6 | Aycliffe Today Business
Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 7
/NEWS
BUSINESS BITES
Laurence Jackson School in Guisborough, which is being built by
Aycliffe steel firm Finley Structures as part of a major new contract.
UTC PLANNING PERMISSION
Planning has been approved for the
region’s first University Technical College
(UTC) to be built in Newton Aycliffe.
The £10m UTC South Durham, which
will be built next to Hitachi Rail Europe’s
new train-building factory on Aycliffe
Business Park, will open in September
2016.
WE’RE COMMITTED TO
NEWTON AYCLIFFE!
Durham County councillors voted
unanimously in favour of the
new engineering and advanced
manufacturing Centre of Excellence,
and building is now expected to start in
September.
Aycliffe Today has demonstrated its
commitment to Newton Aycliffe with
a record-breaking sponsorship of the
town’s Northern League football club.
We agreed to sponsor Aycliffe’s home
and away strips as well as the players’
tracksuits for the 2015-16 campaign. It’s
the biggest commercial sponsorship
deal in the club’s history.
You can read more about this on page 25.
Newton Aycliffe are now looking for as
many Aycliffe firms as possible to take
out pitchside advertising boards, which
cost just £300 (£200 to renew annually).
There are several slots available at
Moore Lane Park and if they can get
another 20 or 30 to take out a board and
do their bit, it will help them massively.
We have also agreed to help publicise
any sponsorship of the club in two ways.
Firstly, we will take a picture and write
a story on any company which takes an
advertising board.
The story will be printed in Aycliffe Today
Business free of charge, and it will also
be circulated to the North East media.
It means for a very small outlay,
businesses can get some real added
value to the sponsorship deal.
The market value of the publicity itself is
worth more than the £300 investment,
and it also shows that you’re putting
something back into the community
and showing good corporate social
responsibility.
Those taking out new sponsorship deals
with Newton Aycliffe FC this summer
include Gestamp Tallent, OneGym, Upex
and Lifestyle Fitness.
There are already quite a few who
already sponsor the club, including Stiller
Warehousing and Distribution, Tekmar
Energy, Collins Seafood and John Wade
Skip Hire.
It would be great to add some names
to that list and help support the town’s
football club, which is run entirely by
volunteers.
Any other businesses interested in
sponsoring Newton Aycliffe FC can
contact Secretary Steve Cunliffe
on 07872 985501 or by email to
stecunliffe@aol.com
Martin Walker
Editor, Aycliffe Today
James Beal, from School Aycliffe, is a successful
product of Durham County Council’s Teenage
Parent Apprenticeship Programme.
FINLEY STRUCTURES WINS
MAJOR SCHOOLS CONTRACT
WITH GALLIFORD TRY
New scheme puts teenage
dad on road to success
Newton Aycliffe construction firm Finley Structures has won a multimillion-pound contract to build new schools across the region.
A teenage dad has taken the first steps towards a brighter future for
himself and his family thanks to a new pilot apprenticeship scheme.
The family-run company has secured the
deal with major contractor Galliford Try, a
national firm which has offices across the UK
including Washington, Tyne and Wear.
Finley has been contracted to
supply, deliver and erect steel for five
comprehensive schools in the North East,
varying from 380 to 400 tonnes apiece.
The include Laurence Jackson School in
Guisborough (pictured below), Longbenton
Community College in Newcastle, Duchess
Secondary School in Alnwick, Bedlingtonshire
Community School in Bedlington,
Northumberland, and Hetton School in
Hetton Le Hole.
Finley Structures operations manager
Jim Graham said: “This is the first time
we’ve worked with Galliford Try and we’re
delighted.
“Galliford is known to have a very tight
supply chain in the industry, so this deal
represents a fantastic opportunity for us.
“We need to perform and be user-friendly,
but we’re confident we’ll impress as we do
with all our contracts.”
Galliford Try is a FTSE 250 housebuilding
and construction group delivering industryleading performance in the constructing
sector.
The group employs around 5,000 staff
and benefits from a strong client base and
integrated supply chain, spanning both
industries in which it operates.
This latest deal for Finley Structures after it
was awarded a 2,600-tonne job to construct
a major part of Victoria Gate, in Leeds city
centre, earlier this year.
Finley Structures was awarded a 20week contract from Sir Robert McAlpine’s
Manchester office, to fabricate and
erect 2,300 tonnes of steel, after being
recommended for the job by the firm’s
Newcastle office following the successful
completion of Nissan’s new car plant in
Washington.
The steel firm has also completed a
620-tonne contract for Interserve at the
AMRC Factory in Sheffield and is also
currently working on a 140-tonne warehouse
contract for neighbouring Stiller Warehousing
and Distribution in Newton Aycliffe.
Other contracts include a 170-tonne job
for Britcon at the AMP Technology Centre
in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and another
school contract for Bowmer and Kirkland at
Allestree in Derby.
WHAT A BARGAIN!
Aycliffe famil