Whangārei's The Orchard back in business in refreshed old George Court's building

Northland Inc staff Kayla Tatley, left and Euginie van Paassen helping with the move back into the old Courts building.

Whangārei's historic former George Courts building has opened its doors to business again after being closed for 10 months for extensive earthquake proofing and renovation work.

Northland Inc's Orchard Business and Event Hub, the co-occupant with Northland Chamber of Commerce on the first floor of the one-time department store on the corner of Walton and Cameron Sts, started moving back into the building on Monday this week.

"Everyone's looking forward to returning to their old home next week and we expect to resume full business as normal by Wednesday," Orchard relocation project lead Kayla Tattley said.

"The Orchard is an incubator for budding local businesses and we're grateful to them for weathering the disruption caused by the relocation."

The Orchard will hold court at its revamped premises with a BA5 (Business After 5) event there at 5.30pm this evening, expected to be one of the biggest networking gatherings in Northland this year.

The main entrance for the business and event hub is set back from the street frontage at 35 Walton St and accessed through a small private carpark with a distinctive overhead pedestrian bridge.