10 | Aycliffe Today Business
The Aycliffe Business Park Community board ( left to right ) Lee Harris ( Mitchell Gordon ), James Goodliffe ( Formula Plastics ), Pamela Petty ( South West Durham Training ), Sarah Slaven ( Business Durham ), Kerina Clark ( Xcel Centre ), Emma Little ( Gregg Little Testing Centre ), Rachel Townsend Green ( Thrive Marketing ), Chris Hyde ( JDP Contracting ), Steve Robson ( South Durham Enterprise Agency ) and Martin Walker ( Mantis Media ).
Business park ’ s new identity set for ‘ Big Reveal ’ at celebration event
An exciting new identity for Aycliffe Business Park Community ( ABPC ) will be revealed at a major event being planned on the business park in September .
High-profile keynote speakers , including Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson and Crafter ’ s Companion founder Sara Davies among others , are due to talk at the celebration seminar at the Xcel Centre on Friday September 8 .
The event , which will be open to all businesses from the region , comes 12 months after ABPC was formed as an official limited company with a board of non-executive directors , who have been busy working on a number of projects which are just starting to come to fruition .
ABPC is currently undergoing a rebranding process – with new colour schemes and a new logo already approved – while a more user-friendly website is currently being designed and built by Aycliffe-based Thrive Marketing , with content being produced by Mantis Media .
The new website and branding will be revealed during the celebration event on September 8 , while guests will see a presentation on its new functions and how businesses can best make use of it .
Spread across 400 hectares , and with future expansion plans , Aycliffe Business
Park is already home to an estimated 500 companies and 10,000 employees .
ABPC was officially set up a year ago to formalise the group after its predecessor had been run as an unofficial entity for more than three years .
The organisation is marking its first year of operation by embarking on a number of new initiatives , designed to boost community engagement and communication .
Chair Kerina Clark , managing director of the Xcel Centre , said : “ It has been a really encouraging first year for the board and we ’ re very happy with its direction .
“ We ’ re seeing more and more new faces at our regular news and networking meetings , which is pleasing . Attendees are getting to know their neighbours and many are doing business with one another as a result , which is fantastic .
“ Of course , we want to see more engagement and we ’ re looking at ways of increasing that , and we ’ re hopeful the company ’ s rebrand and new website will help .
“ We ’ re looking forward to the relaunch event on September 8 and hope to see