A new £500,000 scheme is under way to transform disused wartime munitions buildings in North Yorkshire into modern premises for small and startup businesses.

It involves creating more than 18,500 sq ft of new business space by refurbishing three former Royal Ordnance factory blocks at Thorp Arch Estate, near Wetherby.

The scheme to transform the former Royal Ordnance factories, built at the start of the Second World War, is being carried out by chartered surveyors and building consultants Lightly & Lightly, which completed a similar £250,000 scheme involving 11,000 sq ft at the estate last year.

Eight high quality commercial units, ranging from 1,000 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft are being created in the latest phase in the estate's regeneration, designed and specified by Lightly & Lightly.

The units, which meet the needs of small manufacturers, storage and distribution businesses as well as office-based enterprises, have been commissioned by commercial and industrial property management and letting specialists, Wharfedale Property Management Ltd which manages the 380-acre estate for Hanover Property Unit Trust.

Two blocks have been fully let from plans and the other five-unit block has only two units remaining.

Wharfedale Property Management director, Bob Ellis said: "Last year's scheme was very successful and attracted new enterprises to Thorp Arch Estate, adding to its richness and diversity.

"Several of the new businesses are in food processing or catering, which demonstrates that the units meet very high standards even though they were not specifically designed for that sector. " We are delighted to be working with Lightly & Lightly again. The firm's highly-professional, cost effective approach creates quality through tight cost control and precise specification and is essential to provide small businesses with the units they need at the rents they can afford."

Richard Hampshire, a director of Lightly & Lightly, which has offices in York,Harrogate and Hull said: " We have produced the architectural design, applied our building surveying and conservation skills, put the building work out to tender on a traditional basis and are project-managing the entire internal and external refurbishment, including replacing asbestos sheet roofing.

" We have also remodelled the internal layouts and altered the roof structures to create higher stacking, created new car parks and external landscaping. On the one unit without a warehouse, we changed a flat roof into a pitched one incorporating a high level of insulation to provide thermal efficiency and created suspended ceilings with open-plan offices and flexible working space.

" We are delighted to be working again on this exciting scheme to benefit small businesses."

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