Aycliffe Today Business Issue 8 | Page 13

Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 13 “We need to make more businesses on the park aware of what we are doing and get them involved. ” Kerina added: “The aim of the ABPC is to provide businesses with a platform to identify areas, ideas and avenues to improve their own future prospects. “We should also see how we can help to facilitate businesses having a say in the future of the park itself. ” Business Durham managing director Simon Goon will talk to guests at the event about what he sees as the potential for growth and how to respond to this. Simon said that the opportunities for growth in Newton Aycliffe are “significant” , but says local firms have a huge part to play in building on the park’s recent success. NEXT MEETING “We see Newton Aycliffe as a fantastic opportunity, he said. “But we need to ” explore how businesses can help shape the future changes, and help maximise the opportunities for growth. “The Aycliffe Business Park Community has provided the platform for engaging with the business community, we can use this to start a discussion about the future. ” But Simon is warning it won’t happen overnight, and we must first understand what needs to be done to realise potential. “The opportunities in Aycliffe are significant, but we first need to understand the present before we start to shape the future, he said. ” Aycliffe Business Park Community’s 1st birthday event is at the Xcel Centre from 8am on Friday 31st January. To book go to www.aycliffebusinesspark.co.uk “There are potentially more than 100 hectares of land that could be developed for business in Aycliffe, but do we have the capacity for utilities? Do we have enough skilled people to service new enterprises? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered “We have to develop a longer term strategy to deliver growth in a planned way. We have to think logically and formulate our ideas so when the opportunity to expand comes, we’re ready, and we’ll be asking the local business community if they want to be part of that process. ” ABOVE LEFT: ● The Aycliffe Business Park steering group (left to right): Ebac managing director Pamela Petty, Finley Structures managing director John Finley, Xcel Centre manager Kerina Clark, Aycliffe Fabrications boss Dave Spensley and Au Fait Marketing managing director Rachel TownsendGreen. ABOVE: Simon Goon – managing director of Business Durham will talk to guests at the next meeting of the Aycliffe Business Park Community on Friday 31st January