ONE of the fastest-growing construction companies in North Yorkshire has laid off ten people.

S Harrison Construction Ltd, of Malton, has made redundant six head office staff and four site management people in the wake of a cyclical lull in orders.

A spokesperson for the company, which is linked with S Harrison Developments Ltd, said: "While we have a very promising order book from late spring 2002 onwards, there is a time-lag between current projects concluding and new work coming on stream.

"It is for this reason that we have made a number of redundancies."

But the company expects that the downturn in staff numbers "will be only short-term" given ambitious plans for both the development and construction sides of the business.

"Having said that, however, our plan initially is to grow the business with the quality staff that we have on the team by effecting improvements in efficiency throughout the organisation."

Harrison's construction teams have been responsible for major projects in York, including extension of York Science Park, the new headquarters of CPP Card Protection Plan, in Holgate Road, and, more recently, the Zenith building for Norwich Union in Clifton Park.

Other projects in hand are the new Scarborough Building Society HQ being built on the Gateway commercial site in Scarborough, which is expected to be finished by next summer, as well as the Dulverton Hall housing project for retired clergy in Scarborough.

Updated: 10:37 Thursday, January 24, 2002