NEWS
Previous occupants - industrialists Henry
Bolckow (left) and John Vaughan lived in
Resolution’s new offices in the 19th century.
Done deal – Resolution directors
Dave Allan and Martin Walker
with Chris McGlade from Plenary
BV House.
“The move to this iconic building is an incredibly positive one
by Dave and Martin.
“They – and the Resolution business – are absolutely rooted
in Teesside and these offices are perhaps the region’s finest in
terms of history, heritage and significance.
“Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan were the founding
fathers of Middlesbrough and drove its dramatic growth, and
their building is the perfect setting for the next chapter in
Resolution's history.
“Making this move at this time is a positive and confident
move by Dave and Martin – it reflects their success in recent
years and their ambitions for the future.
“It will be great to see our partners and clients in the
boardroom in the weeks and months ahead. These are exciting
times and I look forward to helping the team realise their
ambitions in the region.”
There’s an external difference between the 19th-century
brickwork at the front of Plenary BV House and a three-room
extension built on the back in the 1950s.
And inside, it’s like a carefully refurbished rabbit warren, with
rooms and stairs everywhere, including the old scullery with
its tin fireplace, the old staff quarters at the top of the house
and “The Cottage” – a former surgery where men injured while
working by the river were treated.
And in a nod to one of the town’s former mayors, Sir William
Crosthwaite, a window on the stairs bears the seahorse logo
of the Crosthwaite Tees tugs, complete with Latin motto facta
non verba – deeds not words.
Chris McGlade, from landlords Plenary Project Solutions,
who acquired the building nine years ago, added: “We’re very
happy to welcome Resolution Media and Publishing to Plenary
BV House, as publishers of the region’s thriving business
magazine.
“The building is close to fully occupied now – we only have
two offices remaining – so it will be fantastic to see it full of
people as we see social distancing measures relaxed in the
coming months.”
Middlesbrough’s
founding fathers
Henry Bolckow (1806–1878) and
John Vaughan (1799–1868) set up in
business, Bolckow, Vaughan and Co, in
Middlesbrough to make iron.
They lived side by side in two town houses, the
Cleveland Buildings, about 400 yards (370m) away
from their ironworks which were on Vulcan Street,
and they married a pair of sisters, which may explain
their close friendship.
In 1846, Bolckow and Vaughan built their first
blast furnaces at Witton Park. The Witton Park
Ironworks used coal from Witton Park Colliery to
make coke and ironstone from Whitby on the coast.
The pig iron produced at Witton was transported to
Middlesbrough for further forging or casting.
To make use of the ore being mined at Eston,
in 1851 Bolckow and Vaughan built a blast furnace
at South Bank, Middlesbrough, enabling the entire
process from rock to finished products to be carried
out in one place. It was the first to be built on
Teesside on what was later nicknamed “the Steel
River”.
Middlesbrough grew from 40 inhabitants in 1829
to 7,600 in 1851, 19,000 in 1861 and 40,000 in 1871,
fuelled by the iron industry.
In 1864, Bolckow, Vaughan and Co was registered
with capital of £2,500,000, making it the largest
company ever formed up to that time.
By 1907 Bolckow, Vaughan was possibly the
largest producer of pig iron in the world. However,
the firm failed to modernise at the start of the 20th
century and was closed in 1929.
By that time, the company's assets included iron
mines, collieries and limestone quarries in Cleveland,
County Durham and Weardale respectively and it
had iron and steel works extending over 700 acres
along the banks of the River Tees.
Businesses that may be interested in the remaining office space
at Boho Seven can email [email protected]
The voice of business in the Tees region | 17