A YORK company rearranged the opening of its new workshop to ensure it could be opened by a very special guest.

Printing firm Ceejay UK yesterday unveiled a new workshop next to its current base on the Green Lane Trading Estate, at Clifton.

Wayne Ficco, production manager, said the opening was originally planned for tomorrow, but was brought forward 24 hours to allow York City’s star striker, Richard Brodie, to be there.

City will be at Wembley on Sunday to contest the Conference play-off final with Oxford United and Brodie and his teammates will be putting the finishing touches to their preparations between now and then.

Mr Ficco said: “We’ve got a good relationship with York City as we’ve done a lot of work for them, and we’re doing some work on the Wembley buses, so we decided to ask them for a little favour – if we could borrow Richard Brodie for an hour or so,” said Wayne.

“Luckily they agreed, but we had to change the date when it looked like City were going to make the play-offs.”

The new workshop is called Get Branded and specialises in the production and sale of workwear and uniforms.

Mr Ficco said: “We just don’t know how it’s going to go at the moment, but our firm has weathered the storm of the past few years. We lost a couple of customers but now we’re looking to diversify and expand.”

The firm was started by Christopher Baxter in 1984 and supplies screen and digital printing for shops, vans, cars and exhibitions around the UK, counting Northern Rail, Marks & Spencers and City of York Council among their customers.

The firm employs eight staff and the new workshop should see another full-time job created with scope for further sales staff in the future.

Last year, The Press launched the York Means Business campaign to promote the economy in our region. It was supported by business leaders, politicians and Gordon Brown, who called the region’s 300,000 small businesses “the lifeblood of the area’s economy”.