EVERYONE connected with the regional construction industry, it seems, came to see Jack Birch, 91-year-old chairman of York's William Birch & Sons Ltd and his son, Chris, the managing director, in their "seventh heaven".

They were converging on a sleek, £1 million building in Osbaldwick Link Road, York which will serve as the brand new HQ for this construction company - its seventh since 1874 when it began the skyline of the city and beyond.

The event included architects, surveyors, accountants and, perhaps the most prominent of all civil engineers on the day, the Lord Mayor of York, Coun David Horton, who unveiled a special plaque.

It was the least he could do for Jack, himself a former Lord Mayor of York, and the memory of Jack's father, William Henry Birch, who began as a bricklayer of the York Gas Company and also held that same high office.

The moustachioed William first set up the rudiments of the business in St Saviourgate, and after moving over the decades to extended premises in Spen Lane ultimately built a new HQ on the old York Corporation Electricity Works in Foss Islands Road in 1980.

But as the firm expanded plans were drawn up to build this much-larger premises on land next door to the company's plant and tool hire depot. Now more than 30 of the company's 100 staff have moved into it.

Amid the canapes and champagne, Chris Birch, only recently appointed managing director, said: "Things were getting very tight at the Foss Islands office and there were obvious efficiencies to be found in moving next to our depot and closer to the main road networks on the A64."

The move comes as turnover has leapt from £7.5 million two years ago to £17 million with a flood of orders, including the recently opened £2.6 million visitor centre at Whitby Abbey and an ongoing £2 million refurbishment project at Temple Newsam House in Leeds.

Meanwhile the now-vacated Foss Islands Road office block has already attracted interest from potential buyers and leaseholders. There are also plans to sell a 10,000 sq ft storage building there, for which planning consent has been gained to change its use to non-food retail.

Updated: 09:17 Tuesday, August 20, 2002