26 | Aycliffe Today Business
2017 REVIEW
JANUARY
• Newton Aycliffe-based craft supplies company , Crafter ’ s Companion , tops off an impressive year by reaching 100 employees across its UK and US operations .
• Ebac celebrates year-on-year UK sales of its dehumidifiers , with figures almost doubling in 2016 .
• Fabrication firm SCH Site Services boosts staff numbers to 45 with 10 new employees after winning a raft of new contracts .
• Family-run Aycliffe firm Beaumont Grounds Maintenance announces a record year , with sales growing 20 % to £ 625,000 .
• Tekmar Energy announces a contract win with Prysmian PowerLink to supply 84 of its patented Teklink cable protection system ( CPS ) on the prestigious Rentel offshore wind farm project in Belgium .
FEBRUARY
• County Durham-headquartered fitness business OneGym , which has a gym on Aycliffe Business Park , continues its expansion with the £ 250,000 opening of a new gym in Thornaby .
• Leading manufacturer Ebac says it ’ s to embark on a recruitment drive that will support the development of its washing machine division .
• A total of 65 nominations involving 37 different companies on Aycliffe Business Park are submitted for annual Make Your Mark awards event .
MARCH
• Stiller Warehousing and Distribution completes a new 40,000 sq ft warehouse at its 22-acre site on Aycliffe Business Park , costing £ 750,000 . The new development , standing at 10 metres tall , creates space for another 5,500 pallets .
• County Durham ’ s economy has continued to grow despite a challenging economic environment , according to a report , which claimed there ’ d been a 4.7 % increase of jobs in the region to 200,000 .
• Fourth-generation family firm PWS is named Aycliffe Business Park ’ s Company of the Year award at the Make Your Mark event .
• Maven Capital Partners is revealed as Durham County Council ’ s funding partner for its new £ 20m Finance Durham investment programme which will help businesses in the region grow .
• Hitachi ’ s first Intercity Express trains complete their first test journeys in the South-West .
• Aycliffe-based accountants Certax Durham reveals it has taken on more new members of staff after creating its own traineeship programme which has produced four new apprentices .
• Finley Structures says it will fabricate and erect 1,000 tonnes of steel after sealing a double deal – a 465-tonne distribution centre in Lancashire for GMI Construction and a 640-tonne contract for BAM Construction at Doncaster Sixth Form College .
APRIL
• Aycliffe manufacturer Roman is among an impressive list of Europe ’ s top 1,000 fastest-growing companies named by an FT1000 list , compiled by the Financial Times . The shower designer and manufacturer is later recognised with the Queens Award for Enterprise for International Trade .
• Fifty businesses gather for the County Durham Better Health at Work Awards ceremony , held at Ramside Hall Hotel near Durham , organised by Newton Aycliffebased the Pioneering Care Partnership ( PCP ), which manages the County Durham sub-region of the North East Better Health at Work Award .
• Husqvarna celebrates a landmark occasion for British manufacturing as it marks the production of its one millionth robotic lawnmower at its UK headquarters on Aycliffe Business Park – said to be a first for the industry .
• Mantis Media director Martin Walker , editor and publisher of Aycliffe Today Business , launches new lifestyle magazine with a newly-created Middlesbrough-based publishing company . Resolution Media and Publishing launches Tees Life , off the back of its successful Tees Business , the region ’ s first business publication .
MAY
• Around 100 jobs are secured as US firm Kaiam Corporation completes the purchase of the Compound Photonics factory in Newton Aycliffe .
• Simon Goon reveals his decision to step down as managing director of Business Durham later in 2017 to take up a job as chief operating office at Synoptica , an early-stage Artificial Intelligence company .
• Finley Structures is awarded a contract to help build a new £ 36m entertainment venue in Hull with the 960-tonne project , on behalf of main contractor Bam Construction .
• North East IT firm Razorblue rolls out exciting new wireless technology in Aycliffe , providing cost-effective super-fast internet access with speeds of up to 1,000 MB .
• Stiller Warehousing and Distribution invests £ 280,000 on four new 18-tonne , Iveco vehicles , costing £ 70,000 each , which include a number of state-of-the-art safety features .
JUNE
• Technology firm Excelpoint is hailed as one of the region ’ s undiscovered gems after moving to the Aycliffe Business Park . The firm celebrated its expansion with an event opened by Mike Matthews , then president of the North East England Chamber of Commerce .
• Teesside-based engineering company Durham Lifting says it enjoyed a 30 % increase in turnover after expanding to Aycliffe and after investing more than £ 40,000 in new machinery .