4 | Aycliffe Today Business
/HITACHI SPECIAL
HISTORIC DAY
FOR AYCLIFFE
BUSINESS PARK
Alistair Dormer talks to the eager Japanese
media during the construction ceremony
Aycliffe Today Business editor
Martin Walker reviews another
monumental day for Newton
Aycliffe…
The magnitude really can’t be
underestimated. Hitachi’s new train-building
factory – words which now roll off the tongue
– is real, and it’s happening.
It’s been years in the making, with what
seems to have been several “landmark” days
as complex planning of the £82m facility
came to fruition.
But for Newton Aycliffe, November 1, 2013,
will rank as one of the biggest days in the
history of this “new” town.
The fact our Coalition Government deemed
it important enough to wheel out two big
hitters for the construction ceremony – with
Business Secretary Vince Cable and Transport
Secretary Patrick McLoughlin doing the
honours – is testament to how much this
development means to the country, let alone
the county and Aycliffe.
“This is a big day, said Mr Cable. “It’s a
”
good day for Newton Aycliffe, obviously, and
Durham. But actually for the country as a
whole, it’s a really big step forward in the rail
revolution which is taking place in the UK.
”
It was interesting to see (and exciting to be
amongst) a media throng that included half a
dozen Japanese journalists whizzing around
the hospitality tent – provided, of course,
by events guru Kerina Clark from the Xcel
Centre – as local TV stations, radio crews and
regional newspaper hacks all filled their boots
with quotes.
And if anyone was is any doubt about just
what this development means to the region,
you only had to witness this event and see for
yourself to make your own mind up. Hitachi’s
executive chairman Alistair Dormer’s speech,
in particular, hit all the right notes for me.
Of course, Hitachi isn’t the be-all-and-end-all
for Aycliffe. Even when their spanking new
state-of-the-art factory is open for business
in late 2015 and the actual manufacturing of
trains starts, Gestamp Tallent will already be
employing in excess of their current 1,300
people as the town’s biggest employer.
We have the likes of Ebac with 200 staff
and ambitions of doubling their workforce
over the next two years, then there’s Stiller
Warehousing and Distribution, Finley
Structures, Roman, Flymo, DPE Automotive,
Palram and 3M – to name just a few – all
employing hundreds of people between
them.
There is – as Business Durham managing
director Simon Goon points out in our
interview on page 9 – already some
“phenomenal work going on” in Aycliffe.
“Hitachi should be proud to be locating in
Aycliffe – in fact, I know they do very much
see it that way, says Dr Goon. “Because it’s
”
a fantastic location and there’s such a diverse
set of operations.
”
But if Hitachi’s arrival in Aycliffe has a fraction
of the impact Nissan has had on Wearside,
the prediction that thousands of jobs will be
supported in the Hitachi supply chain will be
realised.
Jonathan Simpson, from property
management firm Sanderson Weatherall,
predicts a boom for the park. He reckons
firms from across the globe will soon start
forming a queue at junction 59, Newton Park,
all wanting a slice of the Hitachi pie.
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