Aycliffe Today Business PNE1578_AycliffeTodayBusiness_Issue28_WEBhighres | Page 7

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 7 /NEWS BUSINESS BRIEFS BETTER HEALTH AT WORK Ebac expands to Midlands with key appointment Newton Aycliffe manufacturer Ebac has recruited an experienced sales professional to support the expansion of its washing machine sales into the Midlands. With more than 30 years industry experience, most recently at Hotpoint where he worked for over a decade, Richard Foster has joined the Ebac team as sales development manager. During his career he has established a real drive and vision for the UK white goods market and as a member of the Ebac team, he sees the brand firmly placed at the centre of that vision, as a future industry leader. Foster is responsible for the Midlands region, an area in which he already has excellent relationships with many of the local retailers, attained during his career. His objective is to work with the independent retailers to be able to provide the market with the only British-made washing machines, and the company’s well- established dehumidifiers. Foster is confident that he can work alongside the company to help it achieve continued success. “This is a really exciting opportunity to work with a new name in the white goods industry, and help develop the business into a household name,” he said. “One which will not only be linked to quality dehumidifiers, but also safe, reliable British made washing machines”. Ebac became the first company in more than two decades to bring back the manufacture of British made washing machines last year. The County Durham-based company invested £7m in the development of the venture, with the new models comprising revolutionary dual fill technology, as an alternative to traditional cold fill machines, which will lower energy bills through shorter wash times. Ebac is also offering 10 year parts and labour warranties on selected washing machines. Aycliffe firm secures £1.1m private equity investment A Newton Aycliffe business has secured more than a million pounds’ worth of investment from a major private equity firm. Growth Capital Ventures (GCV) has received a £1.1m boost from Maven Capital Partners, a prominent UK private equity house, and worked alongside another local business, Stockton-based Endeavour Partnership, to complete the deal. GCV is a leading developer and operator of online co-investment platforms. Their first platform, GrowthFunders, allows everyday investors to invest alongside professional investors and venture capital funds, backing the next generation of high growth British businesses. In addition, GCV now also plans to launch a new ‘Peer to Peer’ (P2P) lending platform that will allow investors to invest in asset backed property and clean energy opportunities. Endeavour Partnership advised GCV on various legal aspects of the investment. Martin McKinnell, associate at Endeavour Partnership, said: “This was a detailed and fast-moving deal with varying aspects. “We advised on a number of elements including due diligence enquiries raised by Maven, reviewing and amending transactional documents with regards to the investment, overseeing the investment process and dealing with the administrative aspects of implementing the investment both in terms of pre-completion changes to GCV and implementation of the investment structure.” Business gathered for the County Durham Better Health at Work Awards ceremony, held at Ramside Hall Hotel near Durham. A total of 50 businesses (small, medium and large) attended the ceremony organised by Newton Aycliffe-based the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP), which manages the County Durham sub-region of the North East Better Health at Work Award. The awards were officially opened by Carol Gaskarth, PCP’s chief executive, who also picked up an award, on behalf of local charity PCP, for Continuing Excellence. “I was delighted to open the fabulous and unique awards ceremony, celebrating the hard work and dedication of local businesses and Healthy Living Pharmacies,” she said. 6,000 ‘NEW JOBS IN NORTH-EAST’ Businesses investing in the North East will create over 6,000 jobs in the next three years, according to statistics unveiled by Invest North East England this morning. On behalf of the region’s seven local authorities and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), figures show 84 inward investments in the North East between April 2016 – March 2017 by companies creating a new base or expanding existing operations. With the IT, automotive, manufacturing, energy and financial sectors booming over the past year, the region has enjoyed a total of 84 inward investment projects during the period, with 64 of these investments from foreign companies. The region’s biggest overseas investor continues to be the USA. NEW APPOINTMENT Newtonian Sharon Hutchinson has been appointed as the new vice chair of one of the region’s leading business networking organisations. Sharon, who is practice manager at Stockton-based law firm Endeavour Partnership, was selected for the role at Darlington Business Club by the club’s chair thanks to her varied experience across fields including SME practice, the legal sector and business management. In her new role, Sharon will be focussing on increasing membership and events even further at the popular Darlington Business Club, which was established in the 1980s and has grown to be the largest business network in and around the Darlington area with more than 120 members. AYCLIFFE TODAY BUSINESS We’re now working on our next issue, due out in July. To get involved, call us on 01325 728024 or email [email protected]