A TELEVISION company in York has become a developer.

NMTV Ltd has through its umbrella holding YO1 group, has set up YO1 Homes Ltd to develop its Victorian-built studios in Huntington Road.

Chris Wise, managing director of NMTV has bought a new suite of offices at Northminster Business Park at Nether Poppleton to make way for eight two-bedroom and one single-bedroom luxury flats on the Huntington Road site.

Work on the scheme, which has already received planning approval, is likely to start next Spring.

Meanwhile, the 14 staff at NMTV will move into their smaller - but better arranged -- new office at Nether Poppleton by next Monday.

Emphasising new beginnings, the firm will re-brand as Mandrill TV, using the name of the colourful monkey to get away from its now-misleading NMTV acronym, New Media Television.

The opportunity to develop the huge, rambling house in Huntington Road was first identified by Roger Atkins, valuation partner with York property and construction consultancy, Lawrence Hannah & Skelton. (LH&S

He was undertaking a valuation for loan security at the time. He said: "My immediate reaction was that the site's real value lay in its development potential rather than its present use as an office."

LH&S was commissioned to design the scheme using its in-house architectural team and planning consent was obtained for sensitive development in keeping with the surrounding area.

Mr Wise, a former Evening Press Business Personality of the Year, said: "Television is and always has been a very volatile, erratic kind of business and a steady income stream from this development will balance it out."

Not that there is any shortage of contracts right now. NMTV has begun production of a new 15-part series on test tube babies, another 15-part series begins on the subject of body builders and as the firm moves into its new premises on December 1, Yorkshire Television screens the first of five "fly on the wall" half-hour documentaries about the life of two Selby Hospital midwives.

Updated: 09:16 Tuesday, November 25, 2003