STOCKTON NEWS
Scott Bros skips to the aid
of autism support charity
Barker and Stonehouse leads the
charge for British furniture
Teesside-headquartered independent
furniture retailer Barker and
Stonehouse is leading the charge
for British furniture manufacturing in a new
campaign designed to get furniture retailing
moving again post-lockdown.
The campaign, entitled ‘Let’s Get Going
Britain!’, supports homegrown furniture
makers, calling for the furniture retail sector
to use its collective voice to talk up the value
and quality of the UK’s furniture-making
businesses.
With support from industry bodies such
as the British Furniture Manufacturers
Association and the British Retail
Consortium, the campaign aims to reenergise
the furniture retail sector. The
ultimate aim is to stimulate the economy
and save both direct and indirect jobs in the
sector.
In 2018 turnover from the sector totalled
FABRICATION FIRM IS
THRIVING 20 YEARS ON
Steel plate processing and fabrications
specialist Katmex, which supplies some
of the biggest names in the construction
equipment industry from its Norton
base, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Managing director Dave Mitchell was
the first UK employee of the company
when it was established as a division
of Japanese firm Katsushiro Matex to
serve one of its largest clients, Komatsu.
In 2009 Dave negotiated a
management buyout after Katsushiro
decided to focus its business in Asia.
Katmex, which now employs 125 at
Norton and another 30 at Seaham, was
recently named Komatsu UK’s Supplier
of the Year.
£11.8bn, which in turn supported 120,000
jobs across 8,489 companies.
James Barker, managing director, said:
“Britain has a long and fruitful history when
it comes to furniture manufacturing and we
need to do everything we can to preserve
these skills and jobs.
“It is true that some production has
moved offshore, particularly cabinet and
leather products. However, there is still a
significant raft of furniture made in the UK,
particularly upholstery, beds and mattresses.
“In the short term, we want to enable
manufacturers to take staff off furlough
and get factories back up to capacity. But
in the longer term, it is about safeguarding
the economic sustainability of the industry,
by protecting jobs, championing skills and
helping consumers to understand the
value of spending a little more to buy into
excellent British craftsmanship.”
Sweet gesture supports
hospital staff
Stockton’s leisure centres have donated over
£1,000-worth of confectionary from their cafés
and vending machines to support frontline
staff at the University Hospital of North Tees
and James Cook University Hospital.
Popular venues such as Stockton Splash,
Billingham Forum, Thornaby Pavilion and Tees
Barrage International White Water Centre,
which are all managed by charitable leisure
trust Tees Active, combined their supplies in
a joint effort with vending partner Select to
provide refreshments for NHS staff across
Teesside.
Tees Active has supported further initiatives
by Stockton Council and Catalyst Stockton to
assemble a food distribution hub at Stockton
Splash.
Family-run firm Scott Bros has
made a rather unusual donation
to autism support charity Daisy
Chain – several skips and a load of
topsoil!
It provided its skip service free
of charge to help the charity
prepare to reopen its superstore
on Portrack Lane, Stockton.
Scott Bros then found out the
charity had a heap of problems at
its Calf Fallow Farm in Norton, so
the company sent a skip lorry to
collect the waste.
Daisy Chain has launched an
appealing after losing an estimated
£400,000 income during the
coronavirus outbreak. To donate
visit daisychainproject.co.uk.
APPRENTICE-STYLE
CHALLENGE RAISES FUNDS
FOR GOOD CAUSES
Yarm School’s latest Apprentice
competition raised £1,698 for a
range of charities including the
Salvation Army, Clic Sargent,
Breast Cancer Now, Papyrus and
King’s Church Darlington food
bank.
A board of five Lord Sugars,
which included a local business
CEO, financial manager and the
head of pre-prep, challenged
the aspiring entrepreneurs to
work together on five tasks that
tested their leadership qualities,
teamwork and motivation, decision
making and time management,
conflict resolution and the pitching
and defending of their ideas.
TEES
Business.
Teesside International Airport
has signed a new five-year deal
with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,
connecting Teessiders with more
than 100 destinations worldwide
via flights to Amsterdam, while
routes have also been launched to
Aberdeen, London and Newquay.
#TalkingUpTeesside #TalkingUpTeesValley
The voice of business in the Tees region | 87