A COMPANY affected by a devastating fire nine months ago will be moving into a £1m-plus site later this year.

Work has started on a head office and sales centre for timber importers and supply specialists North Yorkshire Timber.

Last October, the company's premises, in Springwell Lane, Northallerton, were destroyed in a blaze that caused damage valued at millions of pounds. The company survived the crisis and preserved jobs by using other branches and setting up a temporary base in Willow Beck Road.

The new 22,000sq ft development is being built on a 1.5-acre site on the town's Darlington Road business park.

It will provide 5,000sq ft of office accommodation, 5,000sq ft of sales area and 12,000sq ft of internal storage.

The site also provides 22,000sq ft of external storage and parking for 50 customer vehicles.

Chairman Richard Fawcett said: "We are delighted to be able to keep our head office in Northallerton, where the company has been for 25 years, and to get purpose-built accommodation which gives us room to grow."

Managing director Peter Kershaw said: "We are on track to achieve our growth targets and we are investing right across the company to make sure all our centres meet the increasing demand from both our trade and retail customers.

"Coupled with our 120,000sq ft storage, delivery and fabrication centre at Brompton-on-Swale, this new head office and sales centre consolidates our position in the region."

Designed by Teesside architects SP&A, the development is being managed by Management Construction, of Northallerton.