York businesses relocate after rapid growth
TWO York based businesses are moving into bigger premises as they continue to grow.
Creative digital agency, The Distance, started life in 2012 at York Science Park’s purpose-built incubation space, Springboard. In its first seven months, The Distance expanded so rapidly that its floor space had to triple to cater for the size of its new team and it moved across the Science Park to new offices in The Catalyst.
Now employing 18 staff and turnover forecast to hit £1m this year, The Distance has moved to a converted Grade II listed building in Skeldergate, in the heart of the city.
Anthony Main, co-founder of The Distance, said: “Choosing to start our business on York Science Park has played a key role in its rapid growth. We’ve been able to develop many very productive partnerships and collaborations with other residents, which have really helped us move forward.
“We are now very excited to be moving to our new offices in York and looking forward to 2014 as the year when we can consolidate our business, continue to expand and enhance our client relationships and fine tune our latest product, which we will be launching in the Summer.”
Rapita Systems, which started up in 2004 as a spin out from University of York’s Computer Science department, is also relocating from York Science Park.
The technology company, which creates tools to test the effectiveness of software in safety-critical real-time areas such as avionic flight and automotive engineering control systems, moved into York Science Park’s IT Centre in 2005, but now has offices on Link Business Park, Osbaldwick. The firm employs 30 staff and exports to clients around the world, including Europe, China, Brazil, Canada and the USA.
