18 | Tees Business
>> and we were also responsible for most
of the redevelopment of Hartlepool Marina,”
says Joe.
“That helped us enormously but the
important thing was diversifying. We bought
up old industrial estates and converted them
and ventured into shops in towns such as
Stockton and Northallerton.
“If you name a business, we probably
had at least one in our properties, from
hairdressers to sandwich shops – we even
owned a nightclub in Stockton.
“After that, we started looking further
afield and created offices as far away as
York and Newcastle, as well as building and
selling apartments.”
Joe, 51, has been part of the Mandale
story since the early days.
“I left St Patrick’s School in Thornaby
in 1982 and went on a youth training
programme at Head Wrightson’s foundry,” he
explains. “We were pretty much treated as
slave labour, but it toughened me up and got
me into work mode.
“When that ended I needed to find a job
and one night I bumped into a lad I knew
from school who told me about a company
who were looking for someone.”
If you think Joe’s face looks familiar, it
could be that you’ve seen the cartoon version
advertising available properties on billboards
throughout the area, along with his own
catchphrase – “Ey up!”
“A colleague came up with an idea of
the character to make it more personal,” he
explains.
“Instead of saying ‘Hello’ when I first
meet people I have a habit of saying, ‘Ey up,
how’re you doing?’, to give them something
distinctive they will always remember me by.
I didn’t really know I was saying it until I saw
the cartoon character.
“I walk into shops and can see people
looking at me like they know me from
somewhere but can’t quite place me.”
Alongside the thriving Mandale Business
side of the operation, the group also includes
Mandale Homes, which is behind a growing
portfolio of stylish residential developments
as far away as Halifax and Manchester, as
well as throughout the North-East.
Flagship developments include the
£31m restoration of Hanover Mill into 181
apartments and 50,000 sq ft of commercial
space that is now a prominent feature of
Newcastle’s Quayside, as well as the £24.5m
New direction – Mandale has
invested heavily in re-shaping
Navigation Point at Hartlepool
Marina.
“We’re constantly trying
to stay ahead and cater
for what people actually
want and need.”
redevelopment of a Grade II listed mill in
Preston into a striking apartment complex.
But Joe’s current focus is on recruiting
new tenants for two high-quality commercial
schemes, the 25,000 sq ft Arkgrove Industrial
Estate on Ross Road, Portrack, and Mandale
Park, at Belmont Industrial Estate in County
Durham.
“We’ve had Arkgrove for 30 years
and decided to upgrade it to the quality
businesses now require,” he says.
“Expectations have changed and gone are
the days when people were prepared to work