Firms to benefit from superfast broadband

Now it is home to firms who are leading revolutionary changes in the world of bioscience.

Super-fast broadband is being made available to businesses at the estate, which is near Wetherby, following further investment by the owner, London-based Rockspring Hanover Property Unit Trust.

The initial £50,000 scheme is the first of three and enables more than 100 of the 140 businesses on the estate to benefit from super-fast broadband speeds of up to 90Mb per second.

The latest technology has been installed by internet service provider, York Data Services, which provides fibre-based internet services to businesses across Yorkshire, including York Science Park. Investing in super-fast broadband is the latest move by the estate, run by Wharfedale Property Management, to offer the latest facilities as part of plans to develop a science park on the north side of the 385-acre area.

The first tenant to sign up to the fibre-optic high-speed broadband service is biotechnology company, Avacta Group, which moved from York Science Park two years ago.

Tim Munns, the director of Wharfedale Property Management, which is based on the estate, said: “This is another step towards developing a science park, focusing on health and innovation, providing laboratories and offices for enterprises, with similar requirements to Avacta, that are ready to end their incubation period at university science parks and become part of a wider and more diverse business community.”

Thorp Arch Estate, a former war-time munitions factory, is the base for a range of businesses that employ almost 2,000 people.