Aycliffe Today Business AT Business Issue 30 | Page 11

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 11
Finley Structures founder
John Finley at the Gates
development in Durham city.
Finley Structures
completes 1,100-tonne
Durham city contract
Steel firm Finley Structures has completed a 1,100-tonne project which
will help to rejuvenate Durham city.
By Martin Walker
The Newton Aycliffe family-run
business was awarded a contract from Sir
Robert McAlpine to work on a retail and
entertainment complex as part of the multi-
million pound Durham Gates redevelopment.
And the contract win has come as a
personal victory for Finley’s managing
director John Finley, as it’s the first project
he has won in his home city after nearly 40
years in the construction industry.
Finley, who’s originally from Esh Winning,
just outside Durham city, says he’s personally
delighted to have won it.
He said: “Even going back to my original
steel erecting days in the late 1970s I’d never
worked on a project in the city.
“And since starting out in business in 1981
that pattern has continued, despite many
student accommodation projects being
carried out around the city in recent years.
“So to have finally won a contract in
Durham city is very much a personal victory
for me and the company and we’re naturally
delighted.”
Finley’s part of the project was to fabricate
and erect 1,100 tonnes of steel on top of an
existing concrete structure. The firm started
on-site at Durham earlier this year and has
recently finished.
The steel project is supporting at least 30
local jobs, including a local drawing office and
labourers.
Finley added:
“It’s a transfer
structure, with
a new steel
frame that sits
on top of that,
so it’s quite a
challenge.
“Building up
into fresh air is
straight forward,
but fixing down
into existing
concrete
structures is
always much
more complex.
“But it’s
a good local
project we’re all excited to be involved with,
and we’re working with main contractor Sir
Robert McAlpine, with whom we have a
long-standing partnership.”
With a 445-bed student accommodation
unit, a six-screen Odeon cinema and half a
dozen bars and restaurants, the riverside
area will be transformed by 2018.
It’s part of three major contracts across
the city which represent a total £195m of
investment.
The developments will bring a huge range
of choice for County Durham foodies, with
restaurants including Marco Pierre White
Steakhouse Bar and Grill, Handmade Burger
Co and Caribbean restaurant Turtle Bay all set
to open there eventually.
The two-storey glass fronted building will
take in views across the river wear of the
castle and the Cathedral.
Riverwalk is set to open in two stages in
2018 and be completed by that summer.