Following the sale of the freehold of its Hertfordshire site it will merge that operation with its warehouse in Bow and its Shoreditch sales office on a single site in North London.

The Independent paper merchant has bid 3m for a 1,858m2 warehouse unit.

Managing director Neville Simpson said if the bid were successful, it would provide much needed additional warehouse space to serve its City of London print clients.

With the opening of a much larger London warehouse, Simpson hoped that this would not only involve an expansion of its salesforce, but would also expand its client base.

"At the end of the day we are sales orientated and want to stay that way, by concentrating on selling paper," he said.

Within the London area, some 75% of the company's deliveries are same-day requirements.

The new site would add to Moorgate's existing operations, which include sales offices in Yeovil, Essex and Luton.

Moorgate Paper acquired York & Ford's Luton branch from the company's administrative receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year (PrintWeek, 18 March).

The opening of its Essex branch last month quickly followed this. The Essex outlet is headed by Michael & Phil Roblin, who used to own Zodiac Paper in Shenfield, prior to its purchase by Capital Paper.

Simpson said since the Luton office acquisition the business has continued to build on the 7m sales achieved under York & Ford's ownership.

Story by Andy Scott