CHANGE is in the air at one York business who are on the move to bigger premises.

Car body workshop Alton Cars will be moving to a new, larger site in the city transferring all the 44 jobs from their existing James Street operation.

The firm say that their new building, three miles away on Elvington Industrial estate, will offer substantially larger workshop facilities, along with room for more secure car parking outside.

Alton are currently fitting out their new 22,000 sq ft site and hope to move in by December this year.

Julian Milner, group managing director said: “The new site will be perfect for us to continue to grow the York business with us going from 2 x 7m booths to 3 x 9m booths, which will allow production to ramp up.

“With the new premises being larger both internally and externally than the existing site, it will allow for better process flow and organisation. All the staff at York are very excited about the move.”

Neilson Jones, group commercial director said: “The move is planned to take place over a weekend, meaning that there will be no disruption or downtime to the operation. Alton continue to put our customers at the heart of everything we do, hence the careful planning that has gone into this move to ensure that we make the move as seamless as possible.”

As previously reported by The Press, Alton’s current workshop could be transformed into student apartments by York-based developer S Harrison.

They have submitted a planning application to build new student accommodation with 308 bedrooms in cluster apartments, all with their own communal kitchens, living areas and dining facilities, and 30 studio apartments. The site’s central location means it will be almost entirely car free; a large cycle store will be incorporated into the scheme.