Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 9
/NEWS
Sarah Carlton (right) from NEON with Mike Daynes and Joseph
Robson from Aycliffe Business Park-based Backscratch Theatre.
BUSINESS BITES
MANTIS MEDIA DESIGN
SECOND BOOK
Two former members of Middlesbrough
Football Club’s PR team have reunited for
a second time to produce a book for Boro
about their European hey-day.
Newton Aycliffe-based Mantis Media,
publishers of Aycliffe Today, worked
with Middlesbrough firm DNA PR &
Publicity to produce A Small Town In
Europe, celebrating the beginning of
Middlesbrough FC’s UEFA Cup adventure
10 years ago.
HISTORICAL FOOTBALL PROJECT
FOR AYCLIFFE DESIGNER By Zoe Skerrett
Two local businesses have
joined together to commemorate
the 125th anniversary of the
Northern League.
Newly-formed Backscratch Theatre has
been asked by the league to create a
celebratory series of shows, aptly named
Hewin’ Goals.
Backscratch have enlisted the help of Sarah
Carlton, from Aycliffe design agency NEON,
to put together their promotional flyers
and marketing material in the run up to the
shows which begin in October 2014.
Sarah works for a number of local
businesses, including Mantis Media,
Wilsonart, Saks Apprenticeships, St John’s
School, YMCA, Salvation Army and Darlington
Football Club.
“It’s great to be working on a project like
this, said Sarah.
”
“The Northern League is steeped in history
and it’s a great opportunity for me to get
involved in a project which has a big local
interest with football supporters.
”
Backscratch consists of four writers,
musicians and performers, Jack Burton, Tom
Burton, Mike Daynes and Laura Emerson,
and with the help of Joseph Robson are
currently working on Hewin’ Goals - a play
on words from the coal mining term “Hewin’
Coals”
.
Previously, Backscratch have put on shows
such as Any Good Thing, a humorous 19th
century style show about North East mining,
and Mummers Play, a seasonal folk tale that
originally dates back to the 18th century.
With four shows taking place in Newton
Aycliffe, Backscratch are a newly-formed
theatre company situated on Aycliffe
Business Park and will be directing, writing
and acting in the Northern League inspired
show, which will tell the history and
highlights from the past 125 years.
It’s hoped the Aycliffe shows will be
subsidised by Great Aycliffe and Middridge
Partnership (GAMP) and the Heritage Lottery,
which will mean the performances in Aycliffe,
starting on 6th October, will be free, and
are due to be held at Woodham Community
Centre, the Youth Centre, Greenfield School
and one more location to be confirmed soon.
To discuss your design needs, give
Sarah a call on 01325 520 462 or email
[email protected]
More details about Backscratch Theatre
can be found on www.backscratchtheatre.
wordpress.com
AYCLIFFE ‘FINTECH’ FIRM EXPANDS
Growth Capital Ventures, the financial
services and technology firm behind
GrowthFunders, is expanding.
Although the first of its kind in the North
East, the Newton Aycliffe-based business
operates in the thriving alternative finance
sector and is growing rapidly.
Now, Growth Capital Ventures is set to use
its own platform to raise capital and fund
further expansion.
Formed in July 2013, Growth Capital
Ventures launched its first platform, an
equity crowdfunding and co-investment
marketplace GrowthFunders, earlier this year.
In just a short space of time, the platform
has 90 businesses in the pipeline who will be
looking to raise in excess of £20m over the
course of the next 18 months and an investor
base that is growing day-by-day.
GrowthFunders works to streamline both the
fundraising and investment processes, which
it does by enabling entrepreneurs to raise
capital online and investors to invest directly
into businesses.
For more information visit
www.growthfunders.com
The 200-page hardback publication follows
the success of One Giant Leap, launched
at the end of 2013, which celebrated the
10th anniversary of Boro’s Carling Cup win
in 2004 - the North-East’s last major piece
of silverware.
More on this is in the business section 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.
Ebac, which employs 220 people and has
an annual turnover of £22m, hopes the
freezer expansion could create up to 100
new