A NEW Sony Centre will open in York this summer after a £250,000 refit.

Already preparations are being made to train six Sony staff for the new outlet which will be in Church Street, on the site of the former Wine Rack store in Talbot House, opposite St Sampson’s Centre.

Another Sony Centre franchise in Micklegate closed this year, but Sony’s own research suggested York remained a good venue.

The company approached Andrew Jones one of its top franchisees, to lead the charge in York.

Mr Jones has already steered to success new Sony Centres in Leeds, Wakefield and, most lately, Harrogate, under the banner of Yorkshire Style Ltd.

He said: “We are determined to recruit from the York area and will start advertising next month with a view to opening in August.

“Some may say that starting up now is unwise, but the economic downturn will not last forever, and we plan to be in a strong position to take advantage of the upturn when it happens next year.”

The new store, which will occupy 1,600 sq ft on the ground floor with another 1,600 sq ft above for storage, will specialise in the latest Sony technology, from the latest super slim LCD Bravia to the new range of Vaio laptop computers, from E-readers and wireless home theatre systems to digital cameras and camcorders.

“Sony has great confidence in the city of York and its research shows it fits its image perfectly,” he said.

The York venture will bring to 137 the number of Sony Centres in the UK and Ireland and add six employees to the 25 already employed by Mr Jones.