A new business park snubbed by companies for months has seen a flurry of interest as firms look for new premises.

The Office Campus, at Woodingdean Business Park on the outskirts of Brighton, was completed late last year but lay empty for almost ten months as recession-hit companies battened down the hatches and kept investment to a minimum.

However, the past few weeks has seen a surge in the number of firms looking at moving into the park, with four units being filled since the beginning of the summer.

According to developer St Mowden, there is currently “very strong” interest in a further three units.

Simon Forrest, of Brighton-based agents Oakley Commercial, said: “These recent deals show that there are companies out there looking to expand.”

Nick Kay, development director at St Modwen, put the recent success of the business park down to both the improving economy and its innovative “rent to buy” scheme.

To convince firms to move in, the developer is offering premises at a reduced rent, with the opportunity to buy outright in two years’ time.

Tenants can even use the rent they have paid as a deposit.

Mr Kay said: “We have a unique product so we are making a unique offer.

“There are lots of businesses that want to move but have been worried that the bottom of the market has not come about yet.

“This development lends itself to those companies that want to buy their own small offices and put in their company pension fund, or whatever.

“But the way the economy was going, no one wanted to take the plunge.”

Mr Kay admitted the rents they were charging were less than what they had projected while building the park.

However, he is confident margins will improve as the economy continues to recover.

The first tenant to move on to the ten-acre site was independent children and parenting advisory body Triangle in July, followed shortly afterwards by Brighton & Hove Training Association.

The most recent companies to move to the business park come under one umbrella. They are: API Trading, which specialises in packaging waste evidence trading, waste disposal and recycling; and Econo-Compliance, which operates two compliance schemes – Econo-Weee, operating under the Waste Electronic regulations, and Econo-Batt, operating under the newly adopted Waste Battery regulations.

Director David Adams said: “This is a very exciting time for us.

“We were planning to move to the site last year but with the downturn we decided to hold off.

“Now we are bursting at the seams at our old premises.

“There are currently ten of us but it is clear that we will need to expand further in the coming months.”