BE prepared - for a new master of the York building which once housed the headquarters of Girl Guiding North East.

The three-storey office, converted from a house in Heworth Green, will be the new base for expanding communication and design consultancy The Morrice Partnership Ltd from next June and will mean that its staff will more than double from six to 15 over the next two years.

The Morrice Partnership, whose clients include Tesco, Total fuel, Barclays Bank and Fullers Brewery, acquired the building for more than £400,000 from Girl Guiding North East through MPC Limited, the property consultancy in Clifton Moor.

It will mean the 22-year-old Morrice Partnership moving out of its rented HQ at York Science Park, in Heslington, on June 1, and into the larger base which will be big enough to let out to other businesses.

Richard Morrice, managing director, said: "It's a wonderful former gentleman's home which opened on the day that Queen Victoria was crowned in 1837.

"It consists of 3,500 sq ft gross. We will occupy about 1,400 sq ft which gives us double the space that we had. It means that staff could increase from six to 15 over the next two years. We will let out the remaining 2,100 sq ft."

Meanwhile, Girl Guiding North East relocated last Thursday to Alpha Court, the offices built by Pocklington-based Helmsley Group at Monks Cross North in Heslington, where it has bought the ground floor of one of the units, consisting of 2,500 sq ft.

Updated: 10:21 Tuesday, April 25, 2006