Garbutt & Elliott, one of North Yorkshire's biggest firm of business advisers and chartered accountants, is moving out of its historic York base in Monkgate and into modern premises on the outskirts of the city next month.

About 80 staff will transfer from Monkgate House, the period property which was once the home of rail magnate George Hudson, to sleek offices at Arabesque House in Monks Cross, Huntington, on Friday, July 9.

A year-long search for the right property finally ended when the Sara Lee outpost at Monks Cross crashed as its new owner Hibernia Foods went into administration in January. The lease has been taken over.

The rapidly-growing firm, which has extended into five Georgian cottages in Monkgate, now has elbow room to expand and maintain a large car parking area for customers.

Tony Tarbey, Garbutt & Elliott's marketing manager, said: "We are committed to the city of York and we were determined to stay and grow here.

"We are all very positive about the move. Arabesque House is a little more than two miles away and it will be a case of business as usual."

The move frees up Monkgate House for a sale worth potentially millions of pounds, and individual former partners at Garbutt & Elliott, who own the premises, are formally putting it on the market tomorrow.

But even before that happens, Andrew Hedley, of Blacks property consultants in Main Street, Fulford, is reporting that one developer has already toured the building.

Mr Hedley said: "It would be of big interest to developers, not just because of the lovely Georgian buildings which potentially could be refurbished, but also because it has nearly an acre of land which, with the right planning consent, could be developed."

Garbutt & Elliott, which also has a Leeds outpost, is part of London-based Moores Rowland International, the eighth largest network of accounting firms in the world operating in 92 countries and generating fee income of $1.8 billion.

Updated: 10:59 Thursday, June 10, 2004