10 | Aycliffe Today Business
Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 11
LINGFIELD POINT LEADS THE WAY
The County has spent £25,000
on improving their already
popular rooms.
Those looking for office space with a difference should look no further than
Lingfield Point in Darlington – a hugely creative business park.
T
An inside view of some of the new
“homely” rooms at the County.
THE COUNTY ROOMS GET
£25K BOUTIQUE BOOST
The County has invested more than £25,000 in a refurbishment
programme which has given its luxury rooms a brand new boutique feel.
All seven rooms at the popular restaurant on
Aycliffe Village green, which are rated four
star gold by the AA, have been completely
revamped during a two-week closure.
The County’s rooms, originally brought
to the market in 2010, are often used by
many companies on Aycliffe Business Park
- including Gestamp Tallent, Husqvarna,
PWS, Wilsonart, Lucite, 3M and Aldi - for a
variety of reasons, from housing temporary
employees to putting up VIP guests.
This latest £25,000 investment takes the
restaurant’s spending to £75,000 in the last
18 months as bosses have seen turnover
treble in recent years.
Business manager Colette Farrell said: “It’s
always important to re-invest in the company
and we felt the rooms needed a revamp.
“They’re now more modern and in keeping
with the restaurant, which is traditional but
with a modern twist, and it has given them a
whole new look and feel to them.
“It makes them very individual, and
provides a very different offering. I also think
they’re more personal and welcoming, and
give us a unique product that is different to
our more branded competitors.”
Colette brought in North Shields-
based interior designer Chris Senior to
project manage the latest refurbishment
programme.
The rooms, which are all en-suite, include
three singles on the ground floor, two
standard doubles, a superior double and a
luxury double.
Colette added: “Five years ago we were
just handed a product. It was lovely and
our customers loved them, but we felt they
needed a change.
“We’ve had great feedback from our
regulars already. There’s more of a cosy feel
to the them. It has come together really well,
we’re delighted with the end result.
“It’s all about perceived value for me
and offering quality. If you have a certain
food offering in a certain type of restaurant
environment, then everything else should
reflect that.”
Business owners Colette and Stuart Dale,
who are eight years into a 25-year lease at
The County, have spent thousands of pounds
on improvements since taking over the pub
in January 2008, when annual turnover stood
at £300,000.
The duo have nearly trebled that during
their time at the restaurant, with gross nearly
topping £800,000.
The County restaurant, which features in
the Taste Durham Awards, and was selected
as the best pub for grub in the Northumbria
section of the national Good Pub Guide in
2014.
“It’s been another good year for us,” added
Colette, who has a total of 24 members of
staff.
“What most people come here for is
the friendly, home-from-home type feel to
the place. They know the staff, who are
consistent, and they know the food offering.
“As well as local businesses using our
rooms, a lot of Aycliffe businesses regularly
visit the County for business lunches,
entertaining VIP guests and staff events on a
weekly basis, so it’s nice to see the regular
friendly faces coming through the door.”
The County is now taking bookings
for Christmas parties and lunches, with
a festive lunch menu from £15.95 per
person and a dinner menu from £27.95pp,
which are available from Monday 30th
November.
For Christmas or room bookings,
call 01325 312273 or email info@
thecountyaycliffevillage.com
Festive Bookings Now Being Taken
Festive Lunch Menu from £15.95 per person
Festive Dinner Menu £27.95 per person
Available from 30th November
Full restaurant menu also available during December
Restaurant with Rooms
Call us on 01325 312273
www.thecountyaycliffevillage.com
he site - just minutes from Newton
Aycliffe – was recently identified as an
example of best practice for customer
service and it’s easy to see why.
Lingfield Point offers unbeatable
connectivity with a 100MB bearer served
by BT and Virgin Media, a 24 hour concierge
and security service along with extensive
car parking. A wide range of facilities are
available including a bistro café with deli
points and a welcoming nursery. Break out
rooms and informal meeting areas all add to
the atmosphere, there’s even free bike hire
and a book swap club.
The site also benefits from great rail and
road links, making it within easy reach of
the rest of the UK including London, Leeds,
Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
It’s easy to understand why good business
feels at home at Lingfield Point with highspecification office and industrial space
available from 200 sq ft to over 100,000 sq ft.
Those in need of flexible
office space should make a
bee-line for Beehive – a stylish
centre that provides the perfect
environment for growing
businesses with offices
available from 2,500 sq ft to
10,000 sq ft.
From outside terraces to cool meeting
spaces, there’s even a converted VW Camper
which doubles up as a quirky little meeting
space which has been recognised as one of
the ‘coolest’ offices in the North East.
Space at Lingfield Point also includes the
Art Deco centrepiece Lingfield House –
with its sweeping staircase and impressive
Lingfield Point’s flagship Art Deco
centrepiece Lingfield House
double-height ceiling – home to some of the
North East’s biggest companies including
AMEC, Foster Wheeler, Four Seasons Health
Care and about to welcome Capita.
Even the terms at Lingfield Point are
flexible and appealing.
For more information on Lingfield
Warehousing & Logistics, please contact
Julian Brooke on 01325 485533. For more
information on leasing units, please call
Jonathan Simpson at Connect Property
NE on 01642 602001.