BOSSES at an East Lancashire IT company have confirmed they will be the anchor tenants for a sprawling business park on the site of a former chemicals plant.

Exertis, currently based at Altham, will be making the short move to the Burnley Bridge Business Park at Hapton, to occupy a 543,000 sq ft national distribution centre.

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Staff presently located at the Shorten Brook Way premises of Exertis, which employs around 1,170 staff across six sites, are expected to transfer to Burnley Bridge by early 2017, after their custom-built new home is completed.

Gerry O’Keeffe, Exertis managing director, said that their new HQ, off junction nine of the M65, was “an ideal site at which to continue expansion of our distribution business” after a UK-wide search.

He added: “The new distribution operation we will build at Burnley Bridge Business Park will prepare the company for further growth while giving us a strategic geographical base in East Lancashire that complements our existing facilities in Raunds and Elland.”

Revised proposals for a warehouse with a mezzanine level were approved by Burnley councillors last year, and there is the scope to extend the building by 200,000 sq ft.

New Borough Council Chief Executive Pam Smith has also heralded the announcement, which follows on from Burnley being named ‘the most enterprising site in the UK’.

She said: “The council is working hard to promote the borough and its development sites to attract new investment and continues to invest in infrastructure to rival sites across the region.

“Burnley Bridge is set to create many new jobs for the town and we look forward to our continued partnership working with Eshton to secure further occupants for the site.”

Other tenants already on the £50million 70-acre park include YESSS Electrical, Birchall Food Services and Equinox Building Services.

James Chapman, managing director of the park’s developer Eshton, added: “This is really great news for the local area.”