Wheel of fortune turns for ex-bike factory

Airedale House, on Kirkstall Road, in Leeds, which was built in the 1800s, is undergoing a 500,000 renovation to create 20 offices, employing about 130 people when full.

Each office will accommodate between two and 18 people. The centre, which will also include a reception, boardroom and two meeting rooms, is expected to open in December.

The building is owned by Martyn Duffield MBE, head of property investment company Duffield Properties, who bought it in 1988. It was occupied by Ptarmigan PR's Leeds office until last year.

Mr Duffield said: "We were being hit by empty property rates and so we decided to make the building a more practical proposition.

"We have spent the last year converting the building, which is absolutely beautiful, with high vaulted ceilings and big arch windows. It is beside the river so it's got great views.

"We've had a lot of interest already because it appeals to people who don't want to be tied to a lease."

He added: "It used to be occupied as a whole unit but now the market doesn't want that. People want flexibility."

The offices include up to 100Mb high-speed broadband, dedicated suite air conditioning, car parking, corporate level IT and communications, disabled access and all utility bills.

It also has security features such as a secure key fob enabling 24/7 access, CCTV & security shutters.

Most of the redevelopment work has been done by Mr Duffield, his wife, Karen, and their sons, Adam and Simon, who will run the centre when it is completed.

He said: "It's been a real family effort to construct the centre. When we were faced with this empty space the first thing that happened was that the bank took away our fighting fund and left is to our own devices. We have used our own resources to get it right."

He added: "From hammering to tiling to window washing, we have done everything ourselves and fitted it out using local companies."

Duffield Properties has also received planning permission to develop half an acre of land it owns adjacent to the site into a drive-through Subway sandwich store, which will serve the business centre.

Mr Duffield is also managing director of Duffield Printers, which is based on the same site. He established the firm in 1985 and went on to buy out Frederick Duffield & Sons back from fragmented ownership 1988.

The company, which now has a turnover of 4m and employs 40 people, prints brochures for clients including Rolls Royce and Bentley and a number of blue chip companies.

Mr Duffield said: "We are doing well at the moment and are bucking the trend. Three printing companies in the area have gone bust in the last week so we are doing well. We are one of the only relics left making things in the area."

He added: "We have reduced the dependency on our biggest clients down to five per cent to make ourselves less vulnerable."

Mr Duffield, also a founder trustee of Lineham Farm Children's Centre in Leeds until he retired from the role, was awarded an MBE for services to the community in West Yorkshire in 2006

Space in demand

The appetite for serviced offices in York is showing continued growth as one of the city's serviced office buildings expands.

Propalms, a global provider of IT systems, has relocated to Apollo House from an out- of-town location, taking 15 desks over three suites. Its arrival means the majority of the ground floor is now let to tenants, including Logistics Solutions International, Modular Sales and Principal Capital Investment Trust.

The number of inquiries means Prospect Business Centres, which operates the building on Monkgate, is now preparing to refurbish the first and second floors.