Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business issue 34 | Page 5

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 5 /NEWS BUSINESS BRIEFS PWS RECRUIT AGAIN The Make Your Make judging panel consisted of (left to right) Sharon Hutchinson (Endeavour Partnership), John D Clare (Durham County Council), Sarah Slaven (Business Durham), Kerina Clark (ABPC & Xcel Centre), Liana Fish (Logico), Michael Vassallo (Maven Capital Partners) and Neil O’Connor (Fleet Recruitment). Judges have difficult task of picking out Make Your Mark winners A panel of judges have had the unenviable task of picking out 11 winners from 52 nominations in Aycliffe Business Park’s fourth annual Make Your Mark awards competition. The 52 submissions involve 32 separate companies all vying for 11 different awards which will be dished out during the grand final at the Xcel Centre on Thursday May 24. More about all nominees can be found on page 23. Seven judges deliberated for several hours to whittle each category down to shortlists before selecting the 11 winners. The panel included ABPC chair Kerina Clark, Sarah Slaven from Business Durham, Durham County Council Cllr for Newton Aycliffe John Clare, Sharon Hutchinson from Endeavour Partnership, Liana Fish from Logico and Michael Vassallo from Maven Capital Partners. It also involved Neil O’Connor, managing director of Aycliffe-based Fleet Recruitment, who said: “This is the first time that I have been involved in judging the Make Your Mark awards and I was amazed at how difficult it was. It was really tough and quite emotive, particularly the best apprentice award. “Applications for all categories were excellent and in most cases it came down to fine margins when selecting the winners. “It’s a fantastic event and a well-deserved celebration of the amazing businesses that surround us.” Sharon Hutchinson, operations director at law firm Endeavour Partnership, added: “Having seen the impact that the Aycliffe Business Park Community group has had on my home town, I was delighted to be able to get involved in some way. “The Make Your Mark Awards have become a key date in the diary, so it was fantastic to get a peek behind the scenes, particularly to see how the decisions are made. “The judging was really difficult, as not only were the quality of the submissions high, but within each category, there was often a diverse range of businesses, all deserving in their own way “This is the second year Endeavour Partnership have sponsored an award and we are delighted to support an organisation that is doing so much to highlight the fantastic achievements of businesses in the North East- something that is very much in line with our own values.” Tickets are still on sale for the Make Your Mark event, priced just £21 (including VAT), which can be purchased online at aycliffeawards.co.uk. ‘Internet of Things’ facility creates 20 new jobs T he Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has opened a state-of-the-art facility on Aycliffe Business Park to help companies exploit opportunities using the Internet of Things. The printable electronics centre is expected to support a number of developments, including self-monitoring packaging capable of tracking sensitive medicines in the healthcare sector. Expected to be worth up to £10.8 trillion a year by 2025, the Internet of Things connects devices via the internet, allowing them to send and receive data, and is seen as an integral platform in helping electronics companies develop new business models. The CPI facility, which supports 20 jobs across new and existing roles, will create rolls of thin, flexible inlays containing multiple electronic components that can be converted into labels or embedded into smart products or wearable goods. The Aycliffe printable electronics base, officially opened by Phil Wilson MP, is an extension of CPI’s National Printable Electronics Centre at NETPark, in Sedgefield. It was funded with £2.6m from the European Regional Development Fund and from CPI via the Catapult programme and the SCOPE project. Newton Aycliffe-based PWS, one of the UK’s leading distributors of kitchen components, has added another addition to its marketing department. Michaela Hanna joins the Aycliffe Business Park company as customer engagement manager to drive new opportunities and c reate value through client engagement across the business. In addition to creating a wide-ranging programme of activity from training workshops through to retailer events, Michaela will also play a key role in optimising the use of PWS’ state-of-the- art design centres in Aycliffe and Slough. 4,000 JOBS BOOST A programme which helps young people into employment is celebrating after reaching a significant milestone. DurhamWorks, a partnership project led by Durham County Council and part funded by the European Social Fund and Youth Employment Initiative, has now supported more than 4,000 people between the ages of 16 to 24 to become ‘work ready’. The programme works with a range of partners to help unemployed young people develop their existing skills, identify new ones and help them into a range of training, job and education opportunities. For more information visit www. durhamworks.info POT HOLE CASH An extra £700,000 of council funding will be invested in improving the condition of roads around County Durham over the coming year. The cash will increase the local authority’s overall budget for road repairs to £17.2m. But the news comes as figures showed between January and March this year, the authority repaired more than 15,500 potholes, compared to less than 9,500 during the same period last year – an increase of 39%. The funding is in addition to the £1.3m recently announced by the government for pothole repairs in County Durham in 2018/19 and brings the council’s funding to £5.7m for this financial year. Taking into account the £10.2m already confirmed by the government, it means the council has a total budget for highways repairs in 2018/19 of £17.2m. AYCLIFFE TODAY BUSINESS The business magazine for Aycliffe Business Park We’re now working on our July-August issue (deadline June 22). Email [email protected] to get involved.