NEWS
From the archive – a black-and-white aerial picture showing the Wilton Centre ’ s construction in 1974 .
Iconic Wilton Centre announces plans for 50th birthday
FIFTY CENT
The Wilton Centre has announced plans to celebrate 50 years since the iconic building opened its doors .
The first staff arrived at the headquarters of ICI – the so-called Wilton Hilton – in October 1974 , just under a year before its official opening in September 1975 .
More than 1,000 people worked there , managing – among other things – the payslips , posts and pensions of tens of thousands of their colleagues who worked at nearby Wilton International and Billingham .
As well as being an administrative hub , the Wilton Centre ’ s laboratories were also full of researchers , chemists and scientists exploring and developing new processes and products .
“ Anybody you talk to in and around Redcar seems to have a connection with either ICI or British Steel ,” said Wilton Centre site director Steve Duffield .
“ We want to focus on what life was like working through the years , but we also want to take the opportunity of telling people what ’ s happening now and the exciting future that ’ s in store .”
Over the coming few months the centre plans to stage exhibitions , host reunions and produce permanent materials to mark its 50th birthday .
It is inviting people who have worked there to send their memories and photographs to a special Wilton Centre at 50 Facebook page .
John Dale was 16 when he started work at the Wilton Centre in 1977 .
“ You were working with some of the best scientists in the world ,” he said .
Forty-seven years later John – a highly respected scientist himself – still works at the centre for one of its 63 occupiers , Intertek .
Over half a century , new buildings have been added , the interior has been refurbished multiple times , ICI has gone and the ownership has changed hands three times .
But the expertise John first encountered as a teenager all those years ago remains .
Now , though , it is being used to reverse engineer the products originally conceived in the Wilton Centre ’ s labs .
“ The knowledge which allowed us to produce those materials in the first place is being transferred into the circular economy , allowing us to reduce waste and increase lifecycles ,” he said .
Businesses like Mura Technology have moved to the Wilton Centre to benefit from that knowledge .
It is close to starting the operation of a world-first hydrothermal advanced plastic recycling facility in Wilton International .
Fellow occupier Stuff4Life has been nominated for a prestigious £ 1m Earthshot prize in recognition of its development of a process to recycle used polyester workwear back into new clothing .
Site director Steve started working at the Wilton Centre in 1996 . He said the building ’ s history over 50 years is a snapshot of the story of Teesside during that time .
“ The end of ICI and the decline of British Steel obviously had a profound effect ,” he said .
“ But we ’ re now seeing a revival in the area and that ’ s also reflected in the businesses who have moved to the centre .”
As well as companies engaged in the circular economy – such as Mura Technology and Stuff4Life – industrial giants like bp and Costain have set up bases in the Wilton Centre to oversee their operations at Teesworks .
There , bp is involved in four major projects – including Net Zero Teesside Power and the Northern Endurance Partnership – while Costain was selected as one of nine specialist partners for the £ 4bn scheme .
Pioneer Group – which has a portfolio of 12 sites in the UK and Ireland – is planning a major expansion in the North-East .
It has submitted a planning application to build new manufacturing space , laboratories and offices on land next to the Wilton Centre .
The Wilton Freeport Development scheme will comprise 148,000 sq ft across multiple buildings and is designed to provide a combination of high-end technical R & D / manufacturing units and incubator space for early-stage businesses .
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