Professional services firm WYG is to close down its real estate advisory business based in Carlisle as part of an integration of its operation in Cumbria.

The company global programme, project management and technical consultancy acquired North Associates, based at Parkhouse Road in Kingstown, in October 2015 in a deal worth up to £5 million.

But in a trading update to the London Stock Exchange, it revealed it was closing down the operation with the expected cost of £3.2m.

The North Associates brand disappeared last year as it was integrated in to WYG, which has an office at Lakeland Business Park in Cockermouth.

It is understood that some staff from Carlisle have moved to Cockermouth while a small number have been placed under consultation.

Craig Hatch, divisional director for asset and project management for WYG, said: “We are in the process of combining our operations in Cumbria to one centralised hub at our long established Cockermouth office.

"This will enable the integration of all our Cumbria-based operations in a single location to support closer collaborative working.

"As a result, we are winding down and transferring operations from our Carlisle office, where our strategic real estate activities have been located and will be continuing to provide these services from Cockermouth and in the wider business.”

In the update to the LSE, WYG said: “Separately disclosed items are also expected to include approximately £3.2m of costs relating to the closure of the real estate advisory business we acquired in October 2015, including £2.2m relating to the write down of acquired intangible assets.”

WYG celebrated its 30th year in Cumbria in 2017 and has helped deliver a number of significant developments in the county including the £18m Albion Square office development in Whitehaven, which saw around 1,500 Sellafield staff relocate from the nuclear site near Egremont. Other projects include Energus ay Lillyhall and Workington Leisure Centre.

It is also a member of the Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Ltd consortium, which has delivered more than £60m-worth of decommissioning work at Sellafield and worked with Carlisle City Council to manage reinstatement works in the aftermath of the flooding caused by Storm Desmond in 2015.

North Associates provided property advice to both the public and private sectors as well as high-net-worth individuals, with projects including a new shopping complex in Carlisle city centre.

In the update to the LSE, WYG said it expected revenue and operating profit to be higher in 2018 than in 2017.

It has forecast revenue at £155 million and operating profit at £3.5m in line with market expectations, in comparison to the £151.8m revenue and £2.2m operating profit posted for the year ending March 31, 2017.

It will post its final results for the year ending March 31, 2018 on June 5.