Aycliffe Today Business AT Business Issue 37 | Page 9

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 9 /NEWS BUSINESS BRIEFS NEWTONIAN JOINS ACCOUNTANCY A Newton Aycliffe resident has landed a job with a leading accountancy firm. Clive Owen has appointed four new trainees at its Darlington office is it prepares for future growth. Completed new junction paves way for 52-hectare Forrest Park development E ngineers have paved the way for more than 3,000 new jobs and a near half a billion-pound boost to County Durham’s economy. With £13m in Local Enterprise Partnership funding, Durham County Council has been preparing Forrest Park, a 52-hectare expansion of the North East’s largest industrial estate, Aycliffe Business Park. Now a major step in the development is complete, with a new junction providing better access to the A1(M) and A167, and a 23-mega volt amp sub-station set to ensure businesses have all the electricity they need. Cllr Simon Henig, leader of Durham County Council, said: “The decision by Hitachi to bring rail manufacturing back to its spiritual home in County Durham provided us with a major opportunity. “By adding to the success of what is already the largest business park in the region we hope to see over 3,000 jobs created and almost half a billion pounds added to the economy over the next 20 years. “The Forrest Park investment will firmly shine a light on Durham, demonstrating what a great place we are for business, and I am delighted to see it progressing towards becoming the next great success story for our county.” The improvements are designed to remove existing barriers to the continued success and further expansion of Aycliffe Business Park, with the hope that they will unlock a potential investment of nearly £140m from the private sector to further develop the site including, due to its location, a possible rail freight interchange. Cllr Carl Marshall, cabinet member for economic regeneration, said: “Today is a major milestone towards delivering thousands of jobs to the Newton Aycliffe area. “We are delighted to see progress made on this exciting development, which is just one of a number of sites that the council is bringing forward to help deliver long term economic growth and prosperity for the people of County Durham.” Commercial Expert adds to growing Aycliffe team N ewton Aycliffe-based Commercial Expert has added to its team once again after another successful year. Greater demand for Commercial Expert’s specialist broker services has led to new appointments to ensure they continue to deliver the personalised service that clients have come to expect. The first appointment sees Abigail Taylor join the team, whose head office is based at Aycliffe Business Park. Abigail brings almost 20 years of banking experience to the new business administrator role, with particular expertise in mortgages and secured lending. Her understanding of finance applications and processing will be a great asset to Commercial Expert’s increasing client base. “I’m delighted to join the team at Commercial Expert,” said Abigail. “The work is so interesting and varied – no two days are the same. “I’m looking forward to expanding my knowledge and contributing to the continued success of Commercial Expert.” The new year will see fruition of Commercial Expert’s growth plans, with added appointed representatives around the UK, and a particular focus on expanding north after establishing opportunities in Yorkshire. Daniel Brown has also been promoted to senior business manager after being employed by Commercial Expert’s managing director, Mike Coates, 14 years ago. “Dan has been an integral part of what we’ve built up at Commercial Expert and loves what he does,” said Mike. “So it’s fantastic to be able to appoint him to a senior role as we look to the months and years ahead for the company and expect our workload to continue to rise.” Commercial Expert now has a team of 12 delivering a range of services including business loans, property investment finance, development finance, bridging and rescue finance – and is fast becoming the most recognised commercial broker in the north of England. The local young people will have the opportunity to gain skills, qualifications and experience while earning a salary. The trainees include Oliver Bainbridge, 22, from Newton Aycliffe, who studied for the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualification at Darlington’s QE College. 53 COUNCIL APPRENTICES Durham County Council has just recruited 53 apprentices – and the number could have been tenfold, with more than 500 young people having applied for the apprenticeships opportunities. The apprentices are working across most council departments ranging from business admin to civil engineering, bricklayers to financial management, technical theatre assistants to large goods vehicle fitter, corporate fraud investigators to highways operatives, catering to corporate procurement. They vary from Intermediate (Level 2), Advanced (Level 3), higher (Level 4) to Degree (Level 6.) TEESPORT RECORD PD Ports has announced an all-time record in container volumes handled at Teesport. This new record comes at a time when the Department for International Trade published its annual maritime statistics confirming Teesport, one of the deepest water ports on the east coast of England, experienced an overall volume increase higher than any other UK port in 2017. A significant driver in this reported growth is the increasing number of containers and trailers shipped from the continent to Teesport with 54,400 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit) handled in October, the highest on record, following an exceptional five-week period in September. AYCLIFFE TODAY BUSINESS The business magazine for Aycliffe Business Park We’re already working on the first issue of 2019, with our booking deadline on Friday December 21. Email [email protected] to get involved.