THE new owners of York's biggest industrial estate say they are "in it for the long haul" after snapping it up in a £33 million deal.

Clifton Moor Industrial Estate is now under fresh management - which could eventually mean the site being further developed to attract more tenants.

The deal for the 47-acre site was struck this week by London-based Protego Real Estate Investors on behalf of a unnamed client which is known to be a global wealth management company with a string of UK interests.

Clifton Moor, previously owned by British Land, boasts 84 buildings across more than 431,000 square feet of trade, industrial and office space, a retail warehouse, a cash-and-carry and a car showroom.

Its current tenants include Network Rail, Jewson, RAC plc, Booker and Wickes Building Supplies, and the firms based there pay an annual rent of £2.23m between them.

"This was a rare opportunity to purchase a high-quality estate and is a sizeable investment in the industrial sector in York," said Nick Pink, Protego's managing director of UK investment.

"Assets of this size and quality are relatively hard to come by, especially when you come out of the south-east of England. The deal is an indication of the faith we have in the local economy in York and the quality of this location.

"The strategy our clients have for this site is short, medium and long-term. There are no immediate plans to change the physical nature of the estate, but we want to manage it more effectively in areas such as site branding and developing a slightly more coherent letting strategy so we can get similar tenants in similar areas.

"We were attracted by Clifton Moor's low site density - the space already developed there - because there is a lot of open yard space and many smaller units, which is also quite rare. In the long-term, we may hope to improve on that and perhaps develop more space, but that isn't central to our reasons for buying it.

"We don't want to give the impression that we are buying the site purely with a view to redeveloping it. As a property investment, we're looking at what we have today and we think that there are things we can do to add value to this estate."

City of York council leader Steve Galloway believes the deal is another feather in York's cap and shows how international companies are now targeting the city as a place to boost their business.

"I'm not surprised that our out-of-town shopping centres and industrial estates are continuing to thrive and any additional investment in facilities and infrastructure is welcome. It's good for the city and good for the people who live here," he said.