A computer communications giant has chosen York to establish its new multi-lingual help desk.

Azlan Group plc has doubled its specialised workforce at Clifton Moor to 20, and more recruitment is likely as the centralised help desk, designed to support Azlan's operations in mainland Europe, becomes a 24-hour operation.

The news was welcomed today by York's science community. Anna Rooke, manager of Science City York, said: "To have a major international player such as Azlan in York is hugely beneficial to the work we do to support York as a science and technology hotspot."

The offices in Amy Johnson Way used to be the base only for support operations in the UK, as well as other nations where English is widely spoken, like the Nordic countries and Holland.

But its activities are now being expanded because of the linguistic and technical skills available in York, as well as the support of the nearby Science City York community. investment in new validation and progress computer systems alone is thought to amount to £120,000.

Ironically, Azlan was first founded in York 20 years ago, but now has its headquarters in Wokingham, with 15 local centres across Europe, including France and Germany.

Five of them were handling both calls and sales and now York takes over their calls role. The 20 support staff, all of whom speak at least three languages and handle hundreds of technical calls per month, are among more than 130 people employed in the two storey, 15,000 sq ft building in Clifton Moor, mostly working for the group's finance, purchasing and transport desks.

Richard Pryor-Jones, managing director of Azlan, said: "We have been very impressed with the range and quality of technical and linguistic skills available from people in the York area.

"Despite the trend for this type of support to be provided from a base outside the UK where it is cheaper, we have decided to establish York as the base for our European help desk.

"The skills and professionalism, as well as the commitment of our York team persuaded us that this is the ideal location, and we have been able to increase our service offering to clients in what is a very competitive market, which has already had a positive impact on our sales turnover."

Ms Rook said the investment "signals to other high technology operations that York has the facilities and expertise to support the needs of new and growing science and technology companies".

Dave Taylor, marketing director of york-england.com, the recently-expanded inward investment board, said: "This is great news for York and it is proof that we can offer specialist skills on an international scale.

"The quality of the local workforce is a huge consideration for companies looking to set up operations in the UK.

"It is good to be able to show them that York can provide not only high-quality employees but loyal ones as well."

Updated: 10:46 Thursday, May 13, 2004