Three local companies have taken space on a recently refurbished rural Yorkshire business park bringing its job creation tally to more than 130.
Seven disused farmsteads on the Escrick Park Estate — which has been owned and managed by the Forbes Adam family for the past 350 years — were converted to offices as part of a £1.4m regeneration scheme. “We are tremendously proud of creating a serious business park, with top-class facilities, within a rural idyll,” said Charles Forbes Adam, the family member behind the business park development.
“Escrick Park is sufficiently close to York to have a direct association with the city and its location on an historic estate lends a degree of prestige,” he added.
The latest company to relocate to the park is Space Creative, a design and digital studio established in 2002. It has taken 1,200 sq ft of office space at 4 Bramley’s Barn in The Menagerie.
Kate Eady is managing director. “Although many design studios are in city centres, we all find working in more rural setting more inspiring,” she said. “We came from a smaller barn conversion which all our clients loved, so when we outgrew that, it made common sense to find something similar.”
“We all feel very lucky that we found The Menagerie,” Eady added, whose company now employs nine people. “It’s in a beautiful setting near York and the quirky layout gives us room to expand.”
Ypsomed, a Swiss-based company specialising in homecare products and treatment for diabetes, has also leased 2,000 sq ft at 1 Park Court, Riccall Road, with expanding logistics firm Aramex taking 800 sq ft next door at 2 Park Court.
“We are delighted to welcome all three companies to our business park,” said Forbes Adam. “Their arrival is a ringing endorsement of the quality of our rural offices, which are attracting new occupiers in what remains challenging economic times.”
He added that Escrick Park had recently won a business rates appeal for all its office units, achieving significant reductions, and making it even more attractive for businesses looking to relocate or set up in Yorkshire. The park’s 22 offices now boast a 90 per cent occupancy rate.
A separate industrial building on the historic estate at Skipwith was last year converted and opened as The Little Theatre, a high-tech conference and training facility for up to 60 people.
