NEWS
BEEP PROJECT
HELPS SAVE
17,500 TONNES
OF CARBON
DIOXIDE
An energy saving scheme already
used by hundreds of businesses is
helping to reduce the region’s carbon
footprint, as well as money for companies.
BEEP (Business Energy Efficiency
Project) provides fully-funded trusted
and independent expert-led services with
the ultimate goal of helping businesses
generate financial savings and reduce carbon
dioxide emissions through energy efficiency
measures.
Running since 2017, the Durham County
Council-led project has already supported
more than 300 SMEs within the county to
reduce their running energy costs, saving a
massive 17,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The project, which is financially supported
by the European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF), provides bespoke energy audits, data
analysis and tailors solutions for improved
energy measures for businesses.
The project also operates a grant fund for
The boss of Newton Aycliffe-based
Tekmar Group has revealed he will
step down in the next year after the
firm recorded another turnover hike.
After 12 years with Tekmar, chief executive
James Ritchie has decided to resign from the
board, handing responsibility to Alasdair
MacDonald.
He will remain with the Aycliffe Business
Park firm until the end of the current financial
year (March 2021) – or “as such time that an
orderly handover is completed”.
Ritchie completed a management buyout of
Tekmar aged just 21, and Tekmar Group was
floated on the stock exchange two years ago,
raising £60m.
In an exclusive interview in the 45th issue
of Aycliffe Business, Ritchie told Peter Barron
that he expected turnover to double, from
£28m, in the next year.
And in annual accounts published in
August, Tekmar Group has recorded a 46%
growth of sales to £40.9m, up to the end of
March this year.
Ritchie said: “Firstly, I want to reassure you
Charlton’s Café is one of more than 300 businesses to have
benefited from BEEP (Business Energy Efficiency Project).
qualifying SMEs, helping towards purchasing
up-to-date energy efficient installations. This
can range from lighting, heating to electric
vehicles.
BEEP recently helped Charlton’s Café
purchase an electric vehicle bringing further
energy cost cutting to the business along
with supporting its ongoing growth and
sustainability.
Charlton’s Café, based in Peterlee, saw its
operations grow towards more delivery-based
purchases.
Director Michael Charlton said: “With
the new car, we can get 120 miles of range,
more than the company´s daily needs, for
only £1.50, and the move has been great
for the company’s finances as well as the
environment.”
If you’d like to explore how BEEP can help
your business get in touch, email beep@
durham.gov.uk, call 03000 265547 or visit
beep.uk.net.
TEKMAR BOSS TO STEP DOWN AS TURNOVER SOARS TO £41M
this was my
personal
decision and
is in no way
a reflection
of my
confidence
in Tekmar longer term. It has been an exciting
12 years of growing the business from a small
family start-up to where we are today, and it
will remain an astonishing story.
“Together we developed a market-leading
technology, established the largest track
record in offshore wind with an outstanding
brand recognised the world over, completed
a management buy-out of Tekmar Energy
in 2011 backed by private equity, and then
successfully floated on the London Stock
Exchange becoming Tekmar Group plc seven
years later.
“More impressively we have doubled in
size in the first two years, achieving £41m in
sales and employing over 200 people across
six businesses. For me now, this feels like the
right time to hand over the reins.”
BUSINESS
BRIEFS
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Durham County Council has been
shortlisted for a national award for its
digital transformation.
The local authority has been shortlisted
for the Digital Transformation category
in The MJ Awards 2020, which recognises
achievement in local government.
It follows the council’s efforts to bring
more services online, improve the quality
and choice of those digital services and
help its communities to thrive in a digital
world.
£6M BOOST FOR BUSINESS PARK
Plans for a major new business park in
Durham City are progressing thanks to
£6m of government funding.
Durham County Council has secured
the money from the government’s Getting
Building Fund, which aims to deliver
jobs, skills and infrastructure across the
country.
The funding will cover half the cost of
the first building on the proposed Aykley
Heads Business Park, enabling the creation
of office space on ‘Plot C’, which has been
identified as Phase 1 of the development
for the new business park.
The council will contribute the other
half of the cost, with the building totalling
£12m.
PLANS FOR £5BN PIPELINE
Transport for the North (TfN) has
set out its initial plans for a Northern
Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), a 30-year
investment plan of infrastructure projects
to underpin greener Northern growth.
This £5 billion pipeline includes rail,
road, active travel and smart ticketing
proposals; some of which could be started
over the next 6-18 months to help the
economy ‘build back better’ after the
Covid-19 pandemic, and help create
around 20,000 construction and design
jobs in the North of England.
AYCLIFFE BUSINESS
We’re already working on the 47th issue of
Aycliffe Business, the magazine for Aycliffe
Business Park, which is due out in October
and now with an expanded circulation to
parts of Darlington, Shildon and Bishop
Auckland.
To get involved, call Sharon
Hutchinson on 07940 870310 or email
[email protected].
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 15