4 | Aycliffe Today Business
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 5
/NEWS
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Work has started on essential
infrastructure work which will
support the new 52-hectare
development at Forest Park,
which could create 3,200 new
jobs on Aycliffe Business Park.
GESTAMP TURNOVER
UP TO £460M
Car parts maker Gestamp has reported an
increase in turnover to more than £460m.
The Spanish-owned group, which has
five sites in the UK including its Newton
Aycliffe plant, has published group
accounts for 2015 which show that sales
rose 9% year-on-year to reach £468.5m
on the back of a “pan-European success
story” of rising car registrations.
Pre-tax profits also rose at the firm,
which produces chassis structural and
body components for the likes of Jaguar,
Landrover, Volvo, Ford, BMW, Nissan and
Honda, by 32% to £18m.
The group has more 2,300 people across
UK sites at Cannock in Birmingham,
Fareham on the South coast, Llanelli in
Wales and Washington, as well as its
biggest UK site on Aycliffe Business Park,
which employs more than 1,300 staff.
ROMAN RAISE £200
Newton Aycliffe shower designer and
manufacturer Roman held an annual
Macmillan Coffee Morning at their
headquarters on Aycliffe Business Park.
Roman is a huge supporter of the
Macmillan charity and holds a coffee
morning each year for their staff to get
involved in and raise money for the charity.
This year they held a “Great British Bake
Off” style competition, where Roman staff
baked a variety of different sweet treats.
It was not only Roman staff at their
Macmillan Coffee morning, Roman also
invited their local suppliers, who brought
cakes along and donated to the worthy
cause.
The firm raised over £200 on the morning
for the charity, to help go towards
providing medical, emotional, practical and
financial support for people with cancer.
£17m PROJECT BENEFITS 1,000+
YOUNG PEOPLE
More than 1,000 young people have
already signed up to a £17m project
designed to develop their skills, increase
opportunities and help them into work.
Hundreds of 16 to 24-year-olds living in
County Durham, who are not in education,
employment or training, have joined the
DurhamWorks programme, which brings
together 17 organisations, including the
council, voluntary and community sector,
private training providers and a college.
It has been funded with £12.78m from
the European Council’s Youth Employment
Initiative and £4.26m in match funding,
with the aim of helping 5,830 young
people progress into work, training,
education or volunteering by summer
2018.
For more information about
DurhamWorks call 03000 262 930, email
[email protected] or visit
www.durham.gov.uk/durhamworks.
PSW boss Mark Stephenson receives
an award from Help for Heroes after
his fundraising idea raised £314,000
for the popular charity.
PWS boss inspires record-breaking
£314k Help for Heroes challenge
The boss of Newton Aycliffe firm PWS
has inspired a remarkable, record-breaking
fundraising effort.
‘Blood, Sweat and Gears’ was the
brainchild of Mark Stephenson, CEO of PWS
on Aycliffe Business Park, which successfully
undertook a 500km cycling challenge across
South Africa.
It was hoped to raise £250,000 for Help for
Hero es – but it has now topped £314,000,
making it the highest amount of any singular,
third-party fundraising challenge ever donated
to Help for Heroes.
In recognition of this phenomenal
achievement, Blood, Sweat and Gears
has received the Charity’s Hero Award for
Extraordinary Teams.
The money raised by the team will fund
three additional psychological wellbeing
advisors over three years for the charity’s
psychological wellbeing program; Hidden
Wounds.
The programme delivers early intervention
mental health support for wounded, injured
and sick veterans and their families.
Stephenson said he was extremely proud
to have made the record-breaking donation,
adding: “I extend my heartfelt and sincere
thanks to our suppliers, customers and the
truly great British public who embraced my
‘pie-in-the-sky’ idea.
“They were behind us all the way and
ensured that Blood Sweat & Gears exceeded
all expectations.”
Among the cyclists were PWS staff, four
veterans being supported by Help for Heroes,
and ex-rugby international Will Greenwood,
who described the challenge as one of the
most incredible experiences of his life.
Bryn Parry, CEO and Co-Founder of
Help for Heroes said: “Knowing they have
remarkable organisations like PWS standing
beside them, willing to do amazing things,
will make a huge difference on their recovery
journeys.
“Together we are rebuilding lives.”
Hundreds flock to Oktoberfest event in Aycliffe
Organisers behind the region’s biggest
engineering and manufacturing expo are
already making plans for next year – the
event’s tenth birthday.
Hundreds of people from across the region
descended on the Xcel Centre for the 2016
event.
Businesses from a diverse range of
sectors took the opportunity to showcase
their capabilities to potential customers and
suppliers, with many forging new links which
they hope to convert into work.
This year’s Oktoberfest also included the
Automotive and Manufacturing Advanced
Practice (AMAP) North East Maintenance
Forum; themed workshops with the British
Standards Institute, LEC Consultancy and
Fastems UK; and a panel debate with
business experts from around the North
East.
David Land,
chairman of
the County
Durham
Engineering
and
Manufacturing
Network
(CDEMN),
which organises Oktoberfest, said: “There
was such a positive buzz around the Xcel
Centre throughout the day and the exhibitors
I spoke to were very encouraged by the
new contacts they made, which is what
Oktoberfest is all about.
“The challenge for us now is to make next
year’s event even bigger and better”
Durham Oktoberfest 2017 takes place on
Thursday, October 19, and full details will be
announced in the coming weeks.
Seeds sown for jobs and
growth at Forrest Park
Work by Durham County Council to pave the way for an
expected 3,200 jobs and an economic boost of nearly half
a billion pounds is now underway.
With £13m funding from the Local
Enterprise Partnership, Durham County
Council is carrying out work to prepare
the 52 hectare Forrest Park site in Newton
Aycliffe.
This additional site will expand and even
further develop Aycliffe Business Park –
which lies adjacent to the Hitachi Rail site
– already the largest business park in the
region.
The enabling works, due to be completed
by the end of autumn 2017, will see
construction of a new, signalised junction
on the A167 – for better access to both the
new site and Aycliffe Business Park – and an
internal link road and a power substation.
The improvements are designed to remove
existing barriers to the continued success
and further expansion of Aycliffe Business
Park.
By doing so it is hoped that it will unlock
a potential investment of nearly £140m
from the private sector to develop the site
including, due to its location, a possible rail
freight interchange. It’s estimated the site
could see the creation of 3,200 jobs and
deliver a Gross Value Added (GVA) of £495m
over the next 20 years.
Cllr Simon Henig, Leader of Durham
County Council, said: “The decision by
Hitachi to bring rail manufacturing back to its
spiritual home in County Durham provided us
with the opportunity of a lifetime.
“To add to the success of what is already
the largest business park in the region, by
unlocking the new development on Forrest
Park we hope to bring forward over 3,000
jobs and add almost half a billion pounds to
the economy over the next 20 years.”
The preparatory groundworks are due to
be completed by the end of the year with the
substation, link road and junction completed
by autumn 2017.
Crafter’s boss gets MBE from Prince William
Crafter’s Companion founder Sara Davies
has topped off a memorable year after
attending her investiture at Buckingham
Palace after being appointed a Member of
the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the
Her Majesty’s Birthday 2016 Honours List.
Following the announcement in the
summer that she would receive an MBE
as a result of her contribution to the local
economy, the entrepreneur was presented
her award by His Royal Highness (HRH),
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.
The heavily-pregnant Sara, who was
accompanied by her proud parents,
sister, husband and son, started Crafter’s
Companion in 2005.
In what has been the company’s most
successful year to date, fast-growing
Crafter’s Companion broke new ground in
2016 after investing £500,000 in the opening
TIME FOR A REVIEW?
With rates at an all-time record low,
both in residential and commercial
markets, is it time to review your
commercial borrowings?
The majority of lenders have passed
on the recent Bank of England Base
Rate reduction and as a consequence
LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offered
Rate) has also reduced making
borrowing money cheaper than ever
before.
Fixed rates are ludicrously low,
particularly five-year fixed rates. It
may be that your existing facilities
need a review or in many cases a
refresh.
The gap between high street lenders
rates and new challenger lenders
has closed, and with the addition of
‘new blood’ in the market, lenders
like ATOM Bank are leading the way
and offering market leading rates and
incredibly low arrangement fee s.
Loan to values have also increased
across all lending and in many cases
lenders are looking at clients much
more flexibly than in recent times,
this is very encouraging, and means
that banks have an improved appetite
to lend.
All business can benefit from a
lower rate, whether it is an overdraft,
invoice discount facility or commercial
mortgage, but always consider
the costs to move or change,
arrangement fees and disbursements
may out-strip monthly savings.
If you haven’t already, take a close
look at you financial paperwork, it
may be now is the right time for a
commercial review.
Always ensure that you use a
Commercial Finance Expert.
Crafter’s Companion founder Sara Davies
receives her MBE from Prince William at
Buckingham Palace.
of its flagship retail store on Aycliffe Business
Park, next to its new corporate headquarters.
Sara, 32, said: “Receiving my MBE was
a genuinely humbling experience and an
incredible day from start to finish.”
Mike Coates
Managing director
Commercial Expert
www.commercialexpert.co.uk