A DOZEN new deals have been sealed within the past three months at a Ryedale business centre.

Harrison Developments LLP, the owners and developers of Malton Enterprise Park, have signed up 12 new occupiers for the site next to the A64.

Direct Imaging and Parnabys are among the new arrivals, along with Toolstation, Snug Campers, J.S Graphixx, Neu-Era, The Wooden House, Dogtooth and Timeless Precision Engineering.

Meanwhile, existing tenants Bella di Notte, Aquapoint and Dales The Chef’s Choice are expanding into bespoke new business units. Other units on the 180,000 sq ft site, ranging from 2,000 sq ft upwards, have been sold to private investors.

The occupiers, from a range of business sectors, have taken a combined total of 40,000 sq ft at the employment park.

Sean Harrison, managing director of Harrison Developments, said: “These new deals are a tremendous vindication of the substantial investment we have made in our park.

“More than 180 new and sustainable jobs have been created on site, which makes us very proud. The wide variety of successful businesses here is also an indication of the strength of the economy in Ryedale.

“We have a further 100,000 sq. ft of quality employment land at the park, available on a design and build basis. We will build speculatively and can either sell or lease the new units.

“These units will be single or two-storey commercial buildings which will be designed with maximum flexibility to allow a range of uses, including light industrial, offices, general industrial and retail, trade and warehousing. Sizes range from 1,000 sq ft to 50,000 sq ft.”

Susan Johnson, owner of Bella di Notte, said: “We are a mail order business and our sales have increased 32 per cent during Covid. There were moments when we couldn’t cope with the high levels of demand with our safe working practices. We even had to close our website at one point. Everyone was very keen on home delivery.”

Richard Dale, Dales The Chef’s Choice, said: “We bought our first unit here two years and are now purchasing another unit on this site, which is 5000 sq. ft, as we have outgrown our existing premises. Our business is wholesale food supply to all aspects of the catering trade, including restaurants, cafes, hotels, theme parks, stately homes and care homes.

"We were hugely affected by COVID-19 and lost 80 per cent of our wholesale business overnight. So we flipped the business and created an on-line ordering service for home deliveries acting as a supermarket providing local produce you can’t get in your everyday shop.

“During Covid, the developers developed some land for us to put in a temporary container freezer to help us cope with demand and were extremely efficient.

"The units are finished to a high standard, compared to other sites, with a modern look across the whole development."