YORKSHIRE Bakery Sara Lee is moving into the art business in a bid to bring the work of local artists from Yorkshire and Humberside to the attention of staff and business colleagues.

Joanna Marsden, of Sara Lee's head office at Monks Cross, York, admires one of the paintings with artist Jayne Jones (standing).

In a deal worth thousands with Quay Art, of Hull, the company, which is best known in the UK for its Double Chocolate Gateau, has bought and will exhibit five works around the company HQ in York.

The pictures were chosen by three representatives of the company: Justine Finch, aged 28, of York; Joanna Marsden, 26, of Selby; and Darren Hughes, 29, of Selby.

Spokeswoman for the group Joanna said: "This is the first time I've ever really thought about art and it was fascinating. We were asked to choose pieces that would be of general interest and would be a huge talking point. These works certainly fulfil that aim.

"The more you look at them, the more you see things. I am sure they will provoke lots of comment and, a bit like the Turner Prize, I am sure there will be people who will wonder about our choice.

"The plan is to buy more works in the coming years and to add to the Sara Lee Collection. This mirrors the Sara Lee Corporation which owns one of the biggest art collections in the world. Housed in Chicago, the US collection has been recently reduced by the chairman of the board, who has been giving back famous pieces to the artists' homeland including the UK.

On a local basis the four artists from Hull and Huddersfield whose work has been chosen by the British part of Sara Lee were delighted with the news that their work was to be part of a newly-created collection.

Paul Collinson, the Arts Development Manager for Quay Art, said: "This is a new departure for us. Our aims are to promote interest and understanding in areas that normally would not be associated with artwork - like the workplace. We are hoping to build on this relationship with Sara Lee in the future and develop other links with companies in the region."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.