Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 15
Sarah Slaven
Business Development Director, Business Durham Sarah has over 20 years’ experience in local government and partnership working in County Durham, having started her career working in economic development at Durham County Council. Currently Business Development Director at Business Durham, Sarah manages the team which leads on enterprise promotion and engaging with businesses to help them develop and grow in County Durham. Prior to working for Business Durham, Sarah set up and managed East Durham Business Service, a public-private partnership. Sarah is a Member of the Institute of Economic Development, and holds a BA( hons) in Law and Economics, and an MBA from Durham University.
Lee Harris
Partner, Mitchell Gordon LLP Accountants An ACCA-qualified accountant, Lee is a partner at Mitchell Gordon LLP Accountants and Statutory Auditors. Lee has experience in many industries, such as manufacturing, construction, charities and the financial sector and has acted as a coach to Companies in the local area, helping owners to grow their businesses.
Pamela Petty
Non-executive director, SWDT Pamela left Ebac after heading the project on appliances and bringing washing machine production back to Britain. She’ s currently a non-exec director of SWDT and the Entrepreneurs Forum, chair of Bishop Auckland College board and a governor at Green Lane Primary School, and runs a charity, the Olivia Mae Foundation, raising funds to help families with children in hospital spend time together. Pamela is also working with a couple of SMEs to help them achieve their growth plans.
Andrew McDonald
Finance and operations manager UK, Crafter’ s Companion Andrew left Durham University 2001 with a Bsc( Hons) in Mathematics and completed CIMA qualification in 2004 whilst working as a trainee accountant for South Tyneside Council. He started working for South Tyneside Homes in 2006 and quickly progressed to finance manager-Housing. He left in August 2015 to become UK finance and operations manager for Crafters Companion.
Chris Hyde
Managing Director, JDP Contracting Chris trained as a Chartered Surveyor before spending the majority of his career working for national construction companies primarily as regional director. He joined Newton Aycliffe-based JDP Contracting Services as managing director three years ago. He is also chair of Young Enterprise in the North East and a member of the NECC Durham Area Committee.
Emma Little
Business Development Manager Gregg Little Testing Centre Emma graduated from Teesside University with a BA in Business Communication and went to London to study Aromatherapy at St Mary University College in Twickenham. She started working for Lush Cosmetics in London, a small family business manufacturing and selling natural cosmetics, and worked her way up the business and helped to launch new stores and training staff in UK. She was then offered a position to manage Lush Australia and opened new markets in New Zealand and Singapore before heading back to London. She then had a spell as global trainer for the brand, travelling to over 40 counties, before heading home after 15 years to take up a position with the family firm, where she has been developing and managing the business for the last four years.
James Goodliffe
Managing Director, Formula Plastics After his apprenticeship, James undertook a degree in BSc Industrial Management. Then after university he joined Boots as a graduate buyer. He left Boots to join Honda, including 10 years working in Belgium. After returning to the UK, he worked within ThyssenKrupp, before he was appointed MD of Formula Plastics.
Martin Walker
Managing Director, Mantis Media After training as a journalist with the Teesside Gazette, Martin joined the publications and PR team at Middlesbrough Football Club in 2000 and spent nearly five years with the club before joining Sunderland AFC’ s media team in 2005. He launched Mantis Media in 2009, Newton Aycliffe’ s only specialist provider of PR services, and launched Aycliffe Today in 2011, with the business magazine following in November that year. Mantis Media then launched a sister publication, Tees Business, in February 2015.
OTHER NEWS & NETWORKING EVENTS IN 2016 16th September: Planet Leisure 24th November: Xcel Centre( Open Meeting) 16th December: Christmas gathering at The County