Serving the Teesside Business Community | 73
/ HARTLEPOOL NEWS
Multi-million
pound college
facility
officially
opened
C
leveland College of Art and Design’s
(CCAD) new multi-million teaching
facility in Hartlepool was officially
opened by Professor Madeleine Atkins CBE,
chief executive of the Higher Education
Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the
organisation which funds and regulates
universities and higher education colleges in
England.
The leading northern arts school unveiled
its state-of-the-art building – 1 Church Street
– at an opening ceremony attended by Tees
Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, local dignitaries
and the college board of governors, alongside
partners and developers involved in the £11m
project.
Professor Atkins, who was the former pro-
vice-chancellor of University of Newcastle
and vice-chancellor of Coventry University,
welcomed the impressive development of
the university-level specialist art and design
college.
Cleveland College of Art and Design’s new
£11m teaching facility, funded by Tees Valley
Combined Authority, has now opened.
“Church Street is a great campus for its
specialist resources and dedicated studio
spaces, and CCAD is up there with the very
best of the higher education institutions in
the country,” she said.
“Here in this building we see even more
key evidence of the college anchoring itself
within Hartlepool and the Church Street
facilities are absolutely fantastic.”
The new building, funded by the Tees
Valley Combined Authority, provides 45,000
sq ft of teaching and administration space.
The campus facilities include flexible studio
space, two seven-metre double-height
studios for photography and TV or film work,
a refectory area and galley, ensuring students
can access the highest level of creative
industry education in the North East and
across the UK for many years to come.
RECORD GROWTH
FOR WASTE
MANAGEMENT FIRM
Hartlepool-based waste management
firm J&B Recycling has celebrated record
financials for the year ending March 2017,
reporting a turnover of £15.7m.
The company also increased its gross
profit by 159% to £2.3m and reported an
EBITDA of £1.7m, up 87.2% from 2016.
The company has continued its strong
growth into the current financial year.
As at August 2017 it is now running at
a £4m EBITDA run rate, as the result of
prev ious investment into staff, machinery
and process optimisation and a range of
new significant contracts have begun to
contribute.
J&B Recycling is led by managing
director Vicki Jackson-Smith, the third
highest-ranked woman in the Tees
Business poll on the most inspirational
Teesside businesspeople.
Work begins on £3m
creative Hartlepool
hub
Work has started on a new hub to house
creative businesses in Hartlepool, an
initiative led by the local council and
part-funded by the Tees Valley Combined
Authority.
The project sees the Grade II-listed,
former Post Office building in Whitby
Street transform into a new £3m business
centre dubbed the BIS.
The centre will encourage business
start-ups in the creative industries sector
and provide specialist support for them.
Local firm Gus Robinson Developments
is undertaking the work, which will involve
building refurbishment and extension to
create 28 studio units of various sizes for
businesses, including a mix of workshops
and office space.
NEW FACES AT
OMEGA PLASTICS
Omega Plastics is gearing up for another
outstanding year.
Keith Moody has been appointed
as project manager while Krzysztof
Wieckiewicz has been taken on as a
quality engineer at the plastic injection
moulding and tooling specialist.
Having worked for the Omega
Plastics Group before as a key account
manager, Keith will be responsible for
the management of new tooling projects
from purchase through to sign-off, while
Krzysztof has joined from a major North
East’s automotive manufacturer.
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