THE Duke of York officially launched a ground breaking new business centre today.

Prince Andrew was given a guided tour of the Springboard Business Centre in Stokesley, North Yorkshire.

On arrival, he was greeted by children from Stokesley Primary School and the town's Hopscotch Nursery.

He then spent almost an hour chatting to business people and people who were involved in the creation of the 2.35m centre.

Before unveiling a plaque to commemorate his visit, he said: "I was very interested in the architecture of the building to understand more about how it works with the energy efficiency.

"It is quite clear that the atmosphere in here is conducive to the activity of doing work."

The centre houses 20 incubator style units for young and fledgling businesses. Companies on the site range from graphic and website design to a company preparing plans for a state of the art bio-diesel plant on Teesside.

In the last year the centre has won four awards for its modern design. The building has rainwater collection systems, soundproofing and temperature and light controlled louvers.

Susan Latter, chairman of Hambleton District Council, which manages the centre, said: "We are very privileged to have had our centre officially opened by HRH the Duke of York. He seemed to be very interested in its design."

A 20,000 art project was also unveiled. Twenty-two pieces of glass have been created by Newcastle-based artist Kathryn Hodgkinson depicting words and exchanges of information.

She recorded the voices of people who were involved in the centre and created the glass pieces from the electronic patterns the voices made.