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Serving the Teesside Business Community | 51

Tees business goes wild with £ 200k Stockton move

Ecological and environmental consultancy Naturally Wild has celebrated the firm’ s 20th anniversary by moving into new Stockton offices as part of an ongoing expansion programme built on the success of long-term contracts across the country.

Despite boasting major contracts in the south of England, the Tees firm has resisted the temptation of moving away from the North-East, instead investing £ 200,000 in a two-storey headquarters on Cygnet Drive on the Bowesfield Industrial Estate, with the support of a grant from Tees Valley Unlimited and loan support from Santander.

Naturally Wild, which plans to increase the size of its team to 11 with the recruitment of two more staff over the next two years, began life in the Guisborough home of managing director Graeme Skinner in 1996.

Naturally Wild managing director

Graeme Skinner at the firm’ s new £ 200,000 headquarters in Stockton.

The move to new premises from the firm’ s previous HQ on Skippers Lane in Middlesbrough caps an exciting 12-month period for Naturally Wild, which specialises in offering ecological surveys and assessments for protected species such as bats, great crested newts, badgers, reptiles, otters, water voles and breeding birds.

The firm now boasts long-term contracts with Taylor Wimpey in the South-West and South-East of England, whilst also carrying out work for a major company servicing Network Rail contacts in the two southern regions.

In the North-East, Naturally Wild recently carried out ecological surveys for PD Ports and has also conducted extensive ecological survey work ahead of construction commencing on a new large-scale renewable energy plant on the north banks of the River Tees.

It was also contracted to carry out ecological surveys ahead of the redevelopment of the former Spanish City amusement park in Whitley Bay, as well as the site of new housing developments in Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe and the site of the former Tall Trees night club near Yarm.

LUCITE EMPLOYEES BLAZE NATIONAL TRAIL

Three former servicemen sponsored throughout their training by Lucite International are some of the first in the country to“ pass out” of the pioneering new employer-designed Trailblazer Apprenticeship Standard.

Craig Buckle, James Curtis-Dawson and Derek Hornsey are the first in the UK to successfully complete the new Science Manufacturing Technician( SMT) Apprenticeship at Level 3.

The talented trio, who completed a year studying at TTE and a year training at Lucite’ s Cassel site at Billingham, have now been taken on by the acrylic manufacturer as full time production technicians.

GLASGOW PRINT FIRM LAUNCHES TEES OFFICE

A printing specialist which is helping businesses save thousands of pounds every year has chosen Teesside as the location for its first branch in England.

Glasgow-based Simple Digital has opened Simple Digital North East at Gloucester House in Stockton, which will be run by husband and wife team Paul and Ruth Masters.

The company is a print solution provider which works to cut businesses’ costs by offering cheaper and more efficient printing options to meet their needs.

Simple Digital, which is product independent, works with both small and large companies, carrying out free, no obligation audits, before recommending the most suitable devices for needs and volumes to boost office functionality and efficiency.

New development expands haulage company

The construction division of Newton Aycliffe-based Raisco has completed a £ 250,000 expansion and refurbishment of a 7,700 square metre lorry park at Suttons Tankers in Stockton.

The land, owned by Aycliffe firm Stiller Warehousing and Distribution, has almost doubled Suttons’ hard standing area for its 250-fleet of lorries while also making safety and environmental improvements.

The site previously consisted of loose hard standing with no drainage. Raisco has refurbished more than 4,500 square metres of heavy duty block paving and introduced new tarmac and concrete hard standing, while new drainage and a stateof-the-art petrol interceptor have also been installed.

Raisco construction manager Dene Gregory is pictured( left) with Sutton Tankers operations manager Darren Mathieson( centre) and Stiller managing director Paul Stiller.

Fusion Hive is thriving one year on

A university business and innovation centre is helping digital companies to thrive as it celebrates its first year of operation.

When Fusion Hive on Stockton’ s Northshore was opened by local MP James Wharton in October 2015, he described it as a“ driver for growth”.

The state-of-the-art workspace, which is managed by Teesside University, has quickly established itself as a hub for ambitious SMEs looking to grow their business.

Already, more than 20 companies have moved into Fusion Hive to take advantage of its modern offices and meeting spaces, superfast broadband, and high-tech facilities.

/ TeesBusiness @ Tees _ Business