MARKETING work has started to attract businesses and jobs to a multi-million development at the University of York’s Heslington site.

The pitching will be a co-operative effort between the university, the York Science Park, Science City York, the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) at Sand Hutton and Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency.

The end result will be to create 685 new jobs, 90 new businesses and provide help for a further 697 ventures while at the same time boosting productivity of the region’s high-tech industries by £37 million.

It should all be up-and-running by the end of October.

By then up to 40 spaces could be available for artistic high- tech ventures to move into The Catalyst Centre on the university campus and already York Science Park is hard at work networking at events and exhibitions.

Erica Thorpe, of York Science Park, said: “We have had about 20 companies in the creative sector express an interest so far.

“Many are attracted by the flexibility of the offer, with leases running for six to 12 months. That is of huge benefit to new companies which do not know where they are going to be in a year’s time; and it’s good for us because we want a tide of growing businesses moving out to make way for a new wave.”

Mrs Thorpe said it was too early to formulate specific rents, but there would be keen negotiations to attract “perfect” companies that would thrive in that environment. To help find those companies, she would be co-operating with the City of York Council’s newly-constituted Inward Investment Board.

All the partners were also already marketing what will be the spectacular ocean liner-shaped Sir Ron Cooke hub which, when finished, will create a knowledge exchange area.