In Brief: Holder & Co; Your Bridge to China; Banfa International Trading; Albion Place; Persimmon

HOLDER & Co, a new property consultancy, has completed its first deal.

The Leeds-based company, which was formed in February by Owen Holder, ex-industrial property partner with Knight Frank, has sourced 7,500 sq ft of industrial accommodation for clients Wheel Wizard at Copley Hill Trading Estate in Whitehall Road, Leeds.

Wheel Wizard, which provides alloy wheel repairs to vehicles, has signed up on a new five-year lease, and will move into the new accommodation during this month.

Owen Holder said: “I’m delighted to have completed our first acquisition so quickly. This represents the start of an exciting journey for the new business and I have personally been overwhelmed by the support for my new venture.”

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TWO Yorkshire entrepreneurs have set up a venture to help companies in the region import and export to China.

Richard Ward, originally from Halifax and now based in China, and Bridget Pearson, based in Barnsley, have joined forces to offer Yorkshire companies expert advice and support.

Pearson runs her own cultural liaison and interpretation consultancy Your Bridge to China, which supports business people who want to sell into China, and Richard is managing director of Banfa International Trading, which supports companies sourcing goods from the Far East.

The two Mandarin-speaking business consultants are now collaborating to offer a comprehensive two-way import and export advice service.

Richard said: “We want to help UK companies, particularly in the Yorkshire area, to safely import from and export to China. Our aim is to help strengthen links and build trust, understanding and co-operation.”

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OPEING this Easter, the new Albion Place retail development in Skipton is set to strengthen the North Yorkshire market town’s retail offering and boost the local economy.

Located at the top of the town’s historic High Street, Albion Place was designed by Skipton based architects Bowman Riley for Maple Grove Developments with Eric Wright Construction as the main contractor.

The new 46,500 sq ft development is now more than 95% let and tenants include Next, Pizza Express, Cotswold Outdoors, Pavers Shoes, Cotton Traders, Dawson’s Department Store and Chevin Cycles Otley.

Albion Place will be an integral part of the town offering with 330 car parking spaces and creating more than 235 permanent jobs.

Laurence Teeney, director at Bowman Riley Architects, said: “We are delighted that the Albion Place development just across from our Head Office will be opening this Spring. Skipton has many visitors, particularly on market days and attracts a lot of shoppers. We are certain that Albion Place will help make the town a real shopping destination.”

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A STRONG performance at a Yorkshire housebuilder is leading to the creation of new jobs.

Speaking after the company’s AGM yesterday, York-based Persimmon’s regional deputy managing director Simon Usher said: “Visitor levels to our sites are up 10% compared with this period last year and our weekly private sales rate per site for the first 15 weeks of 2014 is 25% ahead of 2013.
 
“Nationally, we already have approximately 7,200 forward sales into the private sale market for 2014, which is 38% higher than in 2013.
 
“Within the region, we have already opened new developments in Easingwold, North Hykeham, Selby and Hornsea and we’re now looking ahead to further launches in Hull and Doncaster.
 
“As well as essential housing for local communities, this increased activity also brings more jobs for the region. We have actively been recruiting since January for a diverse range of positions and we are now focusing on school leavers as we seek to fill apprentice positions.”