Serving the Teesside Business Community | 71
/ HARTLEPOOL NEWS
Chip off the old block as Sean
opens Seaton Carew fish shop
Teesport, which boasts in excess of
two million square feet of covered
warehousing, handles more than 5,000
vessels and around 40 million tonnes of
cargo a year.
#TalkingUpTeesside
J&B celebrates 20th
year with £1.3m
investment
Former SSI worker Sean
Bennett has opened his
own fish and chip shop
in Seaton Carew, thanks
to help from the SSI
Task Force.
A
former steelworker has followed in his
parents’ footsteps by opening a fish
and chip shop following help from the
SSI Task Force.
Sean Bennett had worked on the blast
furnace at the Redcar steelworks for eight
years when it closed its doors in September
2015.
Now, just like his parents, he is running his
own fish and chip shop in Seaton Carew.
Sean explained: “When SSI first closed
down, the Task Force helped us get onto
courses; you name it, I applied for it. I just
wanted to put myself in the best position to
get a job.
“I was lucky enough to get a temporary
job with Thirteen Group, and then my mam
offered me an opportunity to work for her
in one of her fish shops, which was really
supportive of her. But I thought to myself, if
I’m going to do this, I’m doing it for myself.”
Sean accessed the SSI Business Start Up
Support and Grant scheme, providing him
with support to develop his own business
plan as well as funding to help him get
started.
Bennetts Traditional Fish and Chips, which
is based on Elizabeth Way in Seaton Carew,
first opened its doors in July 2017.
“Right in the middle of summer we
opened,” Sean laughs, “It was a learning
experience, but the Task Force funding really
helped us during the crucial early stages.”
The Business Start-up Scheme has
expanded to support new entrepreneurs from
across the whole of the Tees Valley. For more
information call the North East Enterprise
Agency on 0191 516 6093.
COUPLE TOAST NEW HOME
A Hartlepool couple who started a catering
equipment hire company from home have
moved into prestigious premises to give their
thriving business the space it now desperately
needs.
Arden Hire, set up four years ago by Linda
and Kevin Kelly, is now operating from office
and workshop space at the Innovation Centre
on Queens Meadow Business Park.
The couple started Arden Hire after they
were persuaded to help provide plates for
a relative’s wedding and it has gone from
strength to strength ever since.
A Teesside recycling firm has celebrated
the beginning of its 20th anniversary
with a series of investments totalling
£1.3m.
J&B Recycling, the region’s largest
independent recycling firm, has rolled
out an £800,000 plant upgrade and made
further investments into machinery and
its vehicle fleet across its three sites
totalling a further £500,000.
The two-phase plant upgrade,
completed in January, not only allows
the company to take an additional 11,000
tonnes of waste per year but also allows
J&B to continue complying with strict
overseas regulations and ensures it is
prepared for the future.
TEES APPRENTICES
ON TRACK
S
teven Barnfield is on his way to
realising his ambition of a job in
industrial asset protection as one
of ten apprentices selected for the
second programme run by Teesside-
based CFB Risk Management.
The 27-year old from Hartlepool
studied for a BSc in applied sport and
exercise science at university and was
working temporarily in a restaurant
when he saw the apprenticeship
advertised and jumped at the
opportunity.
Steven – pictured (left) with 22-year-
old Jack McTiernan, who is now a site
protection officer at the Ineos Nitriles
site – has joined Aaron Davison and
Brendan White from Middlesbrough;
Jonathan Colclough, Newcastle; Liam
Hodgson, Seaham; Jamie Scott and
Daniel Wilkinson from Stockton; Joe
Wattis, Acklam; Ross Boardman,
Sedgefield and Alex Whitehill from
Durham, on the second scheme.
Thinking outside
the Orangebox
Tees Valley Business Compass is helping
a Hartlepool-based professional training
provider take its expertise to an overseas
market.
Orangebox Training Solutions is
being supported by the local growth
hub to showcase its specialist training,
which includes management, effective
communications, first aid, health and
safety and security and law enforcement,
at industry conferences in other countries
including the United Arab Emirates.
Founded in March 2016 by former
surveillance trainer and specialist
operations police officer Simon Corbett,
Orangebox employs six staff at its site
on Queens Meadow Business Park, and
currently runs courses across the UK.