DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, the international property adviser, is pulling out of York.

The commercial property giant has decided to close its four-person office in Merchant Chambers, Fossgate at the end of this month.

The commercial property giant plans to focus its Yorkshire business in Leeds, which will absorb the current business from the York office..

Sub regional offices will also be absorbed into other main commercial northern centres like Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle, although its residential Wetherby office will remain unaffected

The lease on the Fossgate office, which at one time had the lion's share of the city's commercial property sector, has now been put on the market.

Three years ago the York office was hard hit when three top chartered surveyors working there defected to the opposition - joining Lawrence Hannah & Skelton of Blossom Street, York.

At the time, the defection was denounced by a Leeds-based director of DTZ as "a piece of opportunism".

But a spokesman for DTZ said: "The decision was not as a result of any previous departures from the office. "

Jeremy Payne, managing director of DTZ, said: "As part of our long-term group strategy we have invested heavily in the UK's main regional centres, with the aim of consolidating our commercial business and increasing critical mass, moving away from having supporting sub-regional offices.

"The decision to consolidate our Yorkshire operations is in line with group strategy to provide a more focused holistic service offering which will ultimately assist our plans to strengthen our market position in the region."

The branch recovered under the leadership of Jamie Wheldon, but he recently accepted a job with FPD Savills of Micklegate, York, and starts at the end of the month. Two of the DTZ surveyors in York will relocate to Leeds and consultation has begun with an administrative staff member.

The York office first opened as a residential agency, Bernard Thorpe & Partners in the 1980s. Iit was taken over in 1993 by DTZ and rebranded as DTZ Debenham Thorpe.

In 1999 it was again renamed DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

Updated: 11:03 Monday, April 05, 2004