allston of Buffets to Suit, a business based in Colchester's Cowdray Centre, emailed us with this message about the blaze at the weekend.
"We're based on a separate unit within the Cowdray Centre and have been so lucky to be largely unaffected by the fire.
"We had to cancel a function on Saturday evening and move into The Town Hall kitchens on Saturday to do a couple of buffets as we had no power.
"But we just wanted to say how fantastic the fire crews were on the day. Despite the gruelling working conditions they all had time to be polite and helpful to the traders.
"Its a very sad day - the business community that had been built up over years and years has been wiped out.
"Our thoughts go out to all the business people who have lost everything."
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