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BUSINESS BRIEFS
WADE COMPLETES AYCLIFFE
VILLAGE HAT-TRICK
John Wade has completed his hattrick of pub acquisitions after snapping
up two more of the three pubs in
Aycliffe Village.
But the future of the once popular
North Briton is in doubt after a
spokesman for Mr Wade refused to rule
out rumours he’s planning to bulldoze
the pub which overlooks the A167.
Mr Wade already owned The County
restaurant before he completed a
double deal in May, buying the Brit as
well as the Telegraph from corporate
pub company Punch Taverns.
A spokesman at the John Wade
Group told Aycliffe Today: “There isn’t
anything set in stone yet, we haven’t
decided what to do with the North
Briton yet.”
More at www.aycliffetoday.co.uk
EBAC CLINCH ARGOS
FREEZER DEAL
Newton Aycliffe manufacturer Ebac
has clinched a deal to sell freezers
through national firm Argos.
Ebac,
which
already
sells
dehumidifiers through the catalogue
retailer, started producing Norfrost
freezers in June.
The firm salvaged the doomed brand
last year after purchasing the collapsed
Inverness-based Icetech Freezers.
Work was delayed due to faults with
foam-making equipment, but Ebac is
now manufacturing the freezers, with
distributor deals in place with Argos
and Euronics.
More at www.aycliffetoday.co.uk
CABLE FIRM SECURES SIXFIGURE INVESTMENT
A Newton Aycliffe cable manufacturer
has received an investment of an
undisclosed sum from the Finance For
Business North East Growth Fund.
ATAG Cable Solutions designs,
manufactures, tests and supplies
a wide range of high quality, high
performance reliable cables for all types
of industries, with particular expertise in
the electronics, oil and gas, marine and
energy sectors.
ATAG – who have previously featured
in our B2B magazine Aycliffe Today
Business – aims to double both
turnover to £1.2m and staff to 14 in the
next 12 months.
AYCLIFFETODAY
AYCLIFFE STEEL FIRM ON COURSE
TO SMASH RECORD TURNOVER
Finley Structures managing director
Julie Finley on Hitachi Rail Europe’s
train-building site in Newton Aycliffe,
where the steel firm is erecting
2,000 tonnes of steel.
The family steel firm which is helping to bring train-building
back to the North-East is on course to smash its record turnover
after celebrating a string of multi-million pound contract wins.
Finley Structures, based on Aycliffe
Business Park, is currently working on
a 2,000-tonne project to fabricate and
erect the steel for Hitachi Rail Europe’s
£82m train-building factory in Newton
Aycliffe for main contractors Shepherd
Construction.
Finley has also recently completed
a 1,400-tonne project for Nissan,
constructing the steel frame for the
Japanese car manufacturer’s new
facility in Washington, and is currently
working on a 300-tonne contract
for the National Biologics Centre in
Darlington for contractors Interserve.
In addition, Finley has just started
work on Middlesbrough Council’s
state-of-the-art
Sports
Village,
erecting 500 tonnes of steel for main
contractor Willmott Dixon.
And the Aycliffe company has now
won a 500-tonne contract for Bam
Construction at Teesside University,
due to start in September, as well as
a 1,900-tonne project for Sir Robert
McAlpine at the £650m Victoria Gate
retail development in Leeds, which is
planned to open in late 2016.
At the same time, Finley is working
on several projects simultaneously
for Shepherd Construction as well as
two 280-tonne projects for the Poniel
Warehouses in South Lanarkshire,
Scotland, for Muir Construction.
It represents a strong first half
year for the company, with orders in
the current financial year, beginning
in April, currently totalling £13.8m,
meaning it’s already on course to
smash its current record turnover of
£13.1m.
The firm’s managing director Julie
Finley said: “We’re cur