A York healthcare organisation, whose patron was the Queen Mother, has abandoned plans to move out of the city - and instead is buying its own purpose-built headquarters a few hundred yards away.

Piling rigs have now moved on to the Holgate Park frontage in Tadcaster Road at the start of a project to build a new 16,500 sq ft three-storey administrative HQ for the Benenden Healthcare Society by December, doubling its existing space in nearby St George's Place.

The Society, a not-for-profit mutual friendly which has more than a million members drawn from the Post Office, the civil service, BT, the education sector and local authorities, had grown too big for its large converted house, where about 100 people are on the payroll.

Among the options considered by Society chiefs were moving out of York either to Glasgow or Nottingham. But they were convinced that staying in York was possible by a team from York commercial estate agents, Lawrence Hannah and Skelton, acting for Burley Developments, which is also speculatively developing a further two office blocks there, both of two storeys - one of 3,100 sq ft and the other 4,000 sq ft.

Richard Flanagan, of Lawrence Hannah and Skelton, reports "fantastic response" for the remaining two speculative builds, which builders Quarmby Construction will complete at the same time.

Updated: 08:42 Tuesday, April 23, 2002