IT IS no accident that the latest batch of American companies wanting to set up vital European outposts in York have found themselves in Tower Court, Clifton Moor.

They have been steered there by the city's Inward investment Board because it was one of the few logical places left in town. It speaks volumes about the sharp rise in demand overtaking the supply of prime offices in and around York; and the need to shape up to the needs of 2001 and beyond.

That demand evolved into one of the finest economic achievements in the city during the past decade - with the renaissance of the seemingly-doomed ABB Carriageworks site in Holgate Road.

Fears that the loss of the old carriageworks and with it more than 1,000 skilled jobs would fatally damage York's fragile economy did not happen precisely because of the emergence there of American wagonmakers Thrall Europa - and, more pertinently, Holgate Park.

That is the 48-acre business park where the flagship development is the new £7 million national headquarters of Card Protection Plan or CPP, the American-owned organisation which relocated from London, and is now up and running - a venture which will ultimately employ more than 1,200 people, generates more than £550,000 a year in rental income and houses 37 kilometres of computer wiring.

It was masterminded by the Holgate Park Venture and co-ordinated by the Pocklington-based Helmsley Group, the commercial development and financial services company.

John Reeves of Helmsley said: "As project co-ordinators, we are absolutely delighted that the prestigious CPP building makes such a bold and confident statement about Holgate Park. We are especially pleased that CPP, a significant national financial services agency, has pledged its future to the city of York. I understand that CPP is employing more people in this one building than were originally employed on the whole site."

The remainder of the Holgate Park office development is about to start. DTZ Debenham Tie Leung has already begun marketing the Helmsley Group's latest speculative build - its £5 million Gateway Venture building project. By October there should emerge a 20,000 sq ft office block on four floors with 46 car parking spaces and 15,000 sq ft on three floors with room for 34 cars with frontages on Poppleton Road and Estate Road. The architects are the Wakefield-based Harris Partnership.

There is also a hurry to meet and beat the demand on the northern side of the city at Clifton Park, the old Clifton Hospital site and here the Helmsley Group has also been involved. So far the business park has attracted some high-profile and successful companies to York, including Norwich Union, Cell Hire, Adtranz, On-Line Computing and PCLG Accounting.

Now Phase 4 of the flagship Zenith development at Clifton Park is about to start with 50,000 sq ft of office space, and private on site car parking, available to rent in January 2002.

Meanwhile, the hospital chapel will be transformed, keeping its original identity, into 6,000 sq ft of offices. These offices will be ready to let next summer.

Mr Reeves said: "We believe that both Holgate Park and Clifton Park will make a crucial contribution to York's expanding economy in the coming years. Both have a wealth of history behind them and I am confident they have a great future ahead of them. We are proud to be associated with them both."

DTZ is also the letting agent for Hudson Court in York, a speculative development which is producing seven industrial units. The site already includes leisure outlets like Maxi's Chinese Restaurant, the Bengal Brasserie, Wetherby Whaler and Travel Express Hotel, but will also contain office space.

Industrial units of between 7,000 and 12,000 sq ft have already secured occupancies from the likes of Orange Telecommunications, Scuff Body Repairs, Thus Telecom and Viewpoint with final negotiations taking place with John Miller Fresh Foods. After that, just one unit will be left - and quickly snapped up.

Add to this the multi-million pound investment in the latest phase of York Science Park and the proposed £25 million scheme for student housing, an hotel and 50,000 sq ft of offices on 3.5 acres of former Railtrack land (involving KeyLand developments and new owners, the National Railway Museum in York) and the office-hunting prospects seem slightly better for the Inward Investment Board.

But only slightly...