Eighty jobs set to be created in Thirsk as work begins on second phase of £5.5m Marrtree Business Park

The second, £2.5m, 30,000 sq ft phase of the development will create a further 10 trade and warehouse employment units at Sowerby Gateway, the 70-acre development close to the A1 (M) and A19 at Thirsk.

Led by Harrogate-based construction group HACS, work on phase two of the business park is due for completion in August next year and is expected to create around 80 jobs.

Marrtree Investments completed the first phase of the business park on schedule in February this year, despite progress being hampered by lockdowns and other covid restrictions.

The first phase is now fully let to trade-counter anchor tenants Screwfix and Toolstation, along with tenants Motor Parts Direct, Duftons Plumbing and Heating Supplies and bathrooms supplier PJH.

William Marshall, Marrtree Investments director, said: “The first phase of our Thirsk scheme has been a great success and once again we’ve seen high demand for the kind of modern, high-quality employment space with which Marrtree is synonymous. Two of the phase II units are already under offer from prospective tenants and we expect all the units to be let quite rapidly.”

Fellow director George Marshall added: “We’re really proud that this development has so far brought around 80 new jobs to the Thirsk area and we’re excited to see the second phase get underway - with the prospect of further job opportunities for local people. Our contractor, HACS, is also based nearby in Harrogate and so the construction of the development itself is also helping to provide employment, which of course in turn drives economic benefits for the area.”

Marrtree Investments has a portfolio of more than 20 business parks located across strategic employment sites in the north of England. In March this year the developer acquired the 2.4 acre site of the former B&M store at Clifton Moor in York and has lodged a planning application to develop a commercial scheme with the potential to create 100 jobs for the city.

Founded in Bradford in the 1940s, and now run by the third-generation brothers William and George Marshall, the Marrtree Group of companies has interests in commercial and residential property, quarrying and forestry.