A NEW rail engineering venture in York today declared turnover figures of £3 million after its first full year - £1 million more than predicted - and then announced plans to build its own HQ in the city.

Lancsville Rail Ltd, the dedicated rail division of the Lancsville Group, today declared its successful turnover figures, while it is also on the verge of completing a huge contract for Westinghouse Rail Systems. Already the firm employs 25 people, but that could double by the end of this year if the predicted turnover of £4.5 million is attained.

Sarah Czarnecki, business development and systems director of Lancsville Rail Ltd, said £1million had been set aside to design and build a new HQ. This would be timed for a move out of leased premises at Hunter House, Goodramgate, in October or November.

"We have become too big for Hunter House and we are looking at a couple of sites on the outskirts of the city. We are definitely staying in York, which is the hub of the UK rail industry," she said. The Westinghouse contract involved designing and building a high-spec 6,000 sq ft extension to the Peterborough relay room, to house computers and cabling needed for a massive signalling systems upgrade.

Trevor Bishop, Westinghouse construction manager, said: "We are very pleased with the effort that Lancsville Rail has put in to deliver the building on time.

"This is an important project for Westinghouse and the hard work of the team has paid off."

Phillip Sash, Lancsville Rail's managing director, said: "I am delighted with the progress we have made. There has been a concerted effort by all involved and I hope that we may be able to progress the relationships made into future works."

Updated: 11:49 Tuesday, February 17, 2004