Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business issue 32 | Page 3

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 3 WELCOME GUEST FOREWORD: from David Osborne It gives me great pleasure to write the guest foreword for the 32nd edition of Aycliffe Today Business – the magazine for Aycliffe Business Park. For us here at Roman, 2017 was very much a transformational year, and a very positive 12 months for the company. In 2017 our turnover climbed significantly again for the fifth year running, but our growth has really been about a long-term strategy paying off. We’ve established a strong network across several different markets and all of our sales channels over the last five years to gain steady growth, so it hasn’t just been about one good year. We identified 10 years ago that we had to broaden our markets and channels. Back then we had one company brochure, now we have four to cover different channels in the UK and five different international brochures for different languages. We had one sales team, and now we have six different sales teams all targeted to specific channels and markets. We’ve strengthened our UK and European markets but it has also been hugely encouraging to see other fledgling markets starting to deliver for us. Our Asian subsidiary is five-years-old and our subsidiary in Ireland has been operating for three years, and they’re now starting to perform for us and have become strong standalone businesses. Winning the Queen’s Award for international trade in 2017 was obviously a highlight for us, but you don’t get recognition like that without experiencing sustained international growth, so it really highlighted the great work that has been done here over the years and was testament to INCLUDED IN THE JANUARY- FEBRUARY 2018 ISSUE OF AYCLIFFE TODAY BUSINESS… /09 STEEL HOPES Family-run Finley Structures hoping to benefit from burgeoning education sector... our team at Roman. We’re now active in 51 countries, exporting luxury bathroom products (predominantly for the high end hotel sector), including walk-in showers, bath screens, shower trays and fabricated bathroom structures, to the Middle East, Far East and North America as well as Europe. So we’re already in a very strong position in terms of our pipeline of work going forward. In 2018 we’re planning to look at improving our infrastructure and continuing to grow our international markets. /13 A GLASS ACT Stiller to store upside down wine glasses as part of £150k deal... I’m always enthused to read all the positive news about our neighbours here on Aycliffe Business Park in these pages, and a review of 2017 on pages 26-27 gives us time to reflect on the many successes of the last year. I’ve also enjoyed getting involved with the Aycliffe Business Park Community group, having attended a dinner with principals from some of the other larger employers on the park towards the end of last year. While we’re all very different in terms of what we do and who we need to market to, I do think it’s good to know your neighbours and to learn from one another. It can also help to create a stronger voice for the business park, which can only be a positive. /14-15 FIVE DECADES OLD BBC Breakfast presenter Steph McGovern celebrates training provider’s 50th anniversary on Aycliffe Business Park... I’d like to wish everyone a very happy and successful 2018. David Osborne Managing director, Roman AYCLIFFE TODAY BUSINESS /18-19 ARCHER TAKES AIM We talk to Business Durham’s new managing director about his ambitions for the county... Aycliffe Today Business is Newton Aycliffe’s only business publication, which is mailed exclusively to companies on Aycliffe Business Park. Launched in November 2012, we provide firms with a unique platform to tell everyone about their services and success stories in our prestigious, high-quality publication. With an estimated readership of more than 8,000, copies are mailed direct to every company on our database, and the rest are distributed by hand across the park as well as nearby hotels, restaurants and conference centres. Our next issue will be out in March 2018. The booking deadline is Friday February 16, so get in touch with us if you want to get involved. Email [email protected] to ask for our rate card. Aycliffe Today Business | www.aycliffetoday.co.uk Units 8-9, Parson’s Court, Welbury Way, Aycliffe Business Park, Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham DL5 6ZE Published & distributed by: Mantis Media Ltd, www.mantis-media.com Editor: Martin Walker | Tel: [phone] | Mobile: [phone] Email: [email protected] Designed by KINSHIP: Call 07846186220 | Email [email protected] Contributors to this issue: Martin Walker, David Osborne, Neil O’Connor, Lisa Wall, Sarah Burns. Photography: Martin Walker, Stuart Boulton. /30-31 COFFEE BREAK Emotional intelligence expert Gary Hosey answers our 20 questions over a cuppa...