BQ North East Issue 26

www.bq-magazine.co.uk

ISSUE TWENTY SIX: SUMMER 2014

BEST FOOT FORWARD Shoe company boss steps into new territory CHAMPIONING THE NORTH BQ meets a man intent of transforming the region’s fortunes GAME CHANGER Talent pool boost for North East businesses RISING STARS Focus on two award-winning newcomers ISSUE TWENTY SIX: SUMMER 2014: NORTH EAST EDITION

MIGHTY ATOM

Anthony Thomson’s Atom Bank rewrites the rules BUSINESS NEWS: COMMERCE: FASHION: INTERVIEWS: MOTORS: EVENTS

NORTH EAST EDITION

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BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 14: ISSUE TWENTY SIX The Government has signed off for its hols announcing £15bn of new infrastructure projects which, it hopes, will attract foreign investment.

Good infrastructure’s vital to draw inward investment. Yet it’s the asset of which the North East’s apportionment in England’s public spend amounts to a paltry 1.5% (against 59% in London). The North East, despite improvement work starting belatedly on parts of the A19 and Tyneside’s Western Bypass, has been getting public investment scandalously less proportionate for its infrastructure, compared with elsewhere.

It’s suggested the North East has no really big developments to put forward. But what would upgrading the A66 trans-Pennine route (important to Teesport), and the A1 throughout Northumberland (vital to save lives) amount to if not significance? And what about the multi-billion pound spends being mooted for the nation’s railways, where the North East is a mere afterthought?

Will the North East – still with the UK’s biggest unemployment challenge – now get just desserts through the 14 individual schemes just proposed? Er, probably not. Think rather Scotland, Wales and the South East of England again, apart from a biomass plant to feed energy needs of Aesica Pharmaceuticals at Cramlington and the National Grid. Last year, out of 1,800 projects funded by overseas investors, a quarter went to Scotland, which thereby got almost a third of the 67,000 new jobs resulting. Good luck to Scotland.

Irrational economic spread by the Government – detailed in three major reports – is, however, only one of several reasons why the North East, despite big overseas captures like Nissan and Hitachi, still loses out. Ironically, our region is good for inward investors. Otherwise why would US toolmaking titan Black & Decker have switched production to a land of cheaper labour six years ago, only to announce now a £1m-plus investment in a new UK national service centre. Sympathy? Sentiment doesn’t figure in business investment.

In this issue of BQ Bill MacLeod, a North East executive close to the region’s financial pulse,

explains additional reasons why the North East is disadvantaged, despite its immense worth to the nation by doing more than most, through exporting, to close the trade gap.

From his chair as senior partner of business consultants PwC in Newcastle, Bill also gives notice of three hurdles the region’s businesses will face over the next few years – and points out why change is going to be inevitable.

The good news is that Durham is to headquarter the new Atom digital bank founded by Anthony Thomson – a North Easterner who knows the many advantages his region offers. We shed new light on this clever entrepreneur. Cheering insights also come from Charles Clinkard, whose nationwide family footwear chain operating out of Eaglescliffe can justifiably celebrate 90 years despite some really tough retail times.

And for businesses keen now, amid economic recovery, to pump more creativity into their working ways and thinking, Lucy Winskell at the bridgehead linking North East business with student talent of the region, explains how the region’s universities can offer even more besides talent in helping provide that extra impetus. We hope our readers will find enjoyment, as well as food for thought, in these pages.

Brian Nicholls, Editor

CONTACTS ROOM501 LTD Christopher March Managing Director e: chris@room501.co.uk Bryan Hoare Director e: bryan@room501.co.uk EDITORIAL Brian Nicholls Editor e: b.g.nicholls@btinternet.com Andrew Mernin e: andrewm@room501.co.uk DESIGN & PRODUCTION room501 e: studio@room501.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY KG Photography e: info@kgphotography.co.uk Chris Auld e: chris@chrisauldphotography.com SALES Heather Spacey Business Development Manager e: heather@room501.co.uk @Heather_BQ Rachael Laschke Business Development Manager e: rachael@room501.co.uk @Rachael_BQ or call 0191 426 6300

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THE LIFE AND SOUL OF BUSINESS

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BQ Magazine is published quarterly by room501 Ltd.

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CONTE BUSINESS QUARTER: SUMMER 14 GAME CHANGER

46 RISING STARS Award-winning emerging entrepreneurs tell their inspirational stories

58 BUSINESS LUNCH

Features

BQ catches up with the man tasked with transforming the North East’s fortunes

84 IF THE SHOE FITS Charles Clinkard is following in the family footsteps...and making changes

26 MIGHTY ATOM Serial entrepreneur Anthony Thomson is on a mission to transform banking

32 GAME CHANGER Prospects have improved for North East businesses seeking talented graduates

40 LIVE DEBATE Experts explore ways to stimulate startups across Northumberland

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

90 IN ANOTHER LIFE Former rugby player reveals how team spirit has inspired his approach to work

92 AN INSPIRATION BQ pays tribute to an inspirational business leader who died recently

94 MEDIA BRIEFS Young entrepreneur believes region’s businesses are underselling themselves

06

32 CHAMPIONING THE NORTH EAST

58

TENTS NORTH EAST EDITION

54 COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Behind the biggest new deals and developments across the region

66 MOTORING Architect Simon Dunstan takes his son for a spin in porsche’s new offering

Regulars

70 WINE Dominic Elsworth appreciates lovely legs...in a glass of rioja!

FATHER AND SON IN A SPIN

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72 FASHION 08 ON THE RECORD Long-awaited investment in sight. And Mike Ashley’s empire continues to grow

12 NEWS Who’s doing what, where, when and why here in the North East

Josh Sims traces the roots of a look that captivated jazz fans

76 EQUIPMENT Car designer Martin Smith carved a career out of his boyhood dream

96 BIT OF A CHAT With BQ’s backroom boy Frank Tock

22 AS I SEE IT The future is upon us, but are we ready for Generation Z?, asks Rob Charlton

IF THE SHOE FITS

98 EVENTS Key business events for your diary

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84 BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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ON THE RECORD

SUMMER 14

Long overdue investment in the region is at last in sight, but youth unemployment remains a concern, Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s empire continues to grow, North East law firms buck trend

>> Record gains at port Port of Tyne (above) has achieved record cargo volumes and turnover for a fifth year running – with cargo volumes up 25% last year to 8.1m tonnes, and turnover 16% up. Chief executive Andrew Moffat says more than £60m has been invested in infrastructure since 2009, including £15m last year.

>> Region’s businesses picking up The Government has set aside nearly £380m for economic investment in the North East and Teesside. A sum of £289.3m is pledged for projects within the North East LEP area. Two payments are promised, the first from 2015/16, the second from 2016/17 onwards, to go on skills and jobs, projects, housebuilding and transport links. Up to 4,000 jobs are expected to result, with up to £90m in public and private investment generated.

Tees Valley LEP has been apportioned £90.3m, with £22.9m confirmed for the first year. Up to 1,000 jobs and 1,500 additional training places are expected to result, with up to 2,000 new homes and up to £100m in public and private investment. The North East was a top three recipient of the Government’s local growth deals, after London and Manchester. Tees Valley is receiving £1.3m of Local Sustainable Transport Fund funding from the Department for Transport towards its Connect Tees Valley

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

sustainable transport project in 2015/16.

Business conditions in the North East over all improved further in June, as output and new business continued to grow faster. A Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking survey suggests although the region’s rate of job creation remained below UK average, the pace of growth was the fastest in four months.

Indeed, businesses across the region are feeling the benefits of the ongoing economic recovery more clearly than their peers elsewhere in the UK, an index by the insolvency trade body R3 suggests. However, Lloyds finds expansion in payroll numbers mainly centred on the service sector. Manufacturers reported a fall in jobs.

Further incentive exists though. More than 100 companies in the region will now be able to draw on grants through a new cash injection of about £1m. Investment for Growth is extending its business investment project to the end of 2014, after receiving more European Regional Development Fund money.

It is inviting applications from SMEs. Up to

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130 more businesses could be helped.

Another regional investment fund launched to fast-track economic growth has now committed more than £100m to North East firms. This is the £125m Finance for Business North East programme, a suite of seven funds managed by North East Finance.

July figures indicate that while the North East shows the country’s most improved region in employment, with more people in work than ever before and unemployment 4,000 down over a year, unemployment in the latest quarter is still 5,000 up, totalling 129,000 – 9.8% against a national average of 6.5% Andrew Hodgson, who leads skills on the North East LEP’s board, says: “A £4.5m North East Youth Employment Programme, which started in July, is one way we are working to achieve improvement.”

However, a warning that rock bottom interest rates may start being raised again suggests that while perhaps fitting for some other parts of the country, it could worsen North East unemployment further if firms in the region feel borrowing for increased investment is too risky.

>> Forum renamed South Tyneside Manufacturing Forum has been renamed the Advanced Manufacturing Forum.

>> By rail and sea PD Ports has a new rail service with Freightliner, which will result in an investment of more than £3m in a new rail terminal at Teesport. Construction of the terminal is under way and once complete will give new connections with Felixstowe and Southampton. Opportunities to establish further new routes to Scotland, the Midlands and the North West are expected. This investment follows a £16.7m container terminal expansion in 2011.

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ON THE RECORD >> Worth a fortune Newcastle United’s controversial owner Mike Ashley is the North East’s richest individual for the fourth year running, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, which calculates his wealth at £3.75bn.

He is now the 22nd richest man in the country, his wealth having soared by about 63% in a year. He has invested about £260m in Newcastle United and built his sportswear firm Sports Direct into one of the country’s biggest retailers, valued at £4.75bn.

He retains a £2.7bn stake in it. Since 2007 he has cashed in shares worth £1.23bn.

Ashley looks certain to be very much richer also in 2019 and 2021 if profit targets are reached between 2016 and 2019.

Ashley, following shareholder protest, has even so surprised the City by ruling himself out of a possible £180m bonus package set to reward staff as well. The company has announced a 16% jump in profits for the year to £239.9m Ashley, though executive deputy chairman, receives no salary but has made a fortune selling shares.

A Sports Direct tie up with a fashion website

SUMMER 14

is expected to give the firm access to markets in Australia and New Zealand.

>> Fit for a Queen Eight North East firms have recently received Queen’s Awards for Enterprise: Catalytic Technologies (Stockton), Northumbrian Water and Ikon Geopressure (both Durham), Cordex Instruments (Middlesbrough), Integrated Display Systems (Wallsend), Thomas Miller Claims Management (Newcastle) and inov-8 (Crook). Cambridgeshire subsea firm JDR Cables (with an operation at Hartlepool) was another recipient. And Middlesbrough’s Ann Stonehouse, an accountant motivating women of the region to set up businesses, received an individual award.

>> Few means more in law Against a background of fewer solicitors practicing in the North East, two North East law firms at least continue to make

>> Achievers

good headway – and this despite intensified competition from recent arrivals to the industry of new entrants and consolidation.

Ward Hadaway, with turnover a record £33.5m, shows growth for a fifth year, a 10% plus latest figure over two years and 20% over five. Managing partner Jamie Martin says almost half the income and fees come from its litigation department. The UK Top 75 firm has nearly 450 staff in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester. Commercial law firm Muckle LLP has seen an 11% climb in turnover with client revenues rising to £12.2m.

With strong results for four years in a row now, the firm aims to reach £18m within four years. Senior partner Hugh Welch says that, with a new practice management system installed, commercial work is up 36% and corporate work by 20%. Muckle LLP has 27 partners, proportionately more than many competitors. Its overall headcount is 154.

The Law Society counted 3,114 solicitors in the region in 2012, compared with 3,173 in 2011.

The fall reflects an overall trend for England and Wales. Nationally, younger solicitors (35 and under) are more likely to be female.

Ammar Mirza

Nigel Sherlock, OBE, Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear and past chief executive of stockbroker Wise Speke, has been appointed KCVO. Ammar Mirza (right), managing director of AmmarM business and co-founder of Asian Business Connexions, has been appointed CBE. Lucy Winskell, pro-vice chancellor, Northumbria University, and chairwoman of the North East Chamber of Commerce, has been appointed OBE. Susan Houston, assistant director, Yorkshire, Humber and the North East, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, has been appointed OBE. Caroline Gitsham, director of Gentoo, has been appointed MBE. Dame Margaret Barbour, chairman of J Barbour and Sons, of South Tyneside, Sarah Hall has received an outstanding achievement award in the UK NatWest Fashion and Textile Awards.

Paul Woolston, chairman of the North East LEP and recently retired senior partner of PwC in Newcastle, retains his chairmanship of the North East LEP for a second three year term, and is now chairman also of Newcastle based Middleton Enterprises, the £50m investment company of entrepreneur and philanthropist Jeremy Middleton.

John Hays, MD of Hays Travel, has been given the Odyssey Award by the Institute of Travel and Tourism for exceptional achievement in the sector.

Vicki Brown of Vertu Motors plc was named Accountant of the Year in the North East Accountancy Awards.

Sarah Hall (pictured), managing director of the PR and marketing agency Sarah Hall Consulting – a board member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations – has been presented with the Stephen Tallents Medal for exceptional achievement in public relations by a CIPR member.

Colin Robinson, chief executive of the Gateshead firm Energy Friend, has been named North East Regional Green Deal and ECO Advisor of the Year.

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NEWS

SUMMER 14

Market town to produce Coca Cola-backed drink, North hopes to capitalise on East Coast Main Line improvements, region’s new whisky goes global, BE Group helps Everest scale new heights >> Drinks fizz for county Northumberland’s growing soft drinks industry is in ferment. Coca Cola with a £3.5m investment is launching a new bottled water from Morpeth. The market town will source and produce for all the UK the new product, glaceau smartwater. The work will be done at Coopies Lane Industrial Estate plant – home to Schweppes Abbey Well water – and the same underground aquifer will serve both Abbey Well and the new product.

The electrolyte enhanced water already sells in the USA, promoted by Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston. Elsewhere in Northumberland, three drinks firms have merged. Harry Hotspur Holdings, parent of the Alnwick Rum and Alnwick Brewery brands, has the majority stake now in Lindisfarne Ltd, whose Lindisfarne Winery enjoys major overseas sales of its mead.

The late Michael Hackett formed the liqueur business some 50 years ago. Square One Law firm acted for Harry Hotspur Holdings.

>> Crops energised The £250m Ensus bioethanol plant at Wilton, near Redcar, which had to be mothballed temporarily, is now contributing to record performances for its German parent CropEnergies AG.

>> Up and under A steel tube umbilical manufacturing facility, one of the world’s most advanced and housed in one of the tallest single floor buildings in Europe, is running now for Technip Umbilicals, serving subsea clients at Walker Riverside, Newcastle.

>> Satellite support County Durham’s science park, Netpark at Sedgefield, is one of three UK centres chosen to advance the nation’s business expertise in satellite technology.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

Ready for action: Norman Burnham (left), service operations manager at Stanley Black & Decker, ups tools with Allan Cook, managing director of Arlington Real Estate

>> B&D recommits to the North East US toolmaking titan Stanley Black & Decker has reaffirmed its confidence in the North East of England’s skills by investing £1m-plus in a new UK national service centre. It will be the anchor and first significant tenant at DurhamGate North, Arlington Real Estate announced in association with the developer’s creation of the 25 acre industrial regeneration site on the A167 six miles south of Durham City.

A 73,000sq ft Meadowfield Building will house the firm’s construction and DIY business, providing and servicing hand tools, power tools and related accessories.

World class brands include Black & Decker, Dewalt, Stanley and Bostitch. A factory store will also serve the general public.

About 22 staff will work there.

This centre will complement Stanley Black & Decker’s European research & development centre at nearby DurhamGate, opened in 1974. Black & Decker first came to Spennymoor in 1965

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and manufactured, without any inward investment incentive.

Alan Carswell, director of real estate at Stanley Black & Decker, says: “We are delighted our long established association with the North East will continue. We see opportunity to expand our operations.” It had looked earlier as if the firm would pull out altogether. In 2000, it employed 2,300 people making 14m tools a year, 75% for export. In 2002 it switched production to the Czech Republic. By 2003 almost 1,000 jobs had been shed. Through regional development agency One North East it received a government grant of £735,000 to stay. Further redundancies were made in 2005 and 2006. But by 2006 it repaid the grant in full. In 2008 it announced a closure of all manufacturing there with a loss of another 169 jobs. But it has retained a major research and development arm. The latest facility is expected to be fully running by Q3 of 2015. Allan Cook, managing director of Arlington Real Estate, says it’s a great start for DurhamGate North, and significant to County Durham.

>> Going Swedish Gosforth based Symetri has been bought

by Swedish IT group Addnode from Airbus Defence and Space. Symetri has £8m turnover and employs 24 staff at three UK sites. It supplies computer aided design software to the energy, transport and manufacturing sectors.

>> Deloitte delivers Professional services firm Deloitte has selected Newcastle to be a national centre for excellence, creating 100 jobs over two years. It will major in quality assurance and auditing.

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NEWS

SUMMER 14

Speeding on: Hitachi trains built in County Durham may be better placed now to sell on mainland Europe

>> Region fast tracks by rail The North East could be riding to an even bigger role in the UK’s railways, both in assembling high speed trains and in transport of passengers.

Arriva, the Sunderland based transport group bought by Germany’s state railway operator Deutsche Bahn four years ago, wants to start a service competing with whoever wins a new franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh.

Its tilting Pendolino trains would cut journey times by about 13%. The franchise is held now by state-owned Directly Operated Railways (DOR) but will be reconsidered shortly, when Virgin Rail is expected also to bid. A growing lobby quoting efficiency statistics wants DOR to remain sole operator.

Alliance Rail Holdings, an Arriva subsidiary, would if successful revive a GNER brand previously seen on the line in 2005. Arriva has the finance. Its revenues rose 12.5% in 2013.

Earnings showed a 12.5% jump.

It already operates 14% of the UK’s passenger train network, including Chiltern Railways connecting London with Birmingham, Tyne and Wear Metro, and commuter intensive links in the South. It is also investing £40m to upgrade its 6,000 strong bus fleet.

Chief executive David Martin says Arriva is “well placed to take advantage of significant opportunities across Europe”. It has offered to help French regional rail authorities loosen SNCF’s grip on the market by proposing trials

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

of privately run passenger services. Deutsche Bahn paid £1.59bn for Arriva, formerly Sir Tom Cowie’s motors business. It was among the 50 largest foreign employers of the UK listed in a recent Sunday Times PA Consulting Inward Investment table.

The deferral of Essex Thameside rail franchise by perhaps two months, however, could mean the East Coast Main Line award, due in November, may also be postponed.

Virgin Trains would bid with Stagecoach, with whom it already runs the West Coast Main Line franchise. Virgin started running West Coast in 1997 but was almost dislodged

Arriva ‘well placed to take advantage of opportunities across Europe’

by Firstgroup when the franchise came up recently. It now has the line until at least March 2017 and possibly until 2018 following a successful legal challenge.

DOR has run East Coast Main Line since 2009.

In the counterbid being prepared, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin would take a 10% stake.

Meanwhile shares in Newcastle based GoAhead recently soared with the award of a multi-million pound rail franchise securing the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern

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contract through the Department for Transport. Go-Ahead begins these operations in September through Govia, a consortium formed with the French group Keolis. The previous operator was First Capital Connect.

Go-Ahead holds a 65% stake in Govia, which already has the UK’s biggest share of rail franchise with around 30% of all rail journeys, through operating the Southern, Southeastern and London Midland franchises.

Group chief executive David Brown (GoAhead) says Go-Ahead expects around £350m in revenues from its latest franchise success.

Govia beat competition from Stagecoach and First Group for the London franchise.

On the assembly front, Hitachi has switched its global rail headquarters from Tokyo to London.

This should position its new train assembly factory at Newton Aycliffe better in bidding for major contracts in Europe.

Lord Adonis, who led a study of the region’s economic potentials, believes County Durham, by the move, could become a global centre of rail manufacturing. The region’s academic sector could also benefit.

University of Sunderland, Hitachi Rail Europe and Newton Aycliffe car parts maker Gestamp Tallent want to jointly set up a university technical college beside the £82m Hitachi assembly operation. The idea has been turned down by the Department for Education but proposals were being resubmitted. Already going ahead, though, is the region’s first railway academy, a £5m training facility of Newcastle College, on a site between Heworth and Pelaw Metro stations. The academy will upskill existing rail workers. It will also prepare school leavers to succeed 1,000 North East rail workers likely to retire over the next five years.

Support is coming from Network Rail, the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering, London Underground and Tyne and Wear Metro operator Nexus.

The college will train from GCSE to degree levels in electrification, signalling and telecommunications. From September and over the next five years, more than 800 students may be trained.

The academy, by focussing on infrastructure, is expected to complement, not compete with, any university technical college that does go ahead at Newton Aycliffe.

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NEWS

SUMMER 14

>> £14.4m test centre A new £14.4m centre to drive innovation in complex formulated products is being set up in the North East to help businesses benefit from a growing global market. The North East Local Enterprise Partnership is investing £7.4m into the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) towards developing the new centre at Netpark in Sedgefield. Industry will match the £7m. Products likely to be scrutinised there will include cosmetic creams and gels, detergent powders and liquids, processed foods, paints, adhesives, lubricants, pesticides, pharmaceutical tablets and suspensions. CPI’s chief executive Nigel Perry says: “We’ll provide both large and small companies with open access facilities.”

Roy Sandbach, North East LEP’s champion of innovation says: “There is a growing global market in formulated products, estimated at £1,000bn. The North East has genuine strengths for this in both its business base and research capability.”

>> Airport hopes rise A new UK hub airport in the South East with four runways, rather than just a third runway proposed for Heathrow, will be vital to the recovery of Durham Tees Valley Airport, says a key report by York Aviation and Oxford Economics.

It concludes the third runway at Heathrow alone would not sustainably benefit Teesside, whereas a four-runway airport would restore the flight link between Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) and what would become the UK’s main hub airport.

Economists calculate a regular service between Durham Tees Valley and the UK’s projected alternative hub would boost Teesside’s economy by £220m yearly and create 2,180 new jobs.

The report commissioned by Transport for London suggests DTVA would gain a four flights a day service to London by 2050 with the new hub. An Airports Commission, chaired

by Sir Howard Davies, is currently deciding

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

which option for airport expansion in the South East to recommend.

A third runway at Heathrow would not give Teesside a sustainable service, it is claimed, because of underlying demand already from airlines wanting slots for more profitable routes.

>> Meat free growth Quorn is transforming its Billingham manufacturing plant, creating up to 400 more jobs over several years with a £30m investment to raise output of its meat free products by half. The Stokesley company’s sales have grown by 13% in the UK and 21% internationally over 15 months. Chief executive Kevin Brennan says the firm now exports to 13 countries.

>> Neighbours unite A-Belco Group, recent winner of the North East Exporters Award, has acquired a neighbouring Northumbrian firm, Opsol UK. A-Belco, which has a £22m turnover and employs 150 people at Ashington to make Hadar brand lighting for hazardous sites, thus acquires one of its suppliers, a Cramlington maker of circuit boards with a £3.2m turnover and a workforce of 28.

Paul Currie: with The One

>> Travelling tots The One, the first whisky from the new £5m Lakes Distillery being built at Bassenthwaite, has gone global. Marketed as the first blend of round-Britain whiskies ever produced, The One has distribution deals in The Netherlands, France and Belgium, and is launching in the UAE. Talks are ongoing in Spain and Poland.

Managing director Paul Currie, founder also of the award-winning Isle of Arran distillery, says: “We all know the global success story of Scotch. Now England is seeing a whisky boom with several distilleries planned to open this year.

Ours will be the biggest new distillery in England, and the first official one in the Lakes.”

The company is based in Newcastle and has a Teesside family business, RSM Solutions at Eaglescliffe, bottling for it.

RSM was started by Richard Marsden, who took over the Lion’s Den brew and bottle operation of Cameron’s Brewery at Hartlepool.

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>> QUOTE OF THE QUARTER HS2…is not the answer to London’s domination (of the economy). Instead we need a much more sophisticated regeneration strategy with swathes of the country turned into deregulated low or even zero tax enterprise zones. It won’t be as exciting for our political elite as playing with new train sets of course, but it is the only way we will ever tackle the scandalous lack of growth in many of Britain’s regions Allister Heath, editor of City AM quoted in the Daily Telegraph.

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NEWS

SUMMER 14

>> College tops the lot New College Durham, which copromotes apprenticeships with 300 companies, has been named top performing college in the North East and second top in all of England. The Skills Funding Agency assessed 221 general further education colleges, assessing both achievement and retention.

How it is: Laura Devaney, business executive of Esh Property Services gives school students insights into industry

>> Good motoring Vertu Motors now has 108 UK outlets, following the purchase of two Lancashire dealerships for £8m-plus. The Burnley and Bolton acquisitions bring the Gatesheadbased group turnovers of £34.9m and £1m respectively. Vertu, floated seven years ago, has more than tripled its pre-tax profits in a year to £15.8m (£4.4m) on revenue of £1,684.5m. The North East’s other leading motor group, Benfield, has shown turnover 15% up year on year, with turnover of £622.4m. Pre-tax profits of the Newcastle based business more than doubled, from £3.1m to £7.3m. It has opened a new £7m dealership on Scotswood Road, Newcastle, that is home to one of the North’s largest Audi dealerships. The Audi car configurator room there is the first outside London.

>> Nifco looks around Nifco UK, which has opened its second factory in less than three years in the North East, says it may have to locate a third factory outside the region. It now produces about 25m plastic parts a month at Eaglescliffe for Nissan, Ford, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover and other customers.

It believes staff numbers and sales could double by 2020.

Mike Matthews, European operations officer and managing director, says while he would like to continue developing on Teesside, proximity to some key customers in the Midlands could be a deciding factor.

Capacity in the new Teesside set-up could be reached by mid-2016 and sales by 2020 could be £100m or more.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

>> Boost for builders The burgeoning Esh Group, likely to swell its £200m turnover through the recent purchase of Carlisle based Border Holdings, plans also to create 70 jobs more across the North.

It has also launched an Esh Academy to take on and train 150 apprentices over three years. This will cover operations in Cumbria, the North East, Scotland and Yorkshire. The 70 new jobs follow growing demand for the group’s construction and property services. The Bowburn, Durham, firm already employs nearly 1,000.

In the last academic year 6,200 students at schools across the North East, Cumbria and Yorkshire benefited from its workshops and work practice. All training will now go through the academy. Group chief executive Brian Manning says: “We believe the offer of jobs is a massive incentive for students.”

>> Brainy business boost A high-tech developer of artificial intelligence to work like the human brain has secured investment to speed its progress.

Generic AI Applications, of Newcastle, says its system, like the brain, finds patterns and features automatically in any information

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fed into it. So it is more flexible, has a wider range of applications and is harder to crack.

Skype founder Jaan Tallinn is interested in the technology. Now too Generic AI has a £27,000 investment from the Finance for Business North East Angel Fund, managed

by Rivers Capital Partners, and advised on the investment by law firm Ward Hadaway.

Generic AI founder Rob Clennell says: “Potential applications are almost limitless, from face recognition and fingerprint analysis to crowd behaviour analysis and financial analysis.” Google recently spent £400m on an artificial general intelligence start-up. Michael Dickens, investment manager at Rivers Capital Partners, says: “Artificial intelligence is widely seen as the next major development in the technology world.”

>> Green for fuel go Green energy auto firm Proton Power Systems is seeking licensing partners as it plans to extend its sale of products to China and other parts of the world.

Annual turnover is up 21% to £1.11m – but losses are up too as it commercialises.

It has been in talks with leading transport operators.

Though launched and registered in the North East, and listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2006, much of the firm’s product development is led by its German subsidiary, Motor Fuel Cell GmbH. Proton designs, develops and produces fuel cells and fuel cell electric hybrid systems.

>> Rag trade revived The AMA Group at Peterlee has brought clothesmaking back to the North East, making garments for designer brands, high street retailers and supermarkets. It’s hoped employees will grow from 20 to 150 by 2015.

>> Road to success Commercial vehicle leaser Northgate, which lost £11m in 2013, is back in the black and will open 18 new sites, creating 300 more jobs.

Business The law is our business. We know it inside out, upside down and back to front.

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Banking & Finance Corporate Transactions Commercial Contracts Commercial Disputes Commercial Property Restructuring & Insolvency Construction Employment Health & Safety Intellectual Property

NEWS

SUMMER 14

>> A window opens for Everest’s fact finders Double glazing and domestic improver Everest Home Improvements has modernised and improved its customer service systems using the independent business services of Seaham based BE Group. Everest has served more than 2m customers since starting up in 1965. It realised its business intelligence needed modernising. But staff were finding the software hard to access and operate. Ralph Yarwood-Smith, head of service delivery, brought in the QlikView Business Discovery platform and sought help from Qlik partner BE Group. BE Group’s Innvisage programme supplies experts who develop, deploy, manage and give ongoing support of solutions using the QlikView platform. Total strategy was delivered in nine months. Everest sells products and services to around 20,000 customers yearly and data may go back 10 years. Now customer service information can be tracked within half a day.

>> Right chemistry Chemoxy International is to double the size of its chemical plant at Billingham in a £6m expansion creating also 15 jobs.

>> 600 jobs guaranteed OGN Group has won Tyneside’s offshore industry a multi-million pound contract from Kvaerner for the Shell-operated Nyhamma onshore gas plant project in Norway. It will fabricate 18 pre-assembled units and pre-assembled racks for the onshore plant providing gas supplies to the UK. The 13-month project begins in August, safeguarding 600 jobs at the Wallsend yard.

>> News makers The Thistle Hotel Middlesbrough has received from TripAdvisor an accolade given only to the top performing 10% of businesses that consistently achieve outstanding traveller reviews.

St Cuthbert’s House and Seafield Park have won gold awards for Seahouses and Northumberland in VisitEngland’s awards for excellence.

St Cuthbert’s House is B&B/Guest House of the Year, Seafield Park Holiday Village of the Year.

Leaplish Waterside Park at Kielder took bronze in the holiday village category.

Cowell’s family run garden centre beside Newcastle Airport has been named Garden Centre of the Year for the third time in four years.

Seaham North Dock has been named

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

North East project of the year by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Similar awards have been made by the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (North East) and the Royal institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Nixon Hire the Newcastle based specialist in plant hire and repairs has been named a North East Company of the Year.

Technology Services Group (TSG) has been awarded an Excellence in Developing People accolade at the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development’s North East Awards.

Nicholson’s Butchers at Whitley Bay has celebrated its centenary under Douglas Nicholson, grandson of the founder.

Gus Robinson Developments of Hartlepool won the leadership and people development award and SME of the Year in the North

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East Construction Excellence Awards.

The Wood Heating Company of Cramlington, has been named rural heating installer of the year in national biomass sector awards.

Harperley Hall Farm Nurseries in County Durham won a gold award at Chelsea Flower Show, as too did Peterlee based National Chrysanthemum Society.

Virgin Money won the human resources and development team accolade in regional awards given by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Tomlinson Hall & Co of Billingham has been named Britain’s pump distributor of the year for four years running in national industry awards.

Eshott Hall, the hotel near Morpeth, is now AA 4 star.

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We pointed Helen to a business grant that helped her business grow.

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Ask us about the Business Growth Investment Scheme and we’ll tell you how to apply for grants from £25,000 that your business can invest in capital or revenue expenditure. Whichever is going to help it grow most effectively.

We’re here to help Tees Valley businesses grow.

To find out more visit our website at: www.teesbusinesscompass.co.uk

AS I SEE IT

SUMMER 14

HAVE YOU GOT UNDER 10S WORKED OUT YET?

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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SUMMER 14

AS I SEE IT

Tensions between the generations need to be tackled head on in business, since change is good, keeps you nimble and moves the business forward, says Rob Charlton Construction has been one of the industries hardest hit in the global recession, and we’re still suffering from a boom and bust mentality. One of the challenges for the sector has traditionally been the “baby boomer” generation – those born between 1946 and 1964. They’re sceptical of new technology and thinking that the Millennials – or Generation Y (those born between the early 1980s and 2000s) – can offer.

Space Group has worked in construction for six decades and has been adopting technology from as far back as the 1970s, when we invested a six-figure sum in a GIS system. It was very early on and we couldn’t deliver the return on investment. So a fear of technology ensued for many years. But eventually in the 1980s, albeit rather later than most, we started to adopt CAD. Our big breakthrough came when a technology called REVIT emerged from the USA, and the process of creating a building began to move into 3D. During the public sector spending boom we backed the youngest members of our team, who had the fresh minds to embrace new technology and thinking. Moving into recession, we held our nerve, continued to invest in our vision and supported our emerging talent.

It is those millennial employees who have made our business pivot and head in an exciting direction with building information modelling (BIM) - a technology now adopted and promoted by our Generation Y. At a recent industry conference my keynote talk challenged the baby boomers in the room

on whether or not they understood how Generation Y thinks. I admit I once didn’t.

I found people born in the ‘90s thought differently from me; they do not accept what we have always done – they expect instant results and have a totally different view of work. Generation Y do think differently, and I have had to spend time understanding what is important to them, and what drives them. I soon began to recognise they were connected in a way we needed to be – to technology, trends and influencers around the world.

They ingest information like oxygen, so their decision-making is quick, yet just as informed – if not more.

Yes, they need direction. But in my opinion Millennials don’t need to be controlled. We should let them fly; give them problems and observe how they solve them, seek their ideas and trust their judgment.

So what about Generation Z? Those born from 2005 who are coming through to the workforce soon – are we ready for yet another new breed?

Last year we set up our own training school called Campus, a first of its kind partnership between one of the businesses in Space Group – BIM.Technologies – and Northern Construction Training. It provides free 12-week BIM courses to young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).

It’s an exciting time to be part of the changing construction landscape as the Government’s 2016 BIM mandate approaches and technology continues to advance. Through CAMPUS we are nurturing talented young

people who are ready to integrate into a workplace and add instant value to employers.

Change is good: it keeps you nimble and moves the business forward. At Space Group we’ve embraced challenges to differentiate ourselves. This hasn’t always been easy. But we’ve worked to ensure everyone understood our direction of travel, to embrace our changes and new technology.

Tensions between the generations need to be tackled head on. Construction is an antiquated industry, but Generation Y is starting to change that. We’re seeing signs of revolution – the sector’s digitising and there’s no going back. They’ll no longer accept waste and inefficiencies of the past. They’ve the technology and culture to make a difference.

As I See It, business people need to rethink the power of Generation Y and Generation Z in their business strategy. Generation Z – the emerging generation – is currently made up of under 10s, so it’s difficult to know what will drive them. However, it’s something businesses need to consider. Do they have the power to make the decisions of the future and, most importantly, are we listening? n Rob Charlton is chief executive of Space Group. www.spacegroup.co.uk

I found people born in the ‘90s thought differently from me; they do not accept what we have always done – they expect instant results and have a totally different view of work.

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 14

First ‘class of 2014’ for NCG NCG has unveiled its first ‘class of 2014’, with almost 900 students graduating with a degree validated by the national education, training and employability provider The group, which owns Newcastle College, was one of the first in the country to be awarded powers to develop and validate its own Foundation Degrees.

Students from the College were the first to don the new NCG branded caps and gowns as they graduated at Newcastle Civic Centre at the end of July. Newcastle College Principal, Carole Kitching congratulated students from the School of Health and Enterprise, Digital Skills Academy, Lifestyle Academy, Art and Design, Health, Music and Performing Arts, Construction, Engineering, Science and Education and graduates from West Lancashire College – another division of NCG. She was joined by NCG Chief Executive, Joe Docherty and guest speakers including Alan Davey, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, Dianne Sharp, Regional Director of CBI, Ammar Mirza CBE, Managing Director, AmmarM Ltd and Ray Laidlaw, Drummer in Lindisfarne and Producer of the Sunday for Sammy Trust. Carole said: “I would like to congratulate all of our graduates. Graduation

All of our Degrees are built around gaining real knowledge of industry is an opportunity to celebrate their achievements as they prepare to move on to the next important stage in their lives. It is a particularly exciting year for us as we saw our very first NCG graduates take to the stage to receive their degrees. “Having the ability to develop and validate our own Foundation Degrees has allowed us to work in partnership with employers to identify the specific skills they need to drive their business forward.

All of our Degrees are built around gaining real knowledge of industry through work placements and collaboration with employers. This has paid dividends in helping students to create valuable contacts, demonstrate their skills and potential and ultimately secure jobs.”

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

NCG’s first graduates receive their degrees

CASE STUDY Higher education placements can provide learners with the knowledge and experience that no course can teach. Newcastle College understands how important it is to give learners opportunities to get real work experience as part of their degree course and works with hundreds of employers.

For Foundation Degree Subsea student, Jonathan Dryden, securing a two month placement piloting a Seaeye Panther XT remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) around the coast of Sicily was a dream come true.

Jonathan said: “It was an incredibly tough decision for me to make, knowing how hard the industry is to get into, and having little engineering background.

“The thing that pushed me into making the decision was a setback in the business I had been running for the previous 2 years that luckily fell timely around one of the College’s Open Days.

With much anticipation and anxiety around how

24

to take a step forward in changing career, I organised a meeting with the Subsea Engineering course leader at the Open Day to discuss. It turned out that my past qualifications gave me enough points to get onto the course and I enrolled right there and then.

“From that moment I never looked back. I was initially hesitant about the level of mathematics needed and was supported with additional lessons to give me the help I needed. Fast forward two years later and I am completing the Foundation Degree with expected Distinction, and have obtained a place on the Honours Degree top up for year three.

“My final year project was to design and build an observation class ROV for the College. I asked for my lecturer’s help in putting forward a funding proposal and successfully received a grant from Newcastle College to produce the ROV. The College guided me to contact the MD of local ROV company, SMD who kindly offered me testing time in one

SUMMER 14

Newcastle College students celebrate their success

of their work class ROV tanks at Silverlink, giving me invaluable experience and exposure to the industry I want to go into.

“The help I received from the College gave me the confidence to attend extracurricular courses as part of my Work Based Learning module.

COMPANY PROFILE

INDUSTRY BASED DEGREES The rising number of people choosing to go into Higher Education is great news for employers.

According to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), graduate employment is now at its highest level since the second quarter of 2008 and for high-skilled jobs specifically, graduates aged 18-24 are experiencing the highest employment rate in almost five years.

Harnessing these higher level skills for the benefit of businesses looking to grow and develop their existing workforce is vital. That’s why Newcastle College works with hundreds of employers every year to develop higher education courses that bring real benefits to their business.

The College offers over 70 Foundation and Honours Degrees in a range of subject areas from Art and Design to Computing, Engineering and Science. Every degree is designed in partnership with employers; looking at the skills required by industry and the organisations specific needs.

Whether employers are looking to recruit job ready graduates or upskill their existing staff, Newcastle College can provide the advice and training that will help to a business to identify their skills gaps

invaluable experience and exposure to the industry I want to go into In doing so a company in Malta offered me a 2 month internship piloting their work class Seaeye Panther XT looking for Roman shipwrecks and treasure around the coast of Sicily.

“I find myself leaving the course with a relatively rare level 6 Subsea-specific qualification, whilst obtaining experience that will allow me to apply to the big companies offshore.

“Joining the Subsea course taught me that even when tested by adversity, you can succeed, and even more so when supported and guided by lecturers who demonstrate a genuine interest in your progression. This has been just as important in my development as the qualification I have gained.”

If you would be interested in helping someone kick start their career by offering a work placement or mentoring opportunities, contact Newcastle College on 0191 200 4000 or employers@ncl-coll.ac.uk.

that the College has with industry partners, learners regularly benefit from guest lectures and live briefs. The College’s full-time higher education degrees are competitively priced at £6,800 per year, which includes a £1000 cash bursary that is not means tested.

The College’s newest graduates are already making their mark, gaining employment in variety of organisations, including north east design agencies, Hedgehog Labs and Status Digital.

Creative Enterprise graduate, Andy Bell has been selected to exhibit his work at Pictoplasma, the famous international character design festival in Berlin. His work has also been selected for publication in the next Pictoplasma book, released in October.

Fashion Degree graduate, Greg Stephenson, is taking the fashion world by storm securing one of only a few places in Saville Row at the world renowned training academy training academy to become a Master Tailor. Debbie Williamson, a beauty therapy graduate, has received recognition from industry, winning the Student of the Year Award from skincare manufacturer, International Institute for Anti-Ageing.

But it’s not just young people that can benefit from a higher education course. The College has a number of learners already in employment who want to improve their career prospects, gain new skills or train to work in a different role.

The College’s part time degrees offer a flexible solution for those balancing work and study and at just £4,000 per year is a cost effective way for employers to develop their staff. In addition, the College’s Recognise Me system allows for prior learning and experience to be taken into consideration. By looking at the skills employees have gained in their role, employees may be able to get accredited for some of this experience and save time and money when completing their degree.

Jonathan Dryden, Subsea degree student

or offer professional development opportunities that can help them to develop the workforce.

The College’s HE programme is vocationally led, which gives learners the opportunity to combine academic studies with experience of working within industry. Work placements are embedded into all degree courses so learners can gain the additional knowledge and skills that will help them walk straight into a job. Through the partnerships

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For more information on the range of part-time or full-time degrees available at Newcastle College, visit www.newcastlecollege.co.uk or call 0191 200 4000.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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SUMMER 14

ENTREPRENEUR

I’M STILL BANKING ON OUR REGION

Serial financial entrepreneur Anthony Thomson tells Brian Nicholls the North East is sound banking ground despite Northern Rock’s ignominy, and he aims to prove he can succeed without a high street presence Serial entrepreneur Anthony Thomson has picked North East England for his second bank launch – but not out of any perceived need to redeem the region’s reputation as a banking centre post-Northern Rock. On the contrary…

“As a seven, eight, nine-year-old I had a passbook for Northern Rock,” he recalls.

“I’d go to Gosforth High Street bank and pay in or take out. I’d a great affinity for it as a building society.

“Even when it converted to a plc it was held up for many years as the future of banking.

Then it had some problems. But I don’t think the North East’s reputation in the sector has suffered. This region has been a centre of entrepreneurship and innovation in so many things. Hopefully we’re next in that line.”

“Some problems” of course brought near total expiry. The Government had to mount a taxpayers’ rescue. Uncertainty eased only when Virgin Money bought the Rock’s “good side” in 2012 – all to float soon on the stock exchange, probably. The toxic debts, mashed with Bradford & Bingley’s, rest with West Yorkshire based UK Asset Resolution, which has repaid £10bn-plus of Treasury loans, but

which may not pay the majority for another decade yet.

Anthony’s embryonic digital-only Atom Bank, like Virgin Money, now reflects wishes of the Government, the Bank of England and many bank users to see wider choice of banks in wake of the industry’s scandal going far beyond Northern Rock and onto a five-year mess-up of the national economy.

Atom Bank (A-tom, Anthony Thomson) is one of numerous “challenger” banks opening – but “much more about high tech business and personal relationships”, says Anthony. “It’ll be the UK’s first totally digital and branchless service. From next year, it will deal nationwide, and in the North additionally bring in business banking with focus on SMEs’ needs that will spread then to the rest of the country.”

North East venture capitalist and philanthropist Jeremy Middleton, confident of Atom’s potential value to the region, is investing a six figure sum in the bank. For the North East there could be 400 jobs. During this interview, Anthony said several sites were being considered. He seemed very impressed though by new-look Gateshead where, at the

Baltic, he’d just made his second presentation in three years via the Entrepreneurs’ Forum to enthusiastic audiences.

Can a national bank run successfully in a region? One recalls Darlington Quakers’ contribution to the growth of Barclays back in 1896 as Thomson replies: “Banking started regionally. Only through mergers did they become national banks. I’m not sure whether a bank like Atom could have been created three years ago. But technology changes make it feasible, and feasible from the North East.”

He cites his fortnight on America’s West Coast from which he’d just returned, jet lagged except in presentation power. “I was in touch with our team daily from there by Skype, email and phone,” he says. “Geography’s limitations don’t apply today – even compared with five years ago.”

His penchant for exploiting technology – though no “techie” himself – inspires his starting of a second bank so soon after his first successful venture, Metro Bank, which he chaired for three years before leaving in 2012. In four years it has created 26 “stores” (branches) and has 1,000-plus employees >>

Banking started regionally. Only through mergers did they become national banks. I’m not sure whether a bank like Atom could have been created three years ago. But technology changes make it feasible, and feasible from the North East

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 14

Hats in the ring

handling 350,000 accounts. He meanwhile has been visiting professor to the business school of London Metropolitan University.

Anthony reckons digital’s rising as telephone banking and fixed desktop internet usage falls. “Growth in mobile phones and tablets is explosive,” he says. “Within five years 60% of all banking could be on mobile devices. That drove my idea. Mobile digital can be a lower cost provider.”

Handier, too. Flying to Newcastle from Bristol straight from his US visit, he’d checked in at the airport by mobile - even bought coffee on it. “I hate on online banking the incredible number of passwords you have to remember,” he says.

He suspects many do. Security enters it too, he stresses. So it looks as if biometrics, already practiced in Australasian banks, may be brought in early on. “If a password is one time safe, voice is trebly secure, the iris five times

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

more. With biometrics you won’t even have to remember your own name. You’ll just need to have with you, ideally, your face, your eyes, your fingerprint or your voice.”

But why from the North East, not perhaps Cambridge or Manchester? Says Anthony: “Great value products and great customer experience are predicated on very low cost operating, and it’s much more cost efficient to base head office here.

“We have to get the best people, and will go anywhere for that. But there are some great human resources here - experienced for our purposes. And some great providers of digital technology service. The North East needs new businesses. Trials and tribulations of some other banks will be to our advantage.”

Joining Virgin Money and Tesco’s national banking centre in the North East (the latter now with 6m customers) should energise further the region’s previously under-

28

Other challenger banks in the running include up to eight valued at up to £10bn, which may float on the stock market. These include One Savings Bank, formed from a bale-out of Kent Reliance Building Society by the US equity firm JC Flowers.

It recently made its market debut. It has been seeking to profit from buying risky loan portfolios shed by other banks, and by stepping into areas of the market others are avoiding, such as selfcertified mortgages.

TSB is returning to the high street after 18 years within Lloyds, and restoring traditional services, while Aldermore Bank, set up four years ago and owned by several hedge funds, could go public this year.

Other flotations might include Santander’s UK operation, Shawbrook and Williams & Glyn. RBS had to sell the latter by EC instruction last year over its acceptance of state aid. Selling it to Santander became too complicated and it may not float now until next year.

Question marks also hang over the Co-operative Bank, rescued last year

by American hedge funds. Meanwhile, National Australia Bank is thought willing to sell the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks.

Other challenger banks entering the fray include Paragon Bank, Tungsten, and Weatherbys, a financial backbone of the horseracing industry, now diversifying.

Some City analysts doubt all will survive long term in present form. They are attracting savings from disillusioned investors but are thought to be struggling to find borrowers.

Then too there’s Virgin Money, with 4m-plus customers, possibly to be valued at £2bn. Branson’s Virgin Group holds a 47% stake, Wilbur Ross, an American billionaire, 42% and the balance with the Abu Dhabi government, 2,700 employees and management.

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ENTREPRENEUR represented banking services sector. However, other “challenger” banks are springing up elsewhere over the next two years, hoping like Atom and Metro to slacken a Big Five grip.

But it’s the existing giants Anthony is scathing towards. “Almost every one has terrible IT,” he says. “One big bank’s using more than 20 different banking platforms. Many build fantastic front ends onto awful back ends - like putting lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig. Our great front end plugging into a state-of-the-art back end gives great advantage.”

He rolls his eyes at suggestions there’s no money now in high street banking. “None in it for them because their cost bases are so high.

Apparently over 80% of the banks’ IT budgets, running into billions of pounds collectively, are spent maintaining old fashioned systems.”

Some may try to pre-empt Atom, copying beforehand. He suspects 300 RBS people are already thus occupied. But he’s a chairman confident Atom will prevail in its niche through technical superiority, and through his key appointments being experts personally known or introduced to him.

His co-founder and chief executive is Mark Mullen, chief executive of First Direct, which claims the UK’s highest customer satisfaction ranking in the sector. Also signed in is Ed Twiddy, “atomised” from the North East LEP and HM Treasury to be chief operating officer, leading innovation also.

Also from the North East LEP, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Cabinet Office is Sophie Haagensen. She led formation of Big Society Capital, the world’s first social investment bank, and oversaw the £150m loan book of the Futurebuilders third-sector support fund.

Chief financial officer is David McCarthy, chartered accountant, corporate treasurer and with 23 years in financial management to his credit (Touche Ross, Home & Savings Bank, Britannia Building Society and Bank of Ireland). Craig Iley, the Teessider already one of the region’s most astute banking bosses, is joining from Santander as managing director of business banking. Stewart Bromley will be HR director.

What’s been different about setting up Atom and setting up Metro? “When planning Metro from 2007, getting authorised was

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difficult and expensive. There hadn’t been a new authorised bank for over 100 years. But with the Bank of England, the Treasury and the Government all wanting more consumer choice, more competition, more credit for smaller businesses, they’re encouraging in a way they weren’t before.”

Significantly, Anthony is expected to become

a non-executive director of US group Fiserv’s banking software venture, aimed at cutting the time and cost of gaining a UK banking licence.

Atom believes, contrary to some claims, many older people are internet users, while many young people aren’t. So spanning the age range is feasible. “We’re aiming at people comfortable in our environment,” he says. n

Where UK plcs go wrong A rapt audience of North East entrepreneurs and guests heard Anthony explain his motivation.

“I believe we start businesses because we’ve an idea for a better product, a service or a better experience for our customers,” he said. “Profit should be a by-product of doing that well, not the reason for the business.

“If you really believe, focus, and discover what differentiates it, then build a culture underpinning it, and do that relentlessly, you’ll build an incredibly successful business. One of UK plcs’ great malaises is that they think they’re just there to make money. They’ve forgotten the customer.”

Born in Corbridge, Anthony attended Ravenswood School, Heaton, and Gosforth Grammar School, leaving at 17 with cherished memories of rugby rather than academia. He tried shop work and other jobs. Then, satisfaction: he sold advertising for the Evening Chronicle - “I fell into marketing and left only to drive a business.”

Named by the Evening Standard as one of the 60 most influential individuals working in the City, Anthony chairs the National Skills Academy for Financial Services, and the Financial Services Forum he founded in 1998. He also founded in 1987 City Financial Marketing, selling it as Europe’s largest communications group in financial services to Publicis in 1997. After 27 years’ experience in financial services, he launched Metro.

His co-founder and vice-chairman was Vernon W Hill II, an American serial bank creator. To find staff sharing Anthony’s vision, Metro interviewed 3,500 applicants for the first 60 jobs. Now nine out of 10 customers say they’re satisfied or very satisfied with Metro. Eight out of 10 would recommend to a friend. Half the new accounts come through recommendation.

But why a need for Metro, he was asked? “People don’t like banks. Don’t trust them. Banks are mired in legacy real estate they can’t get out of. Branches of NatWest in three years have declined 30%. My marketing training told me what matters to customers of high street banks is price.

Research also told me bank customers want service, convenience, transparency and consistency.

They hate when new customers get a better deal than they do.”

Though no longer Metro chairman he remains a keen supporter, gleefully showing his audience a photograph taken one 8.40am of a Metro store neighbouring a NatWest branch. People were thronging Metro, not the competition.

“They hadn’t opened,” he explained. “People must be able to do things when and where they want – like banking en route to work or on their way home, or on Saturdays and Sundays.”

Metro stores open seven days a week, 8am to 8pm, 361 days a year.

“Give customers a better experience, whether it’s a seven day opening or toilets in every store.

They’ll give you more of their business,” says the voice of experience.

Why a second bank, though? “Because Metro was set up with a specific strategy. I can hardly believe how fast the market has moved with the explosive growth in mobiles. My decision is due to a combination of things, including opportunity in a market of a particular type.”

Thomson plans to work in Newcastle two days a week. An able guitarist, he’ll continue to live within earshot of Glastonbury Festival (Mrs Thomson’s choice, actually) but it’s only 50 minutes between the nearest airport, Bristol, and Newcastle. There’s a familial pull too. His father and five brothers live in the North East. “And BQ’s breakfast website helps keep me in touch,” he adds.

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SUCCESS STORY

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LUCY AT THE BRIDGEHEAD BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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SUCCESS STORY

There’s a growing pool of talent available to serve businesses ready to upskill in the better trading conditions now emerging. And there’s financial support also for some of the firms prepared to seize the opportunity. Lucy Winskell explains the opportunities to Brian Nicholls As a new crop of students fills North East each received a Queen’s Anniversary Prize universities, the bright prospect for businesses – awarded to few institutions. It’s higher upskilling in our region is that up to four out of education’s principle accolade for excellence. five emergent graduates are now staying on in The North East trio won it for digital, for the region. That’s almost double the average research into sustainable rural economies, and of stay-puts in London and the South East. for outstanding community work respectively.

Paul Wilson, chief executive of the region’s Lucy, seeing business-academia possibilities upmarket Nigel Wright recruitment from both sides, says universities are important consultancy, says that with more North East to creating new knowledge and skills, and firms raising their investment in internship, offer technological support that businesses placement and graduate programmes now, may not realise. remaining here increasingly tempts graduates.

With 10,000 students in menial jobs nationally Fortuitously, Lucy Winskell, pro-vice chancellor and perhaps 8% of all graduates jobless, she for business, engagement and partnerships realises the swell of talent not yet matched at Northumbria University - and recently by job vacancies in the North East. The five appointed OBE for her services to higher varsities – the above three plus Durham and education and the regional economy - also Sunderland – have met to consider this. “So now chairs the North East Chamber of one of our roles is to help businesses grow and Commerce. Thus: a bridgehead between absorb our graduates,” she says. “We also lay business and academia. emphasis on encouraging students to start Paul, whose firm has flourished on local talent businesses and employ other graduates.” and sourcing best candidates in the region for Growing interest firms have towards graduate 26 years now, says: “We know working with involvement is the game changer, in her view.

North East graduates can immensely benefit “If students can get good work placements, local companies and, implicitly, the region’s internships and good work experience during economy. Our universities are producing high studies, their class of degree improves through calibre graduates with experience and skills to motivation. They’re also exposed to a potential 2680_Slaley BQ Magazine Ad_02_ARTWORK.pdf 1 and 17/07/2014 15:18 succeed in many industries.” employer, a number are kept on.

This year Teesside, Newcastle and Northumbria “Even if not, they’ve experience on the CV

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We’re also engaging with alumni who, having moved on, may be able to help or build on business relationships. At Northumbria, our alumni are really receptive. Many feel strongly about wanting to put something back.”

To give an idea of capabilities, building surveying students Scott Rexworthy, Will Rycroft and Oliver Barker have had placements in high places. Rexworthy and Rycroft worked on the Houses of Parliament, Barker on Buckingham Palace. Marketing management student Gemma Mills worked at Walt Disney World in Florida and Barbour, the Tyneside garment manufacturer. Industrial design student Katy Green worked with global electronics manufacturer Philips in Amsterdam, and Cosatto Baby Products, which is manufacturing one of her pushchair designs to feature in 150 Mothercare stores.

Around 200 students a year work on live legal cases in Student Law Office. Supervised by qualified solicitors, they’ve represented more than 1,000 clients, securing more than £1m in compensation since 2008. Last year Northumbria students gave 30,000 hours to voluntary work, benefiting 2,500 people in the region. They helped raise £50,000 for charity through their Rag Week. >>

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

SUCCESS STORY BIM Academy, a collaboration of university and Ryder Architecture, has taken expertise to Hong Kong and Australia. Northumbria’s an interesting case study, having this year climbed six places in the Complete University Guide 2015, prompting claims to be the region’s most improved university.

Three of its subjects rank in the top five, plus three in the top 10 among UK universities.

It’s the only UK university in the top 10 for all building, architecture, and property management subjects. Its library facilities are rated third alongside Cambridge’s.

Businesses might note that its business school is now among the elite of global business schools, its programmes having earned five-year accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Only 700 business schools (less than 5% of business programmes worldwide are accredited thus).

Northumbria’s eighth among English universities in percentage of graduates placed in professional jobs. Its students and graduates have launched more than 100 companies there over five years, many trading nationally and abroad. Having survived the critical first three years, they employ almost 800 people. Total turnover is £54m-plus, putting Northumbria among the UK’s top four universities for graduate start-ups.

That £54m is only £3m behind the third placed University of Central Lancashire. What chance, pushing into third place? “We certainly aim to. There’s all to play for,” Lucy declares. “I’ve an ambition to see us first in the country. I’m quietly confident - I hope those words don’t come back to haunt me,” she adds, laughing.

“But there’s such ambition among everyone here. And strong businesses are emerging from all the region’s universities.”

Might traditional purity of academic

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Paul Wilson, chief executive of the region’s upmarket Nigel Wright recruitment Consultancy research suffer? “For many students, focus is employability – whether, after accumulating three or four years’ debt, they’ll get a job,” she says. “Some will still come to study for the love of a subject and some for the qualification.”

What can she achieve with one foot in academia, the other in business? “The advantage to universities is, I sit round a table with business leaders almost daily. I listen and respond to their issues - consider how they can be helped. It’s almost being at the sharp end of business needs. They can get help, and there’s matching going on. University managements now run large international businesses. We hope we can share some of our skills.”

Many businesses, however, may hesitate to approach as vast a monolith as a modern university. She admits: “What struck me coming here was how hard it was to skate your way round the answer to a problem. In my first week I had calls from a law firm. Could

The networker Lucy Winskell’s from a notable legal family. She switched to academia after 25 years as a litigation partner with Eversheds and a partner specialising in licensing and gambling with Sintons. She was Newcastle Law Society’s first woman president.

A graduate of Newcastle University holding an MBA from Durham, she’s a notable networker and communicator. Holder of eight non-executive directorships and board appointments currently (and nine similar roles previously), she had nine involvements in local, national and international Law Society matters during her legal career.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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we provide a student to help on a website project? Whether to go to the law school, marketing, or where? I found it difficult myself to navigate – and I was on the inside.”

So she devised Open for Business, an explanatory pamphlet and programme free of university jargon from a business perspective.

“Open for Business is on our newly relaunched website, but I say, ‘if you don’t know who to speak to, ring me and I’ll find out.’”

What of businesses that harbour lingering suspicions of an ivory tower? “Some may have had a bad experience in the past,” she agrees.

More firms are acknowledging benefits of academic partnering. Last year Northumbria won Knowledge Transfer Partnership of the Year award for its placement rate of postgraduate students within firms to help their competitiveness, productivity and performance.

In this state supported scheme, they assist for a period in developing specific products or ideas, with academic staff behind them.

Last year, firms taking part almost doubled in number. Outstandingly successful was Renown Engineering at Cramlington. Its sales went from £11m to £15m.

This surely counters a lingering belief that smaller businesses cannot justify the cost of such an involvement. Indeed, European funding of £1.1m will now help more than 50 SMEs through a Graduate into Business scheme. Lucy explains: “We pay half salary >>

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SUCCESS STORY of internships if the SME can match it.

“Innovation Vouchers, too, carry funding to help SMEs work with us on particular product or process development. There’s more help than some might think from European funding coming into the region.

“Firms need a germ of an idea, and the voucher carries conditions. But it will be user friendly, and while sums aren’t large, they’re a foot in the door to help. This is mainly aimed at small research projects and consultancy or technical services. Businesses can apply for grant support of up to £6,000.”

The university also helps create new businesses as a partner with Newcastle Business and Intellectual Property Centre, the British Library, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle Science City. With ERDF funding again, inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses are helped to develop. Since 2011, the centre has supported 1,300 individuals, helped create 66 businesses and 204 more jobs in the region.

Then Northern Design Centre (NDC), the innovation hub at Gateshead, builds on the university’s international reputation in design education, research and industry practice.

Innovation benefiting firms of any size is encouraged in association with the like of Philips, Unilever, Mars and Akzo Nobel.

North East universities have been rising in rankings based on nine criteria set by The Complete University Guide website. Newcastle, in the top 20 for the first time, was additionally in the top 10 for 16 of its 38 subjects. It ranked 18th in last year’s Sunday Times guide. In separate tables covering 67 subjects, Durham University was in the top 10 for all 31 of the subjects it offers, topping the table in nine.

As for ambiance, Newcastle for the fourth time in five years has been voted best UK city for students. Northumbria University won the City Life prize at WhatUni Student Choice Awards for its location. Back on the serious side Sir Roderick Floud, former president of Universities UK, believes Britain has too many universities, giving a “messy, muddled” higher education system. What would Lucy say to his contention the total should be halved? She adds: “Time will be the test. Students will make informed choices, and universities will have to make informed choices as to which markets they wish to be in, and the offer to the student.” n

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How gown uplifts town Universities benefit society beyond business. Witness Gateshead…

Northumbria’s been crucial to that town centre’s transformation brought through the region’s biggest recent regeneration project. The £150m Trinity Square development, led by Tesco’s regeneration arm Spenhill and Gateshead Council, includes accommodation for almost 1,000 students. Council leader Mick Henry enthuses: “Students bring creativity and inspiration.”

They also patronise shops, eating spots and leisure outlets. The university has increased help for businesses and encouraged graduate start-ups there. Social impetus is considerable. Student volunteers work with carers and vulnerable people. Vitally too Northumbria’s working with schools there, tempting pupils to consider higher education.

Lucy explains: “We’ve found schools with particular socio-economic backgrounds, and rates at which young people have applied to us have improved dramatically, just by exposing them at a lower age, and their families, to what university life could be about.” The Higher Education Funding Council has awarded Northumbria £1.2m towards a Think Physics project, whereby young people, particularly girls from under-represented groups, consider STEM subjects – science, technology engineering and mathematics. This addresses the nation’s shortage of STEM skills.

Only 6% of the UK’s engineering workforce is female, yet recruits of both sexes to the industry must double if demand is to be met.

Says Lucy: “It’s no good sparking interest in science for Jenny, aged seven, if she goes home and mum and dad say ‘ah, but that’s not for girls.’” So Think Physics also involves families, teachers, and the broader community. It’s supported by the Centre for Life, Kielder Observatory, and the North Tyneside Learning Trust.

Ongoing government funding cuts, fees threatening UK student numbers, and possible competition from apprenticeships mean finances will be handled differently, Lucy says.

Competition to attract foreign students is a challenge also being met.

But, she points out: “We have products to sell. We’re strong, for example, at our business school in workforce development, and in management training which businesses wish to pay for, and in our ability around continuing professional development.”

Northumbria’s now opening a London campus offering professional industry based programmes at postgraduate and undergraduate levels.

It has around 5,980 students studying Northumbria-validated or franchised programmes on campuses, or through distance learning, from centres including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and South Korea. And with more Indonesian students than any other UK university, it has formed a partnership to create a school of design in Jakarta.

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COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 14

Durham Oktoberfest: the launchpad to winning new business In October hundreds of businesses from across the North East and beyond will descend on the Xcel Centre in Newton Aycliffe for the region’s biggest engineering and manufacturing event, Durham Oktoberfest.

The event, which is now in its seventh year, gives businesses the perfect platform to promote themselves and meet potential buyers, suppliers and customers.

But unlike many other events in the regional business events calendar, Durham Oktoberfest has built up a reputation for bringing together companies that have a genuine desire to work together.

Darren Race, project leader for Durham Oktoberfest and chairman of South Durham Engineering and Manufacturing Forum, said: “What sets our event apart is that it is unashamedly focused on the engineering and manufacturing sectors and this year we aim to achieve an 80 per cent presence from companies within these industries.

“The event is developed in direct response to our members’ needs and continually improved based on their feedback and what exhibitors tell us from each successive year.

“We also appreciate how challenging it can be for smaller businesses to put themselves on the radars of bigger companies in the North East, their future customers, which is why we invest a lot of time in the Meet the Buyer element of the event. This allows participants to meet potential new suppliers in a series of one to one meetings and already we have 15 of our biggest employers registered, including Nifco, Ebac, Parker Hannifin, AKS Precision Ball and Northumbria Water.

“This region is home to some of the country’s most successful engineering and manufacturing companies and Durham Oktoberfest is all about

The event is developed in direct response to our members’ needs and continually improved based on their feedback and what exhibitors tell us from each successive year.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

Dyer Engineering showcasing them and promoting our world class capabilities and strengths within these sectors.”

One of the businesses to have experienced growth as a direct result of Durham Oktoberfest is Stanleybased Dyer Engineering.

Dyer Engineering was one of the first companies to commit as an exhibitor at the inaugural event in 2008 and recently revealed it has secured three new clients and generated dozens of business leads from attending.

Financial Director Richard Bradley said: “Durham Oktoberfest is the perfect platform to meet potential clients and that’s why we come back year after year. We know we can talk to companies who are genuinely interested in what we do and want to find out more about our business and how we can work together.

“And we are proof the event works. Over the last six years we have added three new customers to our portfolio as well as made many positive business leads and this year we are planning to add to that.”

This year’s event takes place on October 23 at The Xcel Centre in Newton Aycliffe and already more than 85 regional businesses have confirmed their attendance. During the course of the day they

38

will hear from one of North East’s most successful businessmen, Mike Matthews from Nifco. Now at the helm of the business, Mr Matthews will talk about the challenges he has faced in turning the business around and some of the highs and lows he’s experienced in his 30 years, which culminated in his promotion to European Operations Officer three years ago.

Darren Race added: “To secure someone of Mike’s calibre is a real feather in our cap and one which demonstrates the importance of Durham Oktoberfest on a regional scale.”

To find out more about Durham Oktoberfest, which is organised by Durham’s engineering forums in the north, south and east of the county in partnership with Business Durham, NOF Energy, the Advanced Manufacturing Forum, MAS and NEPIC, visit www.durhamoktoberfest. org.uk, email info@durhamoktoberfest.org.uk or call 0191 3037772.

The North East's Premier Engineering & Manufactures' Event The Xcel Centre, Newton Aycliffe, 23rd October 2014

www.durhamoktoberfest.org.uk

in association with

WHAT’S HOLDING BACK START UPS?

The issue: How do we encourage enterprise and more high growth start-ups across Northumberland and what do we need to do to support them?

Tourism, renewables and an army of agricultural diversifiers are among many catalysts to Northumberland’s entrepreneurial successes. So too are the county’s natural beauty and resources – and its resilient workforce, particularly in areas still adjusting to industrial decline.

But, for all of Northumberland’s start-up champions, like the food producers, textile firms and scientists, many more entrepreneurs are needed. New enterprise brings jobs, opportunities and wealth, all of which could help solve the economic challenges facing the North East’s remotest kingdom.

BQ gathered a roomful of people who, in varying ways, could shape Northumberland’s future. It challenged them to get to the heart of issues hindering start-up ambitions.

Among them were representatives of Business Northumberland, aimed at supporting startups. Joining them were public and private sector decision makers, entrepreneurs and experts from professional services and academia for a keenly argued debate under chandeliers of Eshott Hall near Morpeth…

THE DEBATE Delegates were asked to consider the challenges facing entrepreneurial

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

Northumberland. Suzanne McCreedy and Ian Coull, from Business Northumberland, agreed identifying high growth potential and backing it to the hilt was challenging but essential.

Ann Maddison, whose Simonburn hampers business trades in seven countries, called for a more structured support network for entrepreneurs starting out in the county.

Paul Titley and Alistair McLean said fear of failure and worries about rigours of starting a business, were clouding start-up culture.

McLean, who runs a multi-million pound travel empire from a converted Northumberland farmhouse, also bemoaned the region’s dependency on public funds.

Graham Adams, whose remit includes attracting inward investment into the county, reminded guests that it’s entrepreneurial despite suggestions to the contrary.

“There are 21,600 self-employed people in Northumberland – 10% of the economically active workforce – compared with 6.8% in the North East and 9.7% in Britain. In May there were 179 start-ups in Northumberland.

Average for English regions was 106. So don’t assume Northumberland is not enterprising,” he added, before questioning whether current funding streams for entrepreneurs in the

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TAKING PART Suzanne McCreedy, national services director, BE Group Stephanie Raine, project manager, Business Northumberland Ian Coull, business advisor, Business Northumberland Mike Jobson, manager, Business Northumberland High Growth Programme Paul Titley, director of business and commercial development, Aesica Pharmaceuticals Graham Adams, business development manager, Arch – The Northumberland Development Company Stewart McNicholl, managing director, Asbestos Management Services Ian Brown, chairman and director, Irony, The Ironic Water Company Ltd Professor Roy Sandbach, David Goldman visiting professor of innovation and enterprise, Newcastle University Business School Allan Hepple, policy board holder for planning, housing and innovation, Northumberland County Council Jude Leitch, general manager, Northumberland Tourism Lucy Winskell, pro-vice chancellor, business engagement, Northumbria University Nigel King, director, QuestUAV Phil Cambers, commercial director, SITS Group Brian Laidlaw, business services partner, Tait Walker Alistair McLean, founding director, The Activity Travel Co. Kate Dawson, managing director, The All-inOne Company Ann Maddison, owner, The Northumberland Hamper Emporium In the chair: Caroline Theobald Taking notes: Andrew Mernin, BQ Venue: Eshott Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland BQ is highly regarded as a leading independent commentator on business issues, many of which have a bearing on the current and future success of the region’s business economy. BQ Live is a series of informative debates designed to further contribute to the success and prosperity of our regional economy through the debate, discussion and feedback of a range of key business topics and issues.

county were fit for purpose.

Kate Dawson, whose thriving firm sells onesies, suggested young Northumbrians just needed a push in the right direction to become entrepreneurs. “A lot of people are

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scared of business – we must give the younger generation confidence they can do it.”

Brian Laidlaw from Tait Walker (with a growing presence in the county through its Morpeth office) highlighted lack of signposting and joined-up thinking around support. Phil Cambers, of SITS technology Group, agreed cohesion may be lacking between various stakeholders in the county’s economy.

Ian Brown, a farmer-turned-business park owner and entrepreneur – whose current projects include a new bottled water venture – pointed out: “The county, like many rural areas, produces a lot of commodities and other people make the money. Also, we don’t make enough of embedding high growth entrepreneurs into the county and putting them in touch with the right people.”

Lucy Winskell highlighted the need to raise aspirations among young people in some parts, having witnessed relatively few students from the county heading to university.

Professor Roy Sandbach, formerly research and development director of P&G and who, more recently, drew up the North East LEP’s innovation strategy, argued for closer engagement with major corporations.

“There’s a lack of corporate business engagement in this region. We’ve not encouraged sufficient innovation-centric businesses into this region and prosperity here is relatively weak. It reflects on numbers of businesses we have in the region. Big anchor corporations are surrounded by high growth businesses. We must encourage existing businesses to engage with such corporations.”

Jude Leitch suggested one of the most potentially lucrative sectors, tourism, needs to shed outdated misconceptions. “People think tourism is a place with seasonal and low paid jobs. Not so. We need to attract more young people. In an industry providing 12,000 jobs in the county, how can we fulfil its potential?”

Although recognising the value of business advisors, Stewart McNicholl said mentors must also feature prominently in support services for start-ups. The county needs more business leaders sharing advice with startups, said the entrepreneur who founded his asbestos management business in 2006.

Alistair McLean: “I spend a lot of time in schools and colleges telling students not to

be afraid to fail. My first business failed and it was the best thing that happened to me because I learned so much in those first few years. To have a mentor there, someone who can support you in this world you don’t know, or understand is very valuable.”

Ann Maddison, who mentors some start-ups, said the need for mentoring is intensified by the remoteness of parts of the county. “You are so isolated up here and you don’t know where to turn, or have time to ask for help.”

With delegates considering how and where more start-ups could be unearthed, Paul Titley stressed focus must not merely be on the young. “I didn’t start my business until I was over 50. I think we’re leaving a huge chunk of people out if we think we should only be talking to people just coming out of university.”

Jude Leitch: “I think you’ll find a lot of older people in Northumberland because they choose to live in one of the most amazing places.”

Alistair McLean: “Also, the County attracts older people.” But young people have an important role, Ann Maddison recognised.

“They’re especially needed to generate start-up growth in agriculture if the county’s rich history in the sector is to continue.”

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DEBATE

Lucy Winskell, whose university role has given her grounding in motivations of young entrepreneurs, said: “Young people that do set up successful businesses are drawn initially to clusters – where they can talk to other people about the same age. So they tend to end up in city clusters where incubation hubs are, often run in partnership between local authorities and universities. We’re developing such a relationship in Northumberland.”

Moving to wider issues of hindrance, Paul Titley said: “I’m not sure everyone realises what a business has to be [and] TV shows don’t help. The Apprentice suggests business is just about being an aggressive salesman. In Dragons’ Den people who are just rubbish at understanding their own business are ripped to bits by investors. If that’s your only exposure to business, no wonder no-one has a go.

“I used to mentor kids at school on young enterprise. They’re all enthusiastic but think they have to make a product. People generally show up on Dragons’ Den with a product. But you don’t have to have a product, you have to have something that somebody wants.”

Alistair McLean: “And too many people look for a brand new idea, which are few and >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

DEBATE

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far between. I saw someone doing something pretty well and went and did it better. That gives an immediate template.”

Kate Dawson suggested that besides supporting incubation hubs, universities could play an even greater role. “It would be lovely to be able to go to the university and ask ‘what is trending now? How do we build a top highend branded company? What’s popular in the UK right now?”

Alistair McLean: “It’s encouraging many colleges and schools in the North East have enterprise courses. We never had anything like that when I was at school. It never occurred to me to be an entrepreneur until I was 39 or 40.

I didn’t think it possible. Or no-one told me it was. But how many students who come to the North East to study start up businesses back home instead of in this region?”

Lucy Winskell: “Actually a large number are starting businesses here instead of back home.”

Paul Titley on another widely-held misconception holding enterprise back in the county. “To create a new business it doesn’t have to just be you. You don’t need every skill.

If you can find someone to work with, maybe you’ve the foundations of a business. As well as saying you don’t have to be young, ‘you don’t have to be on your own’ is an important message.”

Phil Cambers: “When I started there were four of us. My skills are in sales and marketing.

I couldn’t make this cloud computing stuff happen. Others in the team could. So what might be useful is offering budding entrepreneurs that Cilla Black role, where you might have a good commercial guy and match them with someone very good at manufacturing, for example. Bringing people together to form these little clusters...”

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Lucy Winskell said this was already happening at universities: “Not one of the new businesses I’ve seen coming through the university recently has been a person on their own. They usually start with a mate they met on the course.

And MBAs are not where the bright ideas are coming from. The bright ideas are coming from our engineering students, the design students or the life sciences courses – all sorts of pockets of activities where you’d least expect.”

It was agreed that spotting high growth potential in early stage businesses could prove pivotal to the county’s future prosperity. How best to do that?

Nigel King suggested: “One modern method is through geographical information services, tracking what happens where, how and when?

So if you’re trying to track where these new entrepreneurs are potentially coming out, it’s about using intelligent questioning through questionnaires and networking to gather that information. This would give the forecast of where new entrepreneurs might emerge.”

But he also cautioned against authorities, support agencies and mentoring services being too rigid in their approach. “A true entrepreneur is generally always hungry and doesn’t need a huge amount of direction.”

Brian Laidlaw agreed: “I’m not sure it’s really as simplistic [as teaching people how to be entrepreneurs]. I think it comes from within a person. We talk about entrepreneurs taking risks, but plenty of people take risks at casinos who aren’t necessarily good business people.

So I don’t think it’s a single track, nor is it as easy as having a school for entrepreneurs – there are plenty of people with MBAs who are useless at business.”

Asked how big businesses could boost start-up success, Roy Sandbach said: “At

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P&G we were spatially agnostic. We didn’t care whether we got our solutions from Northumberland or Nigeria, we just needed our problems solved. There’s an issue, then, of network communication. We’re pretty hopeless as a community at getting out there and making ourselves aware of opportunities to bring significant monies in from people with problems we can solve.

“Big companies won’t come here and engage with small companies unless they have a problem that can be solved here. I’m a nonexec on a start-up and we still exist after two years because a major corporate has given us two significant projects. So accessibility to big corporates is important. Could SMEs ever access them without some assistance? Probably not. Universities can help, as might LEPs – they’re the only game in town for national and international exposure, like it or not.”

Phil Cambers: “I think you can get through the door of plcs. We’ve done that unassisted.

If you’re persistent and have something unique and specialist, big corporates want to work with you. We’ve just done a solution for the Premier League in London. Why is the biggest football competition in the world dealing with a 25-seat company in Cramlington? If you believe in yourself and specialise, people will look for you.”

Roy Sandbach: “You can do it but the problem is it’s not systematised, although there’s an attempt to systematise it. Have you told other SMEs in Northumberland that might want access to the Premier League?”

Caroline Theobald: “There’s a lack of this idea of getting stories out there that would make other business less frightened of approaching big corporates.”

Mentoring’s a vehicle for story sharing,

If you’re persistent and have something unique and specialist, big corporates want to work with you

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said Suzanne McCreedy: “There’s a lack of confidence out there and a need to instil the idea it’s alright to fail. We deliver a mentoring service and have Sir John Hall as an ambassador. But we’ve struggled to engage individuals in Northumberland who are successful. You have to give up your time and it’s not paid for, so it’s difficult to get individuals to work within Northumberland.

“Also, there are a lot of mentoring schemes.

Some are clearly attached to enterprise programmes that have loans or grants and that’s an obvious difference.”

Roy Sandbach: “So this is an appallingly competitive environment in one of the country’s most deprived areas. We’re competing with each other. That’s outrageous. I suggest you work with local authorities in Newcastle because the only place in this area anybody outside this County knows is Newcastle.

Why don’t we all work with Newcastle?”

Jude Leitch: “We’re all stronger together.

Since we lost our funding, my focus has been ‘how can I give you good value so that you want to work with me?’ That feeling of working with your tourist board because you should, has gone. We’re all here acknowledging that Northumberland is one of the most amazing places, and we all want to be successful. That has to be of benefit but how do we get everyone together on this?”

Allan Hepple: “There’s some interconnectivity through the combined authority [a legal body which brings together the seven North East councils], although it’s early days. But with Northumberland we’ve a very fragile rural economy - dominated by small businesses.

We’re trying to do things as an authority in terms of incubator hubs. But connectivity is a

big issue, particularly in the north of the county.

We talk about dualling the A1 and getting the Ashington Blyth and Tyne railway line opened up to passenger services again. If we did that would open a huge corridor for potential economic growth. But what else should we as local authorities be doing to help?”

Stewart McNicholl said facilitating incubation hubs with clear links to current funding schemes would be effective: “Incubator hubs could be critical in streaming growth funding in rather than picking out individuals who are going to make things happen.”

Brian Laidlaw cited Teesside University and Middlesbrough Council-backed DigitalCity hub as an example of how such facilities can work. “We give free advice there and go through all options available. People need support at the start, even if they don’t want to be a grant-dependent business and, through growth vouchers and other such schemes, help is there. Ad hoc advice is great. But you need someone there on a regular basis. That’s why the Government is putting these funds forward to get advice to business.”

But Paul Titley wondered if innovation hubs in Northumberland might be daunting for some budding entrepreneurs: “They can be part of that intimidation barrier to starting up, in that you think you have to join this big glamorous and expensive block that mightn’t suit you. You’re better off getting the cheapest office or empty room above a shop. You need somewhere – not somewhere special. It’s nice to have people to talk to but they don’t have to be in the same boat. Surrounding yourself with people as ignorant as you really isn’t part of a solution.

“Anyone starting up should join everything,

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meet everyone and find every opportunity to meet other people in their area. You never know where that conversation may lead. Noone ever failed by knowing too many people.”

On external forces influencing start-up success, Mike Jobson highlighted problems caused by the ever-changing nature of business support.

“There was One North East [regional development agency], now the North East LEP [local enterprise partnership] and in three years we’ll change to something else. Consistency is needed, and I think money’s being wasted through duplication. Also, seven out of 10 SMEs I’ve dealt with wouldn’t be able to do a PowerPoint presentation. So there’s a lack of basic business skills that needs solving. We don’t have big corporates to train our people and bring those skills into their own businesses.

The talent ends up working in London. That’s where people get the big corporate-standard of training and experience.”

Northern Irishman Stewart McNicholl said: “We had that brain drain in Northern Ireland when everyone left and everyone went off and learned new things. But they eventually came back and made their own businesses.”

Mike Jobson: “In Cornwall [where he spent four years supporting businesses] they subsidise students who’ve left Cornish universities to persuade them to stay in the county. But they should really be encouraging them to learn skills they could bring back into the county.”

Ian Coull highlighted another hindrance for the county – threat of the black economy.

“A lot of people we see are middle aged with lifestyle businesses. Part of my battle is to keep them out of the black economy. It’s difficult but important to get people believing there’s a right way to do things and that

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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right way has potential to give a better >> income than going another way.” Mentors and ambassadors operating on behalf of Business Northumberland can help alleviate this issue, added Suzanne McCreedy. “Our ambassadors offer people a personal connection with someone who’s taken a risk and succeeded in business,” she said.

Another stumbling block, said Phil Cambers, is councils’ unwillingness to work with fledgling firms. “In the North East there are many public sector organisations, and the public sector spends a lot of money. But about 75% of our business is with the private sector because the public sector is so difficult to do business with.

When we started we couldn’t do business with the public sector because we didn’t have five years of accounts, whereas a private sector organisation would look at us at face value and recognise we could do the job. If we could make things more accessible that would help.”

Allan Hepple: “Where you might have a board of directors, we’ve got 300-odd thousand people looking at us thinking ‘what the hell are you doing here, you’re not getting value for money’? We’re often bound by stricter legal requirements. It’s changing but there needs to be more of it.” Roy Sandbach said through his work with the NELEP, he’d seen councils undergoing this gradual shift and becoming increasingly innovation-friendly.

But Graham Adams put the onus back on the private sector to drive new enterprise in Northumberland. “There’s a huge role the private sector can play in changing perceptions and encouraging young people by having business leaders to look up to and champion.

We need more business leaders encouraging people to start up. Forums help but need support from the private sector, whether once a week or once a fortnight. Until they get some credence and regularity, they’re going

We need more business leaders encouraging young people to start up BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

to stumble and stall. Where are these business champions? In rural areas there’s an inclination to be self-supportive and Northumberland is not an easy place to serve geographically.”

Ian Brown: “It has to be everybody’s job to support new enterprise here.”

Roy Sandbach called for more involvement from schools in plotting the county’s entrepreneurial future. “There’s never a head teacher around the table at discussions like this.

It annoys me. They understand that building of genetic change in young people which is, ‘I’m going to do this for myself, challenge myself and not accept that there aren’t jobs out there like the TV is telling me’. They can offer business encouragement to young people on the cusp of becoming productive in society.”

Kate Dawson highlighted the value of events which take children out of school environment and expose them to entrepreneurs. “I’ve been able to show them it’s possible, even if you haven’t got experience – as I didn’t in textiles – to try with the attitude that ‘if I fail, I fail’.

Taking the children out of school is crucial.”

Jude Leitch: “It’s interesting what youngsters can bring to business as well as what we can bring them. I work with tourism businesses frightened to death of technology and it’s changing so fast they can’t keep up.

Youngsters here have grown with technology.

It would be beneficial to harness those skills.”

Stewart McNicholl and Nigel King insisted there’s willingness to be part of supporting wider enterprise in Northumberland among SMEs like theirs. But McNicholl cautioned: “Facilitating it is really important and getting the right match [between mentors and wouldbe entrepreneurs] is essential. When you look at how sales work, people buy from people. If you get an entrepreneur with a mentor and

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it clicks, [the relationship] will succeed.”

In getting young people switched on to business start-up, though, support must come from home as well as externally, argued Lucy Winskell. “We can’t have kids going home with great business ideas and being told by mum and dad ‘that’s not what we do, we don’t set up businesses’. It’s that aspiration we need to think about, which I think gets dampened out of them in secondary school.”

Stephanie Raine agreed “getting young people interested in becoming entrepreneurs has to come from home”.

Roy Sandbach, who’s also a governor at a North East school and involved in young enterprise through the Prince’s Trust, said: “It’s difficult just to get parents to come into schools. But there are places where joined-up thinking works, like Cincinnati with a programme called Strive. It’s cradle to career and involves engagement between local authorities, universities and businesses big and small to build a set of transitions in entrepreneurship. We could do that.”

Kate Dawson suggested adding an element of enterprise into every college course.

Alistair McLean felt the increasing number of enterprise courses in the region could be targeted by support agencies.

Brian Laidlaw highlighted the positive impact of academies on new enterprise. “They’ve changed things because they’re effectively businesses in their own right looking to work with local business. Schools are targeted at getting children into universities and if they don’t do that their results will be poor.”

Roy Sandbach: “Parents are also telling kids they need to find a wage but then they don’t know where the wages are. We don’t have many academies in the North East. We have

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no university technical colleges and we’ve got few studio or free schools designed to provide skill-based learning. That does us no good as a region. We look head in the sand. All these issues fit together. Councils’ ownership of schools has been retrograde, with respect, with dealing with our skills problems.”

Suzanne McCreedy questioned how, in Northumberland, like-minded people with aspiration and relevant skills could be brought together to collectively boost enterprise.

It’s no mean feat, replied Alistair McLean.

“I once tried to set up some holidays to Northumberland. I spoke to some farmers to get them involved. Their attitude was ‘if you’re working with him, I’m not working with you’.

It’s difficult to get people to work together.”

Jude Leitch suggested an ideas bank which entrepreneurial individuals could tap into: “You only have ideas in your sphere of experience.

But I regularly come across ideas in the county and I think ‘why isn’t somebody doing that’?

For example, journalists ask me ‘can I come foraging in Northumberland and write about it’? I say no because no-one offers that.”

Ian Brown: “A clearing house of ideas could be useful.” Roy Sandbach felt such an initiative could follow the model of existing platforms which link unmet needs and problems with those that can apply a solution.

Ian Brown: “I think a lot of this issue is also about selling business as fun. We often make business far too bloody serious. The only reason we’re doing the Ironic Water Company [a new bottled water venture based in Northumberland] is that it’s going to be such fun to work in.”

There is also unlocked potential for entrepreneurialism behind desks, on factory floors and out in the field among North East employers, said Phil Cambers.

“Look round the table. Most people started a business after they’d had several jobs. So, as well as young people, I think you need to encourage disillusioned people working within businesses that may have stagnated, that they could be good entrepreneurs. It’s about trying to energise people in a dead end job.”

Delegates were asked for any other solutions.

Ann Maddison highlighted how she and her Northumbrian associates had created a successful business club that supported her

through twists and turns of growing a startup. “We set up a forum because there were so few of us in the area and we needed to get together to talk. Now we’ve a network of people with different areas of expertise. We ring each other and find answers within 24 hours, saving us all a fortune.”

Jude Leitch: “We’ve changed the way we do business support and tourism. We used to do a lot of ‘can we come and help you?’

We’d spend a lot getting experts in, stripping businesses down and telling them how to use local produce and become great authentic Northumbrian firms. Two weeks later they’d be back with the old gravy splattered menu doing the same thing. So what we do now? We call the politics of envy, supporting and promoting our exemplary businesses and making the most of them. Then I rejoice on getting that phone call saying ‘why are you promoting them and not me’? I tell them ‘get yourself as good as that and I’ll promote you too’.” Ian Brown: “That’s right, you have to work with human nature not against it, particularly in rural areas.”

Mike Jobson: “We’ve to remember why we’re doing this. Funders will want a return on

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investment but we need to kiss an awful lot of frogs before we come across the high [growth potential firms]. When we unearth a gem we need to put a huge amount of time and effort into accelerating their growth so that in three to five years they’re employing 30 people.”

But Alistair McLean warned that enterprise support schemes must be delivered with far more accountability than in the days of abundant European funds. “We got to the stage where business people up here were only doing projects if they got the 40% attached funding. The dependency was incredible. And these things weren’t being measured at the end. You told someone ‘you’ve finished the job, here’s the money’ and then years down the line they’re supposed to have increased their revenue by £800,000 but nobody checked.”

Mike Jobson: “We check. We talk to our clients every three months.”

Suzanne McCreedy closed the debate calling on business leaders in the region to engage with Business Northumberland. n For more information visit www.businessnorthumberland.co.uk

Business support for Northumberland Business Northumberland are delighted to sponsor this BQ Live Debate and it’s been fantastic to see some key themes coming out as a result. This whole debate topic is key to our success at Business Northumberland, we offer a business support service dedicated to helping people who are thinking about starting a business or want to develop and grow a business in the Northumberland area. Mentoring has featured strongly and is something we are keen to continue, to support and facilitate the matching of mentors with individuals that would benefit from their experience of having been there and done it. The success of our mentoring programme can only ever be as strong as the mentors that are willing to engage and give up some of their precious time to support new businesses on their journey. We would urge anybody that feels they have something to give as a mentor or anyone who thinks a mentor might help them on their journey to get in touch and sign up to our mentoring programme. Having the confidence to take the first steps and give it a go also came through as one of the key barriers, we need to tackle this culturally at an early age, through schools in the region. It’s given us some real food for thought about how we can interact with the broader community to engender that entrepreneurial spirit within the county.

Private sector and working in collaboration clearly has a large part to play and we are eager to identify where there are opportunities for businesses to develop and grow on the back of broader supply chain opportunities or clustering opportunities.

If anyone is interested in accessing our range of free services or have something they could offer the service please just get in touch on 08451 444 000 or visit www.businessnorthumberland.co.uk.

It’s a free service delivered by BE Group, funded via Northumberland Arch and Northumberland County Council by the European Regional Development Fund.

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

NORTH EAST EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR DINNER 2014

DAVE AND ZOE, A NORTH EAST WINNING COMBINATION

Winners: Zoe Farrington and Dave Carr with judges Judith Doyle, left, and John Dickson, right

From a unique approach that is breathing new life into the pub trade to an invention that will save lives – the remarkable achievements of these two entrepreneurs deserve recognition The North East’s Emerging Entrepreneurs of 2014 are Dave Carr and Zoe Farrington, who are now about to enter the national spotlight.

Both are remarkable representatives of the region’s next generation of entrepreneurs, performing highly individually in their respective fields.

Dave, through Frank and Bird, is building a novel and successful operation around pub business. Zoe’s a key figure in a tiny team, REALRIDER® developing an app that looks

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

certain to cut the future death toll from road accidents. Independent judges on behalf of BQ, as organiser of the North East Emerging Entrepreneurs event, studied the progress to date of 22 impressive candidates nominated by mentors who are already established entrepreneurs in the region.

Now, at a celebratory event in September, Dave and Zoe will join emerging entrepreneurs from other parts of the country and have their achievements highlighted. n

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>> We must nurture our young talent As an organisation that is inspiring and preparing a new generation of entrepreneurs, we are extremely proud to work in partnership with BQ to celebrate some of the most enterprising individuals and recognise the contribution that they have made in our region.

The Emerging Entrepreneur Dinner was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the talent and skills of some of the most ambitious entrepreneurs. Not only are they driving their own success, they will also help to secure the success of our region, attracting new business and creating future employment. At Gateshead College we are instilling ambition and self-belief in our students so they can start-up their own businesses or take entrepreneurial thinking and ideas to their workplace. As one of the founding members of the Gazelle Colleges Group, we aim to give real experiences, not just realistic ones, by moving away from the traditional classroom approach, and working in partnership with some of the region’s most influential businesses, to develop learning opportunities through commercial environments and projects, employer engagement and mentors and practical work experience. Our work has reaped tangible benefits. In the last year, more than 25 start-ups have been created

by Gateshead College students – living proof that the right training can foster the culture of enterprise needed to keep the economic revival on track. We’ve also helped hundreds of students to find jobs across a wide range of sectors. Emerging Entrepreneurs demonstrates the high level of skill, ability, talent and ambition that exists here and highlights how important it is that we nurture our young people.

Judith Doyle, principal and chief executive of Gateshead College

In partnership with

NORTH EAST EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR DINNER 2014

>> Dave’s dog-ged towards success It takes guts and good ideas to attempt to build a pub business these days. Dave Carr has shown he has both The pub is dead – long live the pub! Dave Carr refuses to accept the heavy toll of recent closures as an inevitable finale for a great British tradition. The humour and hard work he ploughs into his venture isn’t only reviving two pubs but is also creating a £1.35m leisure business – and now also has marked him out as an Emerging Entrepreneur of the North East.

Judges picked him especially for his tenacity and enterprise in face of business challenges, and for his perseverance. His entrepreneurial skill in entertaining, besides drawing some of

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

the biggest laughs of the night at the awards evening, has won him admirers from Brazil to India – all achieved against setbacks that might have dispirited others.

Pursuing his goals resourcefully and relentlessly, he has in fewer than five years taken a business initially grossing less than £1.5k turnover a week to £24k through his zany innovations. Dave experienced a steep learning curve at the age of 26 when he launched his pub business – now a limited company under the Frank & Bird brand - at the Brandling Villa

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in South Gosforth, Newcastle in 2009.

He had what he describes as an “affordable yet restrictive leasehold” from Punch Taverns, giving a tied pub what he felt was a poor selection of cask beers. Determined to circumvent product restrictions in the tie, he worked on a plan with local suppliers to kickstart the business with a beer festival.

His ingenuity has since enabled him to find a way of becoming one of the first in Newcastle to provide draught Goose Island IPA and Anchor Liberty Ale from the USA, also Nogne O beers from Norway. He broke new ground further by converting the dispensing of beers from half pints to one-third and two-third pints shortly after this was made legal.

Aware of advantages clever branding can bring, he couldn’t afford to commission an expensive design. So he studied Adobe Illustrator then designed his own menus.

He couldn’t, he realised, be a traditional “mine host” – the face of the pub at the bar - if he was to maintain impetus. So he introduced his beagle Frank as pub mascot, incorporating his image in the pub advertising and marketing, along with Frank’s resident partner, a chihuahua-Jack Russell cross called Ladybird. Thus Frank & Bird, for which Dave also designed the logo. Frank and Bird now appear in places as diverse as ketchup bottles, t-shirts, and even beers locally brewed.

Dave feels, in turn, he’s creating a more personal and adept way of marketing that gives him total control.

Punch Taverns is not in the happiest position presently to encourage enthusiasm in its 4,000 pubs, saddled as it has been with a £2.3bn debt. But it obviously knows a winner when it sees one. In 2012 it agreed a £200,000 investment to improve the Brandling Villa’s interior. Trading comparatively well by then – at £12k-£14k a week – Dave found this enabled him to progress the business’s food side. Here, too, novelty’s the flavour of the day. Menus include Reuben fritters – from salt beef, cream cheese and sauerkraut - aubergine fries, and codfish tacos going with a burger list that features a pork pie topping.

Best known dish, though, is The Dirty Thoughts of Cheryl Cole, about which we’ll say no more.

Pie nights are a longstanding attraction, and a recent venture, Sausage Time with Frank & In partnership with

NORTH EAST EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR DINNER 2014 Bird, features a branded hot dog stall.

Here again, inspiration. The pub has introduced a menu for dogs. Fitting cuisine is prepared for them and dog “beers” are put on – nonalcoholic, but with meat extract added to beer’s normal ingredients of malt and hops.

Barking mad? It goes down very well, ever since the first fortnight when a trial 48 bottles ran out and fresh stock had to be rushed in.

The local dogs now bring in their owners and there was great interest in the media - the Daily Mail, Sky and ITV for example. The whole thing went viral online, attracting viewers in Delhi, Detroit, Rio de Janeiro, St Petersburg and Tallinn. And it raised weekly turnover by £1k.

A major setback struck last year when flooding closed the business for 20 days, costing £17k in damage plus the lost turnover. But team spirit engendered among Dave’s staff paid off.

No fewer than 14 rolled up sleeves and trouser legs to restore the cellar.

The elements struck twice over, in fact.

Dave had also been working with brewing enthusiast Nigel Mothersole to develop Ouseburn Valley micro-brewery. Sales were reportedly good until flooding forced its closure too – totally in this case.

Today at the Brandling Villa, festive atmosphere regularly pervades, with local suppliers invited to showcase their innovations. A regular sausage festival is outstandingly successful.

Over three days 40 types of sausages might feature, many quite extraordinary.

One sampling included pork and cherry, Thai coconut chicken, kangaroo and anchovy, bison and blueberry, black rabbit and Brooklyn chocolate stout, wood pigeon and venison, full English breakfast, ostrich and rosemary, pork, bean and jalapeno - even crocodile and sage.

“The first festival went a bit too well,” in Dave’s words. He told The Journal: “I was thinking people would have one sausage each with their beer. But they were buying five or six. Women were buying platters of 18.”

His two following festivals brought in £15k a day, requiring 40 staff over the celebratory weekend. Customers were asked to sign a disclaimer before sampling one sausage retailing at £5. Nearly 500 were sold.

The Northumbrian Sausage Company at Wark put on sausage making workshops and began selling Frank & Bird products.

In partnership with

This collaboration led to the festival presence of what’s purportedly the world’s hottest sausage. – the Raging Norris, as it’s called.

Frank & Bird’s Motueka Blonde beer, through Tyne Bank Brewery, has been selling in London and Manchester, and besides close ties with local brewers, Dave uses a 3,000-plus Twitter following to showcase brewers from all over the UK. Last year he attracted the outstanding Darkstar brewery from Brighton to an event.

He has also turned Brandling Villa into a popular venue for live music.

Despite his love of novelty, Dave is serious about business. He has created back of house controls for stock, cash and labour management. This includes a fully automated labour system with which his general manager at the Brandling Villa can input a staff rota and sales forecast that automatically generates a labour ratio percentage, figures for employers’ and employees’ NI, Paye, and accrued holidays.

His cash reconciliation, team-meeting minutes, stocks and labour figures are shared realtime online between the management, and the stock system allows working to a pre-determined budget or allowance. This enables Dave to start developing as a multiple operator. Besides 24 staff at Brandling Villa, he now employs six at The Tannery in Hexham, which he promises will also stock “the best of everything, and lots of it”.

Staff development is encouraged. His former part-time cellarman, for example, has become general manager. And Dave himself recently learned Spanish to communicate better with one of his employees who’s from Cadiz.

He’s also been researching pub and bar culture in New York, Moscow and Sarajevo, taking members of the kitchen team too. His Oktoberfest last year was inspired by a study visit to the Munich event that also enabled him to bring in German beers. His local fest, as a result, grossed £45k.

Success is rubbing off too. Down the previously quiet street, a record shop and a shop selling dog clothing and accessories have opened.

Majestic Wine Warehouse has expanded and a new Sainsbury’s opened. Even nearby pubs have benefitted. And estate agents mention the pub as one of the area’s amenities. Now that is recognition… www.brandlingvilla.co.uk

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>> Success in a flash Even a lifesaving idea can only shape up as a business if there’s money behind it, and Zoe Farrington hasn’t allowed the double-dip recession to stifle her ambition No fewer than five roaring machines had the name REALRIDER® emblazoned on them as they flashed past cheering spectators at this year’s Isle of Man TT races. The businesswoman behind that highly successful, recently registered company name is Zoe Farrington, BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the North East.

The judges selected Zoe for her impressive raising of capital during a particularly difficult economic period for start-ups, and for her major contribution to a successful lifesaving innovation. Readers may recall having read about Zoe, business partner Andrew Richardson and their REALRIDER® launch in January’s BQ. Well, a lot – as you’ll have gathered from the racing circuit – has happened since to advance the smartphone app which REALRIDER® has created, and which hopefully will reduce the UK’s dreadful carnage of one motor-cyclist’s life being lost almost every day in road accidents.

While working with Andrew on developing the world’s first app connecting a user directly to an emergency service, she also set about complementing their own investment of £40,000 with £285,000 of input from external sources in the North East – this in the midst of a double dip recession.

A £400,000-plus vote of confidence has been invested in the REALRIDER® enterprise by the Newcastle based entrepreneurs’ fund manager, Rivers Capital Partners. And by last April £610,000 in all had been raised through venture capital, business angel and private >>

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NORTH EAST EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR DINNER 2014 investment sources, and support continues.

REALRIDER® app, now being piloted by the North East Ambulance Service, is in one sense a mobile networking club for the gregarious motor-cycling community. Through it riders can “meet” remotely to chat in realtime.

They can instantly share information about things witnessed while out riding, such as potential road hazards or traffic conditions on their favourite routes. They can post gossip about their machines present and past, scan manufacturers’ product information and instructions, and enjoy images and videos.

Most importantly, though, they can turn on the REALsafe® zone of the app before setting out on a journey. Should they then be involved in an accident their phone, using GPS and WiFi technology, will automatically connect with the nearest ambulance service and detail the riders’ last known location, and their medical details, which could prove vital. While a crashed bike may be easily located, a thrown rider may not be – and ambulance staff say every second spent searching for a victim can be a second lost in saving a life. John Rowland, control systems manager for the North East Ambulance Service which piloted the scheme, calls it a “brilliant application in its potential to save bikers’ lives.”

Support is coming also from the manufacturers BMW, Honda UK, and the US electric bike manufacturer Brammo, which was first to announce that REALsafe® would be provided with every new bike sold in the UK this year.

BMW is set to follow suit.

Michelin and Motorrad too are backing it, also organisations such as the RAC, which has launched a breakdown recovery, REALrescue, using it. The Motor Cycle Industry Association is expected to announce REALRIDER® as its officially endorsed safety product of this year.

The British Motorcycle Federation, the Institute

A brilliant application in its potential to save bikers’ lives

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

Lifesavers: Zoe, fellow director Andrew Richardson and other members of the team behind REALRIDER® of Advanced Motorcyclists, and the Highways Agency have all expressed their interest.

And Andrew Richardson confirms: “A number of other deals are under development, some with leading motorcycle and helmet manufacturers.”

Potential appears far beyond the highways.

Network Rail is considering a REALsafe technology to protect workers on isolated stretches of track, and it is believed coastguards also may find it adaptable.

REALRIDER® is also under scrutiny at Coventry and Southampton Universities with a view to securing Ministry of Defence applications.

Meanwhile, the business is one of 17 organisations, including several high level academic institutions that have been invited to sit on a pan European consortium to look at improving casualties among vulnerable road users over the next three years.

Natalia Blagburn, investment executive at Rivers Capital Partners, says: “I believe the app will be an essential for all keen motorcyclists soon, and further services added will continue the successful growth of the business.”

Other key manufacturers are meanwhile watching with interest at the REALRIDER® achievement of securing more than 12,000 biker subscribers in the first few months. The eventual target is 800,000, more than 60% of the total UK motor cycle market. Enquiries have been made from Australia, the USA and the UAE. Zoe came to the North East 20 years ago

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as a Northumbria University student. She entered marketing and has stayed in the region. In 2005, she and Andrew set up Fused, a public sector marketing consultancy in Durham, through which they developed links with emergency services.

Now Zoe, a mother of three, has captured the imagination of bikers and software enthusiasts alike, despite her previous inexperience in practical technology. She’s also working now towards gaining a motor-cycle licence. She says: “The motor-cyclist community’s appetite for REALRIDER® has been as great as we’d imagined it would be.”

A mentor of the company says: “Zoe shows leadership in management skills, can shape a vision then share it, inspiring others to share her journey. She has made her mark in a male dominated industry, and there’s no edge to her.”

Luke Burton, manager of the Business & IP Centre in Newcastle describes REALRIDER® as a shining example of innovative regional start-up businesses now being launched and flourishing in the region. Zoe and Andrew advise other budding entrepreneurs to work the networks of the region to get maximum benefit from their knowledge and support.

Success for REALRIDER® will be a success not only for its business partners but also for the public purse. A fatal accident can cost up to £1m to investigate. Every life REALsafe® saves could be a saving for the public purse too. www.realrider.com In partnership with

NORTH EAST EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR DINNER 2014 >> They’ve got fight, they’ve got determination Dave Carr and Zoe Farrington’s achievements were highlighted before 250 guests at an awards dinner in the Gateshead Hilton Hotel.

The two had been selected earlier by a distinguished panel of experts from diverse backgrounds in business and business support.

They were Warwick Brindle (chairman, Rockcliffe Hall Hotel), John Dickson (chairman, Owen Pugh Group), Judith Doyle (principal and chief executive, Gateshead College), Emily Humphrys (commercial director, Cambridge Biochemicals), Kari Owers (managing director, OPR), and Geoff Turnbull (chairman, GT Group), with Brian Nicholls (editor, BQ) chairing.

Decisions were based on a short written submission from each nominee, and further background as necessary from BQ. Judges’ chairman Brian Nicholls said: “The deliberations leading to the judges’ choices were extensive, given the wide field of interests praiseworthily presented.”

BQ’s Emerging Entrepreneur Dinners are running as part of MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival 2014. This week long festival, one of the UK’s biggest business events, will recognise and celebrate all that entrepreneurs make and do to prosper the nation, and it will serve to encourage and motivate others to succeed in business. About 4,000 delegates from all over the UK are expected.

The preliminary dinners bring together BQ’s featured and established entrepreneurs, inviting them to propose an individual they believe representative of a next generation of entrepreneurs. Dinners like that at Gateshead are being held also in Scotland, Yorkshire and the West Midlands prior to the MADE event at Sheffield in September.

With each regional dinner recognising two emerging entrepreneurs, the MADE festival conference and gala dinner in Sheffield on 25 September will bring eight emerging entrepreneurs together to have their achievements celebrated far beyond their respective regions. They will be there as VIP guests, and one will finally be named BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.

Speakers at MADE 2014 will include already In partnership with

internationally renowned business experts and entrepreneurs such as Levi Roots, Doug Richards and Paul McKenna. Room 501 director Bryan Hoare says: “Zoe and David are to be congratulated. The judges’ task was unenviable, given the remarkably talented field considered. There’s a clear vibrancy in the start-up end of the North East economy.”

For more information about the dinner or further BQ events contact Kirsty Tarn, Kirsty@room501.co.uk or Rachael Laschke,

Rachael@room501.co.uk or visit www.bq-magazine.co.uk/bq-events.

BQ (Business Quarter), a leading business to business brand of Room501 Publishing, specialises in promoting entrepreneurship and corporate success. Room501 is the publishing and events management arm of BE Group, the independent business services group helping businesses to be more productive, profitable and competitive – and contracted to deliver MADE in association with BQ. n

>> The ones to watch for the future The full list of North East nominees who promise to feature increasingly on the region’s business map: Alice Blackie: Pink Boutique (est 2012) retail, Newcastle. www.pinkboutique.co.uk David Carr: Frank & Bird (est 2009) hospitality, Newcastle and Hexham. www.brandlingvilla.co.uk Rob Earnshaw: Youth Training Academy (est 2011) training, Gateshead. www.youthtrainingacademy.com Mark Easby: Better (est 2008) marketing and digital, Stokesley. www.betterbrandagency.com Zoe Farrington: REALRIDER (est 2012) technology, Durham. www.realrider.com Kieron Goldsborough: Press Ahead (est 2004), PR and marketing, Sunderland. www.pressahead.info Mark Harrison: RefurbThat (est 2012) computer hardware, Cramlington. www.refurbthat.com Gary Hudson: RPS (est 2002) environmental, Middlesbrough. www.rpsltd.com Stephen Irish: HyperDrive (est 2012), low carbon, Sunderland. www.hyperdriveinnovation.com David Irwin: David Irwin Design Studio (est 2011), industrial design, Newcastle. www.davidirwin.co.uk Dan Lewis: The Soccer Factory (est 2011), leisure, Newton Aycliffe. www.thesoccerfactory.co.uk Matthew Mavir: Last Night of Freedom (est 1999); leisure, Gateshead. www.lastnightoffreedom.co.uk Shaun Oaks: ievo reader (est 2009) security manufacturing, North Tyneside. www.ievoreader.com Clare Owen: Lostbox (est 2013) technology, County Durham. www.lostbox.co.uk Katy Parkinson: Sound Training for Reading (est 2011) education, Middlesbrough. www.soundtraining.co.uk Karl Pemberton: Active Chartered Financial Services (est 2000) financial services, Thornaby. www.activefinancialservices.co.uk Lewis Pennicott: Lewis Pennicott Design, (est 2013) kitchenware, Eaglescliffe. www.lewispennicottdesign.com Tom Riley: Whitewash Laboratories (est 2010) dental, Stockton. www.whitewashlaboratories.com Joseph Robson: Cullerhosts IT (est 2013) IT and computing, Cullercoats. www.cullerhosts.co.uk Kate Usher: Kate Usher Studio (est 2010) textile surface design, Gateshead. www.kateusher.co.uk Michelle and Graeme: Warren Access (est 1993) hydraulic platform hire, Newcastle. www. warrenaccess.co.uk Charlotte Windebank: FIRST Face to Face (est 2014) networking, Newcastle. www.firstfacetoface.eventbrite.com

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WASHINGTON BUSINESS CENTRE COMPANY PROFILE OPENS ITS DOORS SUMMER 14

T

The newly completed £6 million Washington Business Centre in Sunderland has now opened its doors to tenants.

The stunning new building has been built as a hub for up to 40 growing businesses, with high specification offices, workshops and hybrid units.

Located close to Nissan Sunderland with easy access to the A19 and A1231, the Business Centre is expected to create or sustain more than 200 jobs.

Developed with support from the The stunning new buildingFund has been European Regional Development (ERDF), thebuilt Business Centre is owned and as a hub for up to 40 growing managed bybusinesses, Sunderland withCity highCouncil. specification

Washington Business Centre opens its doors The newly completed £6 million Washington Business Centre in Sunderland has now opened its doors to tenants

offices, workshops and hybrid units.

Located close to Nissan Sunderland with easy access to the A19 and A1231, the Business Centre is expected to create or sustain more than 200 jobs. Developed with support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Business Centre is owned and managed by Sunderland City Council. Berni Whitaker, Sunderland City Council Enterprise Manager, who is managing the new centre, said: “It is specifically designed to Berninew Whitaker, Sunderland City Council incubate businesses but also give established Enterprise is managing the businesses Manager, somewhere who to expand.

We are looking new centre, said: “It is specifically designed for businesses interested in taking more space and to incubate new businesses but also give creating jobs in the city.” established businesses somewhere to The impressive metre, two storey building expand.

We are5,200sq looking for businesses includes 24inoffice spaces, seven hybrid and interested taking more space andunits creating 13 workshops.

There are two meeting rooms and jobs in the city.”

102The freeimpressive on-site parking spaces. metre, two 5,200sq

storey building includes 24 office spaces, seven hybrid units 13 workshops.

BEST ADDRESS FOR and GROWING BUSINESSESThere are two meeting rooms andhas102 freeattracted on-site Washington Business Centre already parking spaces.from potential tenants including strong interest enterprises in the training, consultancy and light

Best address for growing businesses manufacturing sectors. The centre is particularly Washington Business Centre has already keen to attract businesses in the low attracted strong interestworking from potential carbon economy.

The Business Centre is part of the tenants including enterprises in the training, North East Enterprise and is at the centre of consultancy and lightZone manufacturing sectors.

Sunderland’s low carbon industry hub.

The centre is particularly keen to attract businesses working in the low carbon Councillor Harry Trueman, Washington councillor economy. and deputy leader of Sunderland City Council The Business Centre partaddresses of the North said: “This will be one of theisbest in East Zone and is attothe centre the Enterprise area for growing businesses thrive, andof we are already receiving active interest from local companies who can see the many advantages of working from this superb building.

“It offers a great package for businesses across many sectors. They will directly benefit from locating to an excellent base, with flexible, spacious places in which to work, meet customers

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

The reception area with Cllr Harry Trueman, Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council and Arun Mistry of Barmston Developments

qualify for rent free periods depending on the Sunderland’s low carbon industry hub. type of lease. The City Council’s business Councillor Harry Trueman, Washington investment team is able to offer support and councillor and deputy leader of Sunderland City Council said: “This will be one of the best can also signpost people to services we don’t addresses in the area for growing businesses provide ourselves.” to thrive, and we are already receiving active interest from local companies who can see Washington Business Centre offers: • Excellent, easy to access location just off the many advantages of working from this The reception area with Cllr Harry Trueman, Deputy Leader ofthe Sunderland City Council and Arun Mistry of A19/A1231 superb building.

Barmston Developments • Licence or lease - easy in easy out terms for licence holders • Rent-free periods and other incentives for and network with other businesses.” spaces, seven hybrid units and 13 workshops tenants may be available Washington Business Centre has easy access for Two meeting rooms of 250sq ft and 375 sqft, • •Range of workspace to suit your needs – cars, lorries and public transport. which can be made into one hybrid units and 24 office spaces, seven The site also offers electric charging points and • 102 free on-site parking spaces including 13 workshops cycle racks in its car park. disabled parkingrooms spacesof and two electric • Two meeting 250sq ft andvehicle 375 sq ft, whichpoints can be made into one charging • 102 freebike on-site parking spaces including COMPETITIVE PACKAGE • Motor parking disabled parking spaces Berni Whitaker added: “The Business Centre offers • Twenty bicycle/bike racks and two electric vehicle points mixed accommodation with different sizes and • Atriumcharging with breakout and refreshment point • Motor bike parking types of workspace. There are workshops, hybrid • Shower and changing facilities • Twenty bicycle/bike racks “It offers a great package for businesses units and high quality offices as well.

• Atrium with breakout and refreshment across many sectors. They will directly “Some of the tenants would potentially qualify for WORKSPACE point benefit from locating to an excellent base, rent free periods depending on the type ofto lease.

• 24 office spaces 500sq ftfacilities – 1300 sq ft, • Shower and changing with flexible, spacious places in which The City Council’s business investment team is able • Seven hybrid units 475sq ft – 1000 sq ft , work, meet customers and network with to offer support and can also signpost people to • 13 workshops 725 sq ft to 1650 sq ft Workspace other businesses.”

• 24 office spaces 500sq ft – 1300 sq ft, Washington Centre has easy services we don’tBusiness provide ourselves.”

• Seven access for cars,BUSINESS lorries and public transport.

WASHINGTON CENTRE OFFERS: RENTALhybrid RATES units 475sq ft – 1000 sq ft , • 13 workshops 725 The• site also offers sq ftrates to 1650 ft charging Excellent, easy toelectric access location just points off the Highly competitive rental at thissq superbly and cycle racks in its car park.

A19/A1231 located business centre, and possible rent-free Rental rates • Licence or lease - easy in easy out terms for periods.

Highly competitive rental rates at this Competitive package licence holders superbly located business centre, and Berni Whitaker added: “The Business Centre To view offices, hybrid units or workshops • Rent-free periods and other incentives for possible rent-free periods. offers mixed accommodation with different telephone 0191 561 1205 or email tenants may be available sizes and types of workspace. There are washingtonbc@MAKEitSunderland.com • Range of hybrid workspace to suit – 24 office To view offices, hybrid units or workshops workshops, units andyour highneeds quality telephone 0191 561 1205 or email offices as well. washingtonbc@MAKEitSunderland.com “Some of the tenants would potentially

52

Washington Business Centre

A great new place to start or grow your business Turbine Business Park, just off the A19/A1231

Rent-free periods and other incentives may be available

Find out more by contacting the Business Investment Team, Sunderland City Council

0191 561 1205

or email

washingtonbc@MAKEitSunderland.com

Washington Business Centre 2 Turbine Way Sunderland SR5 3NZ

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

SUMMER 14

Business booms at Cobalt, town to benefit from £100m makeover, big changes afoot among region’s top hotels, former mining village gets £74m investment, leisure group draws up bold expansion plans Coming up: Discreet office development at Gateshead

>> Premium offices for Gateshead More options in premium office space are coming up at Gateshead. Developer Adderstone Group has approval for phase two of a scheme at Saltwell Business Park, where phase one on the site of the former Joicey Road School is already progressing.

This new phase allows for four two-storey office buildings with up to 12,000sq ft of office or studio space and parking.

The initial phase in 2009 allowed total redevelopment to office space, and refurbishment and conversion, of the dilapidated Grade II listed buildings.

Phase one includes a children’s nursery for Kids 1st and office space for businesses including JC Consulting and Advanced Cutting Tools. Ian Baggett, chief executive of Adderstone Group, says: “We’re keen to partner SMEs.”

>> Business surges into Cobalt Big names have moved into Cobalt Business Park, North Tyneside, over six months.

Energy consultants Utilitywise are relocating there from South Tyneside for bigger premises in what could be the North East’s largest office deal for five years.

Other prominent arrivals include IBM,

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

Accenture and Barnardo’s.

Hewlett Packard, the world’s largest technology business, has expanded, leasing 24,596sq ft more within Cobalt 21.

Utilitywise’s chief executive Geoff Thompson has signed up to 77,632sq ft of premises. He expects to add 600 more staff to the existing 800 over two years.

The company showed a 105% rise in revenues to £21m for the year to last January, which could more than double to £45m this year.

Utilitywise operates also in Redditch, Bury St Edmonds, Portsmouth, Leicester and Prague.

It is vacating the four–floor building on South Shields waterfront previously home to Chey Garland’s now defunct call centre group.

>> £17.5m deal at Quorum Premises filled by key resident Tesco Bank have been sold for £17.5m at Quorum Business Park on Tyneside. The deal coincides with the bank’s launch of current account services to compete with high street banks.

Sale of the 100,353sq ft Q8 building by CBRE’s Capital Markets team for Tritax represents a net initial yield of 8.1%.

The unnamed buyer was represented by Blackman Investments. Tesco has a 15 year lease and could take the staff there up from 800 to 1,500.

>> Smart move, Filtronic Growing popularity of smartphones, making up 69% of all comparable UK devices now, and the uptake of 4G have prompted electronics manufacturer Filtronic to move from Newton Aycliffe to new facilities at NETPark, Sedgefield. It says 85 jobs are secured despite a loss of maybe £500,000 for the year.

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>>Warehouse reopens A 125,000sq ft warehouse vacated after Cumbrian Seafoods collapsed should be back in business soon at Foxcover Distribution Park in Seaham. Naylors Chartered Surveyors have acquired it for online kitchen and appliance specialist Andrew James UK Ltd. Administrators sold the unit following the building’s closure in 2013.

Earlier Andrew James had 90,000sq ft in the former Henderson Garage Doors unit at Bowburn North Industrial Estate. The company, employing over 200 people, has wanted to buy premises for two years. Another 10 jobs will arise.

Andrew Tomlinson of Andrew James says: “We can now continue to expand in line with our business strategy.”

>> Boldon’s boost A 51,000sq ft warehouse and production facility at Boldon Business Park beside the A19 has been leased

by Nippon Express, the global logistics business. It’s a relocation from a 16,000sq ft unit at Cramlington.

Knight Frank advised the landlord, North East Property Partnership, and has now completed seven lettings totalling 106,000sq ft in just over two years. Nippon Express has taken a nine-year and six months lease at £180,000 a year.

>> 10th store for B&S The UK’s biggest independent family owned furniture retailer, the upmarket Barker & Stonehouse, is having its 10th store and new head office built at Stockton, at the entrance to Teesside Retail Park. Archal Norr architects and McLuckie Projects are working on the £4.5m investment which managing director James Barker expects to result in a “spectacular” development. B&S, founded in Stockton in 1946, employs more than 250 people and has a £40m-plus turnover.

SUMMER 14

Very smooth: The market place at South Shields will look smooth indeed if plans as projected here go ahead

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

has also detailed the preferred option for the £100m, A19/A184 Testos junction improvement scheme at Boldon south of the Tyne Tunnels.

>> Magnet attracted

>> Something old, something new Plans to turn the market square at South Shields into something like the impression here are under public consideration and seem to be getting a good reception. The 18thC old town hall will be preserved. Work, possibly from next January, would include building a new central library and a digital media centre.

Other features include: • A new canopy roof around the perimeter of the trading area to give partial covering for stalls and shoppers • New, easily removable, stalls • Enhanced landscaping with seats • Tree-lined avenues • New paving with improved surfaces South Tyneside Council is working with Muse Developments, which transformed Newcastle Quayside and was involved in creating the Millennium Bridge there.

The scheme is part of a £100m plan to transform the town centre over 10 years. www.southshields365progress.com

>> £44m relief for bypass Work has started on widening part of the A1 Western Bypass around Gateshead, one of the country’s most congested stretches.

The Highways Agency has awarded Balfour Beatty the £44m job to widen four miles of dual carriageway to three lanes in both directions, also to build a new 0.33 mile parallel link road, for north and south-bound traffic, between Lobley Hill and the A184 Gateshead Quays junctions.

Balfour expects to complete the entire job by spring 2016. Roads Minister Robert Goodwill

A new home for national kitchen retailer Magnet Ltd is expected to be completed by September.

The 12,000 sq ft building keeps the operation in Darlington – on Yarm Road Interchange Business Park.

North East chartered surveyors and property consultant, Sanderson Weatherall, has brokered the deal for Unit 6, giving a showroom and trade counter warehouse.

Magnet joins Screwfix and Yesss Electrical as part of phase one there, leaving two buildings available on 20 mixed use acres.

Sanderson Weatherall brokered for all three companies.

>> Hotel doors revolving As some hotel doors close, others open.

Multi-millionaire developer Sir John Hall aims to turn Woolsington Hall near Newcastle Airport into the city’s first five star boutique hotel, with 34 bedrooms, a golf course, restaurant, spa and cookery school.

Plans, to be partly funded by a development of 70 luxury homes on land there, are under study by Newcastle City Council.

Bought by Cameron Hall in 1994, the estate was temporarily on the market following intervention and complaint by English Heritage about the standard of upkeep.

The announcement for Woolsington follows closure of Longhirst Hall, near Morpeth, the company behind that, Hotel Lease (Number 3) Ltd, having gone into liquidation. And Close House Hotel near Wylam is being restored to a private house for its owner, Graham Wylie the Sage plc pioneer. This Grade-II listed former mansion, a hotel, wedding and golf venue since 2005, will now concentrate on golfing at its championship courses there.

On Newcastle Quayside, the former Chase bar and adjoining property have been bought

by Gainford Hotels, owners of the nearby Vermont, who will invest millions opening

55

a Vermont Aparthotel with two penthouse suites and 11 luxury apartments.

Work on a £15m expansion of Ramside Hall hotel and golf centre at Durham is due to finish next March. It is adding 100 staff to its existing 400. In Northumberland, an investment of £150,000 at Doxford Hall Hotel takes accommodation up to 34 bedrooms, while £215,000 invested at Slaley Hall will improve leisure facilities. And Otterburn’s Percy Arms and Otterburn Hall, which closed in 2012, appear to have potential buyers.

>> Estate beats crunch Developers expect to announce soon occupiers for some of the 17 units at North Tyneside’s first speculative business park built since the credit crunch. Hellens Group completed the £2.6m Elm Park at West Chirton with £460,000 of loans.

>> £60m boost for county’s tourism A £60m boost is expected for County Durham’s tourism under developments at Auckland Castle and Beamish Museum.

Work will start on a two-storey museum extension to the castle by the end of next year.

This £17m addition will house a presentation of British history in objects of faith and religion.

Auckland Castle Trust, investing £7m, hopes to secure £10m more through a lottery grant.

Eventually £50m may be invested by spring 2018 to turn the former home of Durham bishops into a major attraction with up to 130 staff. Meanwhile, Beamish Museum will put a £10.75m lottery grant towards a new 1950s area. A centre for people with dementia and overnight accommodation are also planned.

Up to 95 jobs and 50 apprenticeships could result, with work starting within 18 months.

>> M&S to pull out Marks and Spencer plans to close its Redcar store after 76 years there. It has branches also at Teesside Shopping Park and Middlesbrough, and says there will be no compulsory job losses for its 44 staff.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

SUMMER 14

>> Something old…

>> Lift for Ashington

>> Three years and counting

An historic one-up-one-down, reputedly the most photographed building in the Lake District, has been given a spring clean by Lewis Surveying Associates of Hexham, Penrith and Richmond.

Bridge House has spanned the Stock Beck in Ambleside since the 17th century and became the National Trust’s very first information centre.

Big improvements are expected for Ashington, where a £74m town centre redevelopment is being considered, a 10 year programme tipped to create 1,000 jobs.

On the plan are a library, two swimming pools, a gym, a spa, and a sports hall.

And at Ashwood Business Park, Ferguson Blyth’s has sold factories and warehouses to Northumberland Arch. Ferguson developed phase one of Ashwood in 2007 – units of 4,000-10,000 sq ft on 3.25 acres. Simon Haggie, partner at Knight Frank which advised Ferguson, says: “Three units were previously sold to owner occupiers, two are let and one unit of 5,300sq ft is vacant.”

Occupiers include Metalis Energy, Crosslings and Tech Design Team, a Chinese crash helmet manufacturer. Akzo Nobel is creating 90 jobs with its construction of a £100m paint making plant and Benicia Group is developing a 40,000sq ft headquarters, both relocations.

Alan Ferguson, chairman of Fergusons, said: “The sale has facilitated the purchase of a 100,000sq ft warehouse at Washington, previously leased. Washington is a key facility for our Nissan customers.” Peter McIntyre, Arch Group managing director, confirmed his group’s interest in South East Northumberland.

Northumberland’s largest independent firm of accountants, Patricia J Arnold and Co, has moved into an historic Edwardian property in Hexham after a two-year battle for planning permission and a year of restoration work.

West Orchard House, the former Red Cross headquarters on the town’s Allendale Road, has been restored following Arnold’s fight for the right to renovate what had become a nearderelict shell. The practice had been based at Black House on Dipton Mill Road since 1985.

>> £152m Bridges it More than 100 shops got a new landlord at a stroke with Land Securities’ sale of Sunderland’s main shopping destination, The Bridges, to AEW Europe for £152m - a net initial yield of 6.2%.

>> £3m fillip for Tees estate Four deals worth £3m have been completed at Preston Farm Industrial Estate, Eaglescliffe.

Property development and investment company, Opus North has sold Unit 1B (21,000sq ft) - let to Unipart - for £620,000 to Essel Property. The 18,000sq ft Unit 2B - let to Howden’s Timber - has been bought by TWS Property for £633,000.

Units 1C and D, and Units 3A and B (115,000sq ft) have been sold to an unnamed owner-occupier for £1.6m. And occupier CFS Motoring Services has bought Unit 1E (7,750sq ft).

The 360,000sq ft park where an MFI factory once stood has 93,000sq ft left to lease or buy. Opus North director Andrew Duncan says: “Interest is keen.”

>> Square changes hands A portfolio of 133 properties throughout the UK, including Wellington Square shopping centre at Stockton, is to be managed by national agents Lee Baron on behalf of M&M Property Asset Management. M&M clients acquired the portfolio, known as Project Moon and valued at around £400m, from receivers at JLL.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

>> Brew time at Tavistock Tavistock Hospitality leisure group plans to quadruple its “brew tap” venues from three to 12 across the North East and is revamping a newly acquired hotel.

It recently added the Roker Hotel, Sunderland, and the Grand Hotel, Hartlepool, to its portfolio (both operating under the Best Western brand) – along with two restaurants in South Shields and Birtley, giving it now 10 venues. The Roker Hotel is to be refurbished.

Mark Hird, managing director of Tavistock Hospitality which also operates Sonnet 43 brewery from Coxhoe, already has brew tap venues at Coxhoe, Hebburn and Chesterle-Street.

The hotels and restaurants – Tavistock Italia venues – have been bought from Durham Estates owned by Russell Foster.

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>> Birthday bonanza As it turns 13 years old, Walton Robinson, an independent property agency employing 30 people at Percy Street, Newcastle, is set for record turnover of £1m.

>> Two more lets Grainger Commercial Developments, through Knight Frank, has gained two lettings in its office refurbishment at Shakespeare House in Newcastle.

CK21, the Newcastle-based structural and civil engineering consultancy, has taken a 1,595sq ft suite and Telford Hart Associates, the construction cost and project management consultancy, has taken a first floor, 747sq ft, suite. Both are new five-year leases at an asking of £10.75psf. Now 1,842 sq ft, in two suites, remain to be let.

The building opposite the Theatre Royal offers fully refurbished office space in an historic Grade II listed building.

>> Projects that impress Projects in South Shields and Durham took the top two places in the 2014 North East awards presented by the Institution of Civil Engineers. The Over £4m category was won by South Tyneside Council, Royal HaskoningDHV, Galliford Try and Oobe Ltd for the Littlehaven Promenade and Seawall project at South Shields. In the Under £4m section, Northumbrian Water, Mott MacDonald, Montgomery Watson Harza Treatment, Seymour Civil Engineering and Amec Environment & Infrastructure for an inlet at Barkers Haugh sewage treatment in Durham.

The Quadrus Centre

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Jarrow Business Centre one trinity Green south shields Business works the Quadrus Centre

Home to a vibrant mix of businesses, The Quadrus Centre provides first-class managed offices in an established central location.

Professional managed offices from 13sqm to 67sqm Excellent transport links with A19 and A1 Outstanding ICT in offices, and free Wi-Fi in public areas Quality meeting spaces and conference facilities

Join our business community For details and availability, or to request a tour of The Quadrus Centre:

0191 519 7202 quadrus@southtyneside.gov.uk

www.southtyneside.info/business Follow us @styneBusiness

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BUSINESS LUNCH

SUMMER 14

WHY BILL IS SCALING DOWN TO SCALE UP

Our region’s billion dollar man, Bill MacLeod, may work on smaller deals here than elsewhere but his determination to see North East business overwhelm three critical challenges it faces will bring outstanding advantage, says Brian Nicholls North East England’s billion dollar man has worked his way round almost a third of the world dealing with audits, stock exchange deals, mergers, acquisitions and business’s myriad other complications. Sticking out in Bill MacLeod’s mind, though, was doing the first ever bond issue by Qatar for over $1bn to start its momentous liquefied natural gas industry.

That bond issue began a $12bn project amounting to the world’s third largest deal ever in international construction. What’s more, it brought to West Wales an LNG terminal, offering from 2007 to supply up to 20% of all Britain’s gas needs, contradicting energy Jonahs here who’d been claiming like the foreboding of Private James Frazier: ”We’re all doomed!”

In the scale of economies, it puts some perspective into our own Government’s recent apportionment of £379m for ongoing North East development, especially as Qatar’s population is smaller than our region’s. But comparisons may be odious except to indicate the sort of deal Bill can shoulder, come the call.

Today, as office senior partner at PwC in Newcastle, his challenge on succeeding Peter Woolston is being tackled with undiminished enthusiasm and expertise. He’s heading the business consultancy to even greater success from pristine new offices, a relocation after neighbouring the Civic Centre for 25 years in Haymarket area, to overlook instead the multimillion, fast developing Central Square, behind Newcastle’s Central Station.

Previously spread over five floors, daily

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

operations now take place over the top two floors of Central Square South building, 24,000sq ft offering better internal communication and greater flexibility. “Best of all,” Bill beams, “we’ve got a balcony, a terrace overlooking the Stephenson Quarter.”

Many may not realise 40% of PwC’s business comes outside London, and Ian Powell, group

chairman and senior partner, believes regional practices offer major opportunities. Many companies in the regions are interested to make acquisitions or expand overseas, he says, mentioning specifically opportunities for Leeds, Newcastle and the North.

Bill confirms: “We’ve double digit growth in Newcastle. And we mirror what clients are doing. If we’re enjoying real success it’s because our clients are doing things. In some ways we’re a barometer of the economy.”

There are three elephantine enigmas he and his 300 staff must guide clients through - FTSE

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100s, family firms and private individuals alike with unwavering acumen amid tackling audits, taxation, corporate finance, business recovery, deal services and wider consulting. The issues are: the Scottish referendum, the General Election and Europe. Is it tortoise shell time? Or should businesses be bold?

Bill cites a fundamental many politicians wilfully or otherwise ignore: businesses detest uncertainty. “I see uncertainty now,” he confirms. “Clients look at things in Scotland, investment for example. We’ve one company that bought a business there recently. The Press were on to them asking ‘why have you invested in Scotland?’ They’d invested because it was a good business.

“Europe creates awful uncertainty, as too a general election. I say to businesses that if you’re doing something, hopefully you’re doing it for sound long term reasons. Political changes come and go. If you think it’s the right thing to do on a long term basis, do it.

“We’ll have clarity on Scottish independence

by September, General Election by next June, but Europe will remain uncertain for years.

So that’s a bigger one. Every Government I’ve known has chopped and changed policies. Tax is a good example. While politicians want to be business friendly, no-one will wholeheartedly support it. Yet the UK’s long term economic future depends on a successful private sector.”

On the referendum, Bill opines: “I think the North East will be more affected than other parts by the outcome, one way or the other.

I have clients, some of whose employees >>

We’ve been down this route before in the North East with the rejection of a regional assembly. Against a background now of greater autonomy in Scotland, Europe and Northern Ireland, devolution is already changing all those locations.

Does England need something similar?

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BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

BUSINESS LUNCH may be based in Scotland. The North East is at the border. It sells a lot in Scotland. Irrespective of the outcome there’ll be changes because the Scottish Government, even if independence doesn’t happen, has many more tax varying powers, and that can impact on businesses.

“I think the North East’s biggest challenge in attracting investment is that the Scottish Government acts as one in promoting business or inward investment anywhere in Scotland.

The North East is split up - two LEPs, various local authorities. That we don’t necessarily speak with one voice to attract inward investment puts us at disadvantage with Scotland. It makes it all the harder to do deals.

“I’ve heard someone was looking at doing something in the North East or Scotland. They looked separately at two or three locations here with different LEPs and local authorities helping in each case. They then went to Scotland and the Scottish Government put them in a helicopter to tour various locations and said ‘we don’t care which one you do, as long as it’s here in Scotland’.

(It was a helicopter flight that landed Hitachi in Newton Aycliffe, true, but that was through the enterprise of one private sector individual, Geoff Hunton of Merchant Place Developments).

Otherwise, Bill would argue, North East ability to match Scotland’s offering is a challenge.

Does he argue like a North Easterner? Well, half of his 18 years as a PwC partner have been dedicated to the North East. And Europe, he warns, may be an even bigger challenge.

“The North East is ideally located to deal and trade with Europe. The vast majority of our trade is with Europe. We have the ports.

Diversity is the strength of the North East economy, and we’ve some strong sectors.

“We’ve a lot of family and privately owned businesses of good sizes contributing a lot to the economy. Manufacturing is back very strongly – Nissan, Hitachi, and many other companies doing well through exports. Oil, gas, renewables, petrochemicals, chemicals – all are a real strength.

“It’s well known we’ve too disproportionately large a public sector. I think as a consequence the private sector is having to pedal relatively harder to make up for public sector cutbacks.

That’s a challenge. There’s paradox too. >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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East or West, home’s now the test in 1983, Bill enjoyed, later, two years working from New York, where he also managed to travel all over the USA. His challenge there was intellectual – working with some of the world’s biggest companies.

His three years’ coverage of five Gulf Arab states was done out of Dubai, a PwC office opened by a Newcastle predecessor – Bill Teasdale.

Bill found work in the USA goes on in a more structured environment so one could do less personally. “In some ways I enjoyed the Middle East more. Companies there might not have been quite so sophisticated or as large, but they needed your assistance more, and you could work more closely with them. Muslims get a bad press. They were among the most genuine, hospitable and friendly people I’ve worked with in my life.”

This familiarity with international business, and challenges of operating abroad, make Bill invaluable to the North East in its quest to raise further its export performance.

For the last five or six years he has worked closely on a degree programme PwC sponsors at the Business School in Newcastle University. The Flying Start, involving also the school and the Institute of Chartered Accountants, has been running almost 12 years, enabling more than 800 graduates to get through exams faster. All have gone on to work for PwC around the UK. PwC now has more female partners (148 in the UK) than any other UK professional services firm. Of the latest partner admissions, about 40% are female. “It’s great,” says Bill “Newcastle’s percentage hasn’t been quite as high as I’d like, I have to confess. But I think we had the second female partner ever in PwC going back 25 or 30 years.”

For all his experience abroad Bill, a youthful 50, enjoys his work and free time in the North East.

A keen rugby follower, he has a season ticket for the Falcons and, living in Corbridge with his 13-year-old son, organises rugby tours at Tynedale for 12 and 13-year-olds. They’ve been to Chester, Glasgow of course, and now plan to play in Belfast. Bill also watches Newcastle United sometimes and on Newcastle’s recent Plate Day backed the first four winners before losing it all but, like any good accountant, finished in the black.

He’s regularly at theatres and The Sage, and will be seeing Jools Holland on his return, as too The Who on their 50th anniversary tour. Who’d miss that, after seeing last year’s Quadrophenia concert, he wonders? “I do fit in work now and again,” he grins.

There’s probably nowhere else Bill would rather be when he stands with colleagues, visitors or occasional VIPs like Greg Clark, Minister for the Cities, on the new PwC balcony that gives breathtaking views up to Newcastle’s famous river bridges. Even senior clients take selfies against the background.

“I’m very optimistic despite the constitutional uncertainties,” he says. “With the greater confidence I sense now, I’d like to think the next two or three years will be really exciting – for our office, our new building and the region. There are loads of opportunities. We should make the most of them and be proud of it.”

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BUSINESS LUNCH While employment is at its highest, the last two sets of North East unemployment figures show it as the only region where unemployment has risen. The North East does represent a deprivation challenge. We all have a duty to try to support that with something.”

Bill’s client base, however, reflects “not just optimism but confidence”. Companies are hiring and investing. The commonest complaint is lack of resources, especially skills.

“I can’t rationalise why unemployment has risen against that backdrop,” he says.

PwC is currently running debates nationwide, considering how much high centralisation of England is restraining regional growth. “I think it’s a debate worth having,” Bill says, having observed mistrust between local and central government at the Newcastle gathering. The Institute for Public Policy Research will compile a report from all the findings. Meanwhile, Bill cites dispassionately how the UK has the most centralised of any major Western economy.

Newcastle’s round-table mood favoured more decentralisation. Could central Government trust the regions?

“We’ve been down this route before in the North East with the rejection of a regional assembly,” Bill recalls. “Against a background now of greater autonomy in Scotland, Europe and Northern Ireland, devolution is already changing all those locations. Does England need something similar? “ He perceives growing cross-party support at Westminster for more autonomy to regions.

But he also observes that, like all these things, the concept may be great, but how you execute it is a much bigger challenge. Then, of course, the truth that hurts…

“The North East’s trouble is, we don’t speak with one unified voice. It perhaps says something that we’ve got two LEPs.” He thinks Manchester a textbook example, compared with experience here: “We had a Middlesbrough office 10 or 12 years ago, and we still hear ‘we won’t deal with you if you don’t have a Middlesbrough office’.

Bill concedes the same is heard between Edinburgh and Glasgow but believes social media and electronic connectivity are changing things fast, let alone that it’s only 45 minutes’ drive between Newcastle and Middlesbrough. n

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

SUMMER 14

A Dickens of a place Bonbar, Old Assembly Rooms, Fenkle St, Newcastle We’d no need to fear for the Old Assembly Rooms after owner Antony Michaelides announced a £1m refit of the Grade II listed building of 1773. Its new ground floor Bonbar restaurant subtly blends contemporary lighting with a light lilac Wedgwood décor - the lighting discreet, only the unrequested background music less so – and the building was understandably quieter than when the Duke of Wellington, Charles Dickens and one of the Strausses frequented.

Bill’s reminded of The Corinthian, a younger but larger merrymakers’ destination in a converted Glasgow bank. Bonbar’s island bar amid diners is spectacular. The menu ranges from sandwiches, salads and sharing boards to four course.

Our starters: chicken liver parfait with piccalilli and toasted brioche, and chickpea and pancetta soup with wilted greens and hazelnut pesto. Excellent choices. Bill, following a hefty lunching week, then chooses seared tuna with Sicilian vinaigrette, preserved lemon and chargrilled vegetable couscous.

The tuna was rare-ish, unasked, as he likes it for maximum taste, and with an appreciated lingering spiciness. The other enjoyed selection was fish goujons to dunk in minted pea puree and tartare sauce. Malbec and a crisp, clear Pino Grigio the preferred wines. A cappuccino and a filtered coffee for afters. In total, satisfaction not even a dismal set of preliminary figures afterwards would have diminished.

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COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 14

£290m Growth Deal marks beginning of a new era for North East In July, government announced that the North East Local Enterprise Partnership has secured a £290m Growth Deal for the North East. The deal, which is the third highest in the country, will create thousands of new jobs and provide millions of pounds to support the delivery our strategic economic plan The Growth Deal investment presents a great opportunity for the area at a time when we are seeing a new emerging story of sustainable local economic growth.

Over the last 12 months the North East has seen a significant increase in employment, economic output and labour productivity. Recent figures from the Office of National Statistics show that these are at record levels.

Employment in the North East is now at 1,214,000, which means 69.9% of the proportion of people are in work. This is an increase of over 60,000 in the last year – the greatest rate of increase of any region in the country and a record high.

The proportion of people who are inactive in the labour market – i.e are not in work or looking for work – has steadily declined to levels below where they were 20 years ago. Inactivity figures are now at 22.5%, rapidly closing the gap with the rest of the country to now less than 1%.

Mauricio Armellini, our chief economist explains the importance of this emerging trend: “The increase in employment is representative of an emerging pattern of sustained growth.

The latest employment figures are key to this, as employment is what really drives an economy.

The rise is the highest in the country and more than double the speed at which the national employment rate is increasing.

“But its not just employment figures that indicate structured growth for the North East. Our inactivity rate is falling sharply - this means more people are looking for work with significantly more people entering the labour market in the last few years.

It is falling so quickly that it indicates this is not a blip but is more likely to be a societal change.

“The figures are great news for the North East, but

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

we are starting from a position which is behind the rest of the country. We can’t change where the North East economy is coming from, but the figures show we are heading in the right direction.

We are starting to close the gap and meet the challenge that Lord Adonis set out in the North East Independent Economic Review. However, it is essential that we keep investing to maintain and accelerate this new trend.”

The North East Growth Deal is a significant contribution to this much needed investment. It builds on the c£460m North East European funding allocation and will act as a catalyst for further private and public investment.

The funding supports projects that were set out in our North East Strategic Economic Plan –

regional growth and inward investment. In particular it will help maximise the opportunity of Hitachi’s investment in the North East and build on the success of our Enterprise Zone by providing funding for two projects: • Merchant Park 2 – £10m investment to support inward investment and supply chain development next to the future home of Hitachi Rail Europe.

• Swans wet berth infill - £8m to infill the wet berth at Swans, bringing the land back into use for future development and increasing the availability of commercial land available for priority sectors in a key location.

• The deal will support the rural economy and small businesses with £6m to improve infrastructure in key market towns in County Durham, Gateshead

The £290m Growth Deal will accelerate growth, create more and better jobs for the North East, and act as a catalyst for a bright and prosperous future

‘More and better jobs’ which was developed with local partners and businesses to deliver locally determined sustainable and inclusive growth for the North East.

Key features of how the Growth Deal will create more and better jobs for the North East are: MORE JOBS: INVESTMENT IN ECONOMIC ASSETS AND TRANSPORT Funding will deliver a comprehensive package of investment to ensure the North East has the infrastructure and facilities it needs to support

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and Northumberland. This will include investing in the community-led network of rural enterprise hubs to support local business growth delivered through the Rural Growth Network.

The North East Growth Deal also includes a £38m package of nine transport projects. This will help transform the strategic transport network across the area, improving connectivity which is essential for attracting inward investment and local growth.

The projects include: • Central Gateway phase 2 - £6m to create a bridge out the back of central station to link to the

SUMMER 14

COMPANY PROFILE

Paul Woolston, Chair of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership

Stephenson Quarter • Central Station Metro - £2.5m upgrade • Scotswood Bridgehead junction - £3.7m to improve traffic flow • Gosforth Haddricks Mill - £4.93m roundabout upgrade • Local Sustainable Transport Fund - £7.2m upgrade of Durham and Tyne and Wear Urban Traffic Control systems.

In addition the deal also includes a further £79m provisional investment for future transport schemes.

BETTER JOBS: INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION AND SKILLS Innovation provides the opportunity to create competitive advantage and to raise the profile of the North East on an international scale. Both the North East Independent Economic Review and the North East Strategic Economic Plan highlighted the importance of making the North East an exemplar in smart specialisation and open innovation in

creating more and better jobs. The five projects that the Growth Deal will support are an essential part of this, and will accelerate technological advances in key industries. The projects are: • Newcastle Life Sciences Incubation Hub - £5.6m new facilities for early stage company development • NETPark infrastructure phase 3 - £6.8m to open up land at NETPark for commercial development • Low Carbon Energy Centre - £2.8m low carbon energy centre at Science Central site • Sunderland Enterprise and Innovation Hub – £3.5m development of an enterprise and innovation hub, including the first FabLab in the North East • Centre for Innovation and Formulation - £7.4m creating a centre of excellence for formulated products and process design The North East Strategic Economic Plan demonstrated the essential role skills plays in driving forward long term economic growth. It set out a number of proposals to tackle the skills gap and improve educational attainment, including a

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North East schools challenge. Through the Growth Deal the government has made a commitment to work with us to design and deliver a school led North East schools challenge that will bring greater equality to education across the North East, closing the attainment gap and improving young people’s prospects. In particular the model will focus on involving businesses and the community to ensure an inclusive approach to raising aspirations through industry knowledge of opportunity and prospects.

In addition there is a £22m package of investment for a number of capital projects that will increase skills levels in key sectors. These are: • Tyne Met College - support for vocational training to support engineering and manufacturing • South Tyneside College - support for current and future skills needs in the marine and offshore sector • East Durham College - focus on improving science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) based skills • Newcastle College - investment in skills and training around low carbon technologies • Port of Blyth - funding to develop training facilities for offshore and wind energy Paul Woolston, Chair said: “The North East Growth Deal marks the beginning of an exciting journey and brings to life a substantial number of projects that form part of the North East Strategic Economic Plan.

“As the recent employment stats show how economic growth in the North East is starting to gain momentum and the £290m Growth Deal will help accelerate this further creating more and better jobs and acting as a catalyst for further investment.

“I’m looking forward to working with our partners and local businesses to deliver a real change to the economic growth of the North East.”

For more information on the North East Growth Deal visit www.nelep.co.uk, email info@nelep.co.uk or follow @northeastlep

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

MOTORING

SUMMER 14

AFTERNOON DELIGHT Simon Dunstan, Managing Director of Newcastle-based Plus Three architecture, takes his young son for a spin in Porsche’s brand new offering – and winds up feeling like a child himself

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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SUMMER 14

Let me declare a bit of a conflict before I start.

I’m a real Porsche fan and up until a few years ago was the proud owner of a beautiful, space grey 911 Carrera 2. My 10-year-old son still hasn’t forgiven me for getting rid of it but as I have pointed out on numerous occasions, I did so because he has a sister, mother and now a dog and as every 911 owner will tell you, five doesn’t go into four no matter how much you want it to. So you can imagine my joy when BQ Magazine asked if I would like to test drive the brand new Porsche Cayman S – the hard-topped, mid-engined, 2-seater that is reputedly a better drivers’ car than the 911.

As an architect, I have learned to design buildings that meet the three virtues of good design: firmness, commodity and delight – which in car parlance roughly translates as how it is engineered, how it meets the needs

of the driver and finally, how it makes you feel. Not surprisingly, this new model doesn’t disappoint on any front. Whilst red would never be my first colour choice, there is no doubt that it is stunning when combined with carbon grey alloy wheels and black vent reveals. There’s no doubt either that the recent revisions to the Cayman body have been a success, giving it broader shoulders, tighter lines and a more dynamic stance. It’s now much more of a younger sibling to the 911 than the slightly ‘pull-me, push-me’ look of the previous model which was modelled on the original Boxster.

Sitting behind the wheel is a reminder that Porsche have been making beautifully engineered cars for over 50 years. The ergonomics feel almost perfect and whoever designed this clearly understands the human

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MOTORING

form. The cossetting leather seat is set low and the alcantara steering wheel feels soft to touch. The central, 3-dial binnacle is clearly visible through the wheel with the analogue rev counter taking central stage – a reminder that this is first and foremost a sports car. Fit and finish is flawless as you would expect, with swathes of leather and aluminium detailing contributing to a cool and calming ambience. There are even two modest boots – one at the front and one at the back – albeit neither could accommodate a set of golf clubs.

A swift turn of the delightful car-shaped key (seriously!) raises the 3.4 litre engine from its rest. A menacing growl emanates from just behind your head before settling down to a gentle purr. Engage drive (this car is equipped with the double-clutch PDK semi-automatic gearbox) and the car pulls away gently >>

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

XXXXXXX MOTORING

SUMMER SUMMER 14 14

and quietly. The ride is firm without being hard and the car is entirely at ease in city centre traffic – belying its 315bhp and highlighting just how versatile the modern sports car has become. Out on the open road the car comes alive. Engage sports mode and the car hunkers down ready to go. Acceleration across the rev range is unremitting, and beyond 4000rpm the experience is nothing short of visceral with a soundtrack that is like a cross between a chainsaw and a jet engine. The car does not even need to get out of second gear to reach the motorway speed limit but acceleration is delivered in a controlled way and with the benefit of a host of safety options for those of a nervous disposition.

So this car delivers on the firmness and commodity criteria but what about delight – how did it make me feel? Yes, I got lots of looks (some good, some not so good – Porsche is still a ‘marmite’ brand) but this is a sports car not a status symbol. ‘Alive’, ‘excited’, ‘thrilled’ and ‘like a child’ – is how I felt and that’s no bad thing as I approach my mid-40s. And as for Angus, my son, how did he feel about the car? ‘It’s perfect for us’ he said. ‘I can sit in the front with you, Mum can go in the rear boot and Olivia (his sister) can go in the front boot.’ Maybe this is a family car after all! n The car Simon drove was Porsche Cayman S, on the road price £60,767.98 and was supplied by Porsche Centre Newcastle, Silverlink Park, Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE28 9ND. Tel 0191 295 1234

The experience is visceral – the soundtrack is like a cross between a chainsaw and a jet engine

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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10/07/2014 15:21

ELSWORTH ON WINE

SUMMER 14

A BIT OF A LEG MAN Dominic Elsworth, Head of Practice at patent and trademark attorneys Hargreaves Elsworth, is seduced by the charms of a Spanish beauty and a bubbly Italian Late one Friday afternoon I receive a phone call from Heather Spacey of BQ. To my surprise I am asked if I would review two wines for BQ magazine. Does this mean I am important, or that there is no other mug willing to write 500 words about two bottles of wine?

When the wines arrived in the office I could not have been happier, a heavy red and a bottle of fizz. My favourites.

The red was a Rioja, Cune Rioja Reserva 2009.

The fizz, a Berlucchi Cuvée Imperiale NV. I am not a wine connoisseur but I do like the odd glass. My first introduction to the study of wine was as a 20 year old when my older brother gave me a book called “Vin Rude”.

From this I learned that a decent red should have good “legs”. Recently, what I have learned about wine has been from reading Peter Mayle books (A Good Year, Vintage Caper, etc) and an excellent wine appreciation course put on by Majestic.

THE RED WAS A RIOJA, CUNE RESERVA RIOJA 2009.

The Cune Reserva Rioja 2009 certainly had “legs” and went extremely well with the 28 day hung Aberdeen Angus fillet steak. I am not sure about the nuances of warm leather

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

mentioned in the tasting notes (I always think of leather as perfect for shoes), but this is just the sort of red wine I like. Plenty of body, lingers on the palate, but not quite as heavy as claret. You could enjoy this with or without food, but food definitely brings out some flavours that are otherwise missed.

THE FIZZ, A BERLUCCHI CUVÉE IMPERIALE NV. One might think that the sparkling Berlucchi Cuvée Imperiale NV would have nothing in common with the Rioja. Yes, it is a crisp sparkling white, from the Lombardy region of Italy, not a heavy red from Spain, but look at the grapes, Chardonny and Pinot Noir, so as the French would say, a “Blanc de noir”.

This made me think back to my days at the European Patent Office examining patent applications for wine making equipment.

The white wine used in sparkling wines and champagne comes from the premier pressage of the black Pinot Noir grapes.

We (that is my wife Alice and I) drank the Berlucchi both with and without food (supper was a bacon and broad bean salad). It was very drinkable in both situations. The Pinot Noir in the blend just gives the wine a bit of body.

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The perfect occassion for drinking the Berlucchi would be on a sunny afternoon at the races.

If I am lucky I will manage a day at the Ebor meeting in August. Perhaps the Champagne bar will be serving it? n Franciacorta Berlucchi: £14.99 down from £22.49 Cune Reserva Rioja: £9.99 down from £14.99. Wine supplied by Majestic Wine Warehouse, Gosforth.

SUMMER 14

COMPANY PROFILE

Wind power gives North East fabricator a 300% sales boost The growth in the UK offshore wind market is helping a South Shields manufacturer triple its turnover in just twelve months Complete Fabrication Services (CFS), which has been supported by the GROW:OffshoreWind programme delivered by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), has seen sales rocket from £1.1m in mid 2013 to an anticipated £3.5m haul by the end of this year, creating an additional ten jobs in the process.

The growth has been driven by the company’s ability to take on larger products and successfully securing full class welding approval, two enhancements to its service that has resulted in a string of new contracts to supply cable carousels, cable reel and deck grillages. It is now turning its attention to creating a centralised 10,000 sq ft factory, which will give it the necessary capacity to grow and take on even bigger fabrication structures. At £1m this is a major investment

by CFS and one that is being made possible by a £300,000+ grant from GROW:OffshoreWind’s Flexible Enabling Funding.

“A significant amount of our work is bespoke and this suits companies supplying or working in the offshore wind sector,” explained Darren Carlisle, Managing Director.

“We took a long hard look at our business two years ago and decided to invest in people and in automation, blending the two together to provide a range of solutions that are cost effective, offer excellent quality and can be adapted to different market requirements.”

He continued: “Currently we are based over three units and need to bring it all together in one dedicated facility to increase our capacity and productivity. The good news is we’ve found the ideal location with view to making the move in September.”

from left, Chris Hylton (MAS), Darren Carlisle (CFS) and Alan Whittaker (MAS) Complete Fabrication Services, which currently employs 26 people, has received extensive support from MAS, receiving strategic and financial assistance on managing growth and improving processes. The latest help has seen Manufacturing Advisors Alan Whittaker and Chris Hylton work with the management team on preparing an application for Flexible Enabling Funding from the GROW:OffshoreWind programme.

This work included preparing the submission to demonstrate justification for expansion, business benefits and how the money will be spent.

“The £300,000 grant is going to be absolutely critical for us and is speeding up the relocation by at least six months…if not longer, “ continued Darren, who bought the business nine years ago as a one-man operation.

“Using experts like Alan and Chris made it a painless process and left us free to concentrate on important day-to-day activities that keep our business moving forward.”

He continued: “We’ll need to spend £1m to make the move and then ensure new machinery is installed and the factory layout is fit for purpose, offering us the most efficient production lines.”

The £300,000 grant is going to be absolutely critical for us and is speeding up the relocation by at least six months…if not longer DARREN CARLISLE, COMPLETE FABRICATION SERVICES

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MAS’ Alan Whittaker is heading up the GROW:OffshoreWind offer in the North East.

“The growth in opportunities to supply into the offshore renewables sector has transformed the fortunes of Complete Fabrication Services and, encouragingly, it is seizing the opportunity with both hands.

“The firm has recognised where the potential is and what it needs to do to get there and I’m delighted we’ve been able to secure funding to make the relocation possible. At over £300,000 this is one of the biggest grants given out so far

by GROW.” Complete Fabrication Services supply in excess of 50% of its current turnover into customers involved in offshore renewables, with its other clients operating in automotive, food and beverage, petrochemical and pharma. If the business plan is realised, the company is expecting to hit £5m sales by 2016 and will be employing nearly 50 people.

Find out more by visiting www.growoffshorewind.com/www.mymas.org.

Details on CFS can be found at www.compfabs. co.uk or by contacting 0191 489 7156.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

FASHION BIRTH OF THE COOL

He is adjusting the collar on a shirt – navy or maybe black, with white buttons. More unexpectedly, he is wearing an Alpine-style hat, high, narrow-brimmed, with badges. What would look comical on anyone else looks effortlessly right on him. But then this 1956 black and white photo is of saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, looking into a dressing-room mirror. He’s a cool dude in a cool era.

What is perhaps stranger is where that dressing room is: not in one of the high fashion hubs of London or Paris, not Milan or even New York – but in a small, side-street store in Cambridge. And that’s Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Here was found Charlie Davidson’s The Andover Shop. It was here where Ivy League style took hold, where the WASPish undergraduates of Harvard, Princeton or Columbia developed a none too formal, nor too casual style of dress that would arguably become the lynchpin for western male sartorial standards for the next half century and more: crisp white button-down Oxford shirts and army surplus khakis, saddle shoes and penny loafers, hopsack blazers and flannel trousers, knit and rep ties and shawl-collar cardigans.

It was, defiantly, the look of good grooming, privilege and money.

It was defiantly white. That worked for Mulligan. But then what would fellow jazz maestro Miles Davis also be doing there, in everything – background, race, culture – an outsider? Or John Coltrane? They were, in the words of Roy Haynes, also a visitor, just picking up the “slickest shit out”.

Jazz has long been associated with ideas of cool – a cool that is not just this week’s fashion

Chet Baker

The laid-back and effortlessly stylish look pioneered by the jazz greats began life in a side-street store, writes Josh Sims

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Jazz has long been associated with ideas of cool, and a cool that is not just this week’s fashion, but which comes from the core, that grows out of living apart from the mainstream, from going one’s own way – it’s the cool of a James Dean, Steve McQueen or Cary Grant, sometimes imagined, sometimes projected (“Everybody wants to be Cary Grant,” noted Cary Grant. “Even I want to be Cary Grant”) but often innate. Certainly, the great players of jazz from the 1950s to 1960s – chiming with post-war prosperity, the birth of the teenager, the civil rights movement and the spread of TV as a mass media – effectively invented the modern idea of cool that would later inform the performances and personae of Dean, McQueen et al.

It was Capitol Records that, in the year before Mulligan’s snap, helped popularise the term with its album ‘Classics in Jazz: Cool and Quiet’, Davis underscoring the ineffable definition of this ever-so-desirable state of being with his seminal ‘Birth of the Cool’ compilation in 1957. By association with its performers,

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FASHION Miles Davis

and their performances – in smoky, ill-lit, intimate late night venues, immortalised in evocative monochrome photography – ‘cool’ came to be associated with the idea of a nonchalant manner and effortless style, as much in playing as in posing. More than any record label before or since, the visual style of Blue Note in particular – boldly typographic, modernistic, unexpected and unmistakable, and perhaps the first to match the artfulness of sleeve design to that of the music – drove this home. Its most striking aspect, its colour-wash, stained glass effect appropriately gave its subjects the power of saint-like iconography.

But the clothes had to match, in part to sell the complexity of the music. And what better way for a sound that was radical than duds that also cut against the grain – by appropriating the uniform of the conservative, by undercutting the US national power-broking tribe much as Teddy Boys were doing in the UK, taking the style of one’s betters and, well, making it better? The

result was more than a gravitational pull for pioneering jazzmen to the east coast caucasian enclave, and this one little shop of collars, cuffs and clubhouse rules. It was, appropriately enough, the meeting of dissonant notes, of the establishment and the experimental, the square and the hip, to create as much a new aesthetic of style as of sound.

Yes, the style-seeking jazzmen were building on the shoulders of swing and bebop giants – Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were none too sloppy with their wardrobes either. Billy Eckstine - whose big band extraordinarily hot-housed the talents of Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis among others – even designed and wore his own collar shape, the ‘Mr. B’, a high-roll collar that (with some imagination) formed a ‘B’ shape over a Windsor-knot. But the simplicity of the newly-adopted and twisted Ivy style perhaps only made the post-trad music feel all the more avant-garde. >>

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FASHION

Gerry Mulligan

And the music came first. Far from being unpracticed, unnatural wonders with their instruments, the likes of Davis and Coltrane, Mulligan and Haynes, as well as Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, J.J. Johnson, Paul Desmond and other dedicated musicians of the period, had given recitals since childhood – and for these they were expected to dress presentably, which back then meant like their parents, as adultsbefore-their-time, in scaled down takes on the era’s wide-shouldered, peak-collared suiting. It was a habit that stuck, as visits to The Andover Shop – or the likes of J.Press, as favoured by Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records – would refine. What these jazz masters wore, often as signatures, consequently attained an unexpected hispster credibility: Dizzy Gillespie’s doublebreasted pinstripes, goatee, black hornrimmed glasses and beret; Stan Getz’s dark Italian suits and skinny ties; Lester Young’s tilted pork-pie hat; Thelonius Monk, with his outsized specs and beret too... Oh how they loved a hat, belonging to a period when any self-respecting man about town would risk social opprobrium to go about without one, even if in not so studiedly unstudied a way.

Then there was Miles Davis. It was Davis – searching for a look to announce his cleaned-up comeback – who made the clarion call to this definitive, artsy, neo-con jazz dress when, in 1954, the Wynton aptly-named jazz promoter Charles Marsalis Bourgeois took him to the Cambridge haberdasher to find what he would call Davis’ “costume”. The trumpet player left having put the I back into Ivy, with his own distinctive blend of soft-shouldered, narrow-lapeled tweeds and madras jackets, blindingly-white button-downs, flannels and Bass Weejuns.

The following year, playing the Newport Jazz Festival, he took to the stage in a custom-made, side-vented seersucker sack coat, club-collared shirt and a bow-tie. Described thus, he could have looked like a pre-war door-to-door salesman, stiff and falsely smiling. He looked anything but. He looked like a man of tomorrow. Six years later, in fact, he was being hailed by ‘Esquire’ as a model of style for his bespoke suits, made by Emsley in New

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York and costing him a whopping $185 a pop. Bourgeois similarly overhauled Chet Baker - who, as the promoter would put it, “arrived from California dressed like a ragamuffin”, also in 1954 - and again at the same store. In 1958 the cover of ‘Chet Baker in New York’ – note the title, pointedly east coast, against the bohemian and badly-dressed west coast Duke – had him in rep tie, white button-down Ellington and navy blazer, his hair slicked back.

We’re decidedly not in Baker’s hometown of Yale, Oklahoma anymore – more Yale, Connecticut, home of the elite training ground of American blue-bloods.

Later Baker would adopt a trademark minimalistic dark suit and white t-shirt – at a time when tailoring played only to the accompaniment of shirt and tie.

Like all moments in style this great era of jazz cool was, of course, set to pass – not least because the jazzmen’s way with a button-hole, tie-pin or pleat, just so, would enter the dress vernacular. It would become, superficially at least, the norm.

They moved with fashion too, so that by the 1960s Davis, for one – how the great had fallen - preferred kick flares and fey neck-scarves. And, naturally enough, they got older and their outlook changed.

Maybe, as the world grew ever more obsessed with image, at the expense of content, these maestros felt less and less like dressing the part.

The legacy lingered, with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, who in the 1980s rocked 40s elegance when everyone else was rolling their jacket sleeves and forgetting to put on socks. And, as the fashion business has acknowledged, it lingers in jazzland even today: among the notables, David Sanchez – who’s modelled for Banana Republic, Joshua Redman – who’s modelled for Donna Karan, and Greg Osby - who chiefly just models his own vintage fedora but, like Mulligan with that Bavarian number, just looks straight-from-the-fridge dad. But, the music aside, the greatest legacy goes beyond jazz. Jazz’s lifting and re-energising of Ivy style gave men a model of cool that is timeless. It is for less well-dressed men to, as Charles Mingus had it, look to its golden era of style and “sing their praises while stealing their phrases”. n

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EQUIPMENT

GRAND DESIGNS Car manufacturer Ford’s executive design director Martin Smith talks about the challenges and rewards of turning his boyhood dream into a lifelong career >>

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EQUIPMENT

Martin Smith counts many objects in his repertoire of things that inspire him: his vintage Omega watches, an original Bertone car model which he keeps on his desk, a couple of massive hand-guns (“it often raises eyebrows when I say that, but where I live in Germany sport shooting is quite common”) and his bespoke loafers, which he designed himself. “But they only took 10 minutes to design, even though it’s nice to have anything to your own specification,” he notes.

Of the objects, it is the Bertone model that is perhaps most revealing – because Smith himself is a car designer, more specifically the executive design director of Ford, for Europe and Asia Pacific, where this year he celebrates his tenth year at

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the car giant. Indeed, not just any car designer, Smith can claim to be the designer of the world’s best-selling car – the Focus.

That also happens to be the best-selling car in the world’s fastest-growing new car market – China.

“Some boys are into planes or trains. For me it was always cars. I always wanted to be a car designer,” says the man who, still in short trousers, wrote to the Mini maestro Alec Issigonis requesting some tips on how to get into the job. “But it’s certainly gratifying when you can work at your hobby, especially when someone else is prepared to put up $1bn to put your design into production and you can then actually drive it around.”

Not that Smith’s success comes through simply doing what he wants – and this despite his greatest hits including the likes of the Audi Quattro and Audi TT. One thing he has learned over his career – which began with Porsche just over 40 years ago, before heading both the external and then the interior design studios for Audi, and then overseeing design for Opel and Vauxhall before being lured away by Ford – is exactly what his job is.

“And that isn’t necessarily to design something I like but something that is right for the company,” says the Sheffield-born Briton, who is credited with giving Ford its so-called ‘kinetic design’ philosophy – one that helped, through introducing a more complex surface

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Some people buy a car like they buy a refrigerator. I buy a refrigerator as I would a car. I assume it will keep things cold – but I want it to look good architecture, transform a maker of often rather dull cars into one of much more dynamic, energised ones.

“I think cars just happen to be the most complex piece of industrial design there is – as well as the necessities to be safe and functional, it has to look good too,” he adds.

“The fact is that people subconsciously expect aspects of a car design, like safety, to be there. What they really respond to is the sense of the driving experience being reflected in the way it looks. You have to express to them the car’s capabilities in those looks.

Today any car has to exude that it is a quality piece of work. The customer wants gorgeousness. Well, at least some people do. Of course some people buy a car like they buy a refrigerator. I buy a refrigerator as I would a car – I assume it will keep >>

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EQUIPMENT

things cold, but I want it to look good.”

Smith says, smiling, that he just happens to like all the cars he has designed. But getting that balancing of style and functionality is, he admits, no easy trick. Car design has become an ever more complex business too. While, when he began his career, cars were developed using sketchpads and clay modelling, now to these have been added the tools of computer-aided design and illustration – “not that this doesn’t mean car design cannot still be artistic,” he adds. “People often tend to think you press a button and a car design is produced, which definitely isn’t the case.”

Technology has also changed what cars actually are: and, Smith says, the advent of new technologies, from the voice control systems already on the market to the retina controls to come, from changes in power plants and materials that will allow vehicles to be lighter, tougher, more efficient, “will radically change the way the typical car looks, both for its interior and the exterior.

But I’ve no idea what exactly that look will be. Not yet.” Presumably two of Smith’s latest designs – the Edge concept, an upscale, more sleek take on the SUV, and the first-of-its-kind C-Max Solar Energi concept, with a solar panel roof with a concentrator lens that provides 30km of sun-powered driving a day – at least hint at the future. If, that is, customers buy into the ideas. Certainly customer higher expectations have transformed the market during Smith’s time in the business too, whether that be for the way super-cars are built and sold, or volume producers like Ford. Customers, in fact, are what drive

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the market. And the customer is ever more vocal, with an opinion that needs to be taken into consideration with each new iteration of a model.

“The latest Focus, for example, responded to a lot of points raised by consumers about the design - that the front end was too busy, or the lights too large,” Smith says.

“People get very emotional about car design, which is good because we’re always trying to add more emotion into a car design. People actually write in to tell us what they want. Of course, we don’t just listen to one guy in the street who tells you he thinks your car is ugly. But we do have to listen to a groundswell of opinion over several years.”

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Indeed, those changing demands have affected the way the industry operates at all levels: witness Ford pushing on with its Vignale concept, essentially an upgrading of the materials, presentation and sales environment of its cars that aims to put it more on a par with much more expensive vehicles. “The difference is that in my work we still have to work within a budget that allows us to produce cars in major plants, that sell all over the world and do so at a good price,” says Smith. “They don’t have quite the same problems at Rolls Royce. But I don’t mind. In fact, I love the challenge of designing mass production cars. In my job even a commercial vehicle gets a lot of attention - even that has to look good.” n

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COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 14

Constructing a strong foundation on which to build In today’s highly competitive market, Managing Director of Gentoo Construction, Allan Thompson explains how being an Art of Living business differentiates Gentoo Construction from the rest of the industry.

Gentoo Construction is growing from strength to strength as a leading contractor in the North East and Yorkshire and stands as a new breed of construction company. The company has a commitment to making a positive impact on people, planet and property alongside a range of traditional and specialised services. These include new build, refurbishment, asbestos, sustainable solutions and supported living facilities for both residential and commercial properties across many sectors including health, care and education.

What is an Art of Living construction business?

This encompasses the thought process behind what we build, who we build it with and how we build it.

This means using more efficient and sustainable building techniques, investing in new innovations and ensuring we think about protecting resources for future generations. This includes involving communities, getting children engaged and enthused about the built environment and also investing in and caring about the health and wellbeing of our team.

We can also prove through our social accounting process that for every £1 invested with Gentoo Construction we can forecast an estimated social return of £2.74, highlighting the added value of working with us.

So why do we do it?

Giving back to society is important to us. As part of Gentoo Group, our mission is to ‘generate wealth by improving the lives of our customers and re-invest it through passionate people to create a

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A community event on a Gentoo Construction site in Durham building the new HQ for the Durham Diocese. The event celebrated the laying of a Foundation Stone that Gentoo Construction donated and local school children buried a time capsule, attended by the Bishop of Durham.

climate for personal and collective opportunity.’

We have won national awards that showcase the diverse ways in which our people achieve this including Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2014 1st Place, Sunday Times 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work for 2014 and BITC National Big Tick Workwell Engagement and Wellbeing Award 2014.

As a construction business we translate these values through winning highly accredited industry awards. Accolades include MCS accreditation; ARCA accreditation; retaining the RoSPA Gold Award since 2009; Considerate Constructors Silver Awards; several Constructing Excellence and RICS awards and recognition of our innovation in building the first and largest residential development of Passivhaus in the UK. From new and repeat contract wins ranging between £1m to £12m and from as far north as Berwick down to Yorkshire, we are proving our credentials to new, existing and potential clients every day. Our attitude to any project is ‘if you

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want it, we can do it.’ Whether this be through financial solutions, safety issues, recruiting local labour or community engagement, the diverse workforce we nurture and train ensure we can deliver on all levels.

We can also prove through our social accounting process that for every £1 invested with Gentoo Construction we can forecast an estimated social return of £2.74, highlighting the added value of working with us.

A sustainable approach to construction One of our most recent and exciting contract wins to date is a £9m contract from Carlillion-Igloo to build 76 new low-energy homes in the Ouseburn Valley. The first of at least four phases, this development is delivering around 250 homes, offices, leisure and retail accommodation and is a truly spectacular regeneration project in Newcastle. The stand out factor that enabled us to secure this contract was our expertise and experience in low carbon refurbishment and

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COMPANY PROFILE

ACHIEVING TARGETS A great example of how we are achieving HCA targets is on The Malings site. As this current phase comes to an end we can already see the impact we’ve had on the area: •50% of all labour used on site came from a NE postcode •49 children have been engaged with the site including site visits and health and safety talks •7 Gentoo apprentices undertook NVQ Level 2 qualification on this site •2 work experience opportunities have been provided including a French student •Provided 1 career opportunity for someone who had been unemployed for less than six months

sustainable solutions.

For us sustainability is not just about offering low carbon construction and bespoke PV solutions, but generating a sustainable supply chain. We still operate 30 day payment terms with our suppliers and deliver extra value that comes from being part of Gentoo including volunteering and wellbeing activities and events. To ensure consistency and high service levels we ask our supply chain partners to comply with our code of conduct and mirror our values in return.

One ask of our supply chain is to work with us to maximise the social return on the programme, working to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) targets where required. We have adopted an employment and skills matrix to bring added value to all our contracts and demonstrate the difference we bring to the community in which we work. To do this we need our supply chain and subcontractors to buy into our values and help us deliver this, and our responsibility is therefore to provide them with the support they need to do this.

I know from my own experience of talking to different people, that there is a misconceived perception that Gentoo Construction just deliver housing association refurbs. This is certainly not the case! We deliver a wide range of contract activity to a diverse client base and each contract receives our full Art of Living customer offer.

Our approach is founded on client choice. It’s all about how they want to work with us, our job is to

An unveiling ceremony in Berwick to showcase the community hoardings, in partnership with Four Housing.

Gentoo Construction entered the site into the Ivor Goodsite hoardings competition from Considerate Constructors which saw local community groups, schools and even the emergency services get involved to decorate.

complete the project with an expert team, on time and in budget.

Through awards, reputation, contract wins, client feedback and a strong customer focus, we are continuing to show that we are now so much more than a social housing provider. In fact we are harnessing the experience of working within the social housing and affordable housing sector to our advantage. Understanding the demands and requirements for the build as well as a long history of tenancy engagement and after care services, only increases our offer to customers.

These now include: •Refurbishment – residential and commercial •New build – residential and commercial •Asbestos – commercial •Sustainable solutions – PV residential and commercial •Supported living facilities for elderly and various care dependencies Of course we still operate with the basics of any other construction company in that we have turnover targets to reach but the key thing for us is that we deliver on so much more than just reaching that target.

My view is that if we concentrate on supporting sustainable communities, leadership and culture, working with our supply chain, innovation, staff wellbeing and a big push on customer focus, our turnover targets should pretty much take care of themselves.

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Allan Thompson

Of course we still operate with the basics of any other construction company in that we have turnover targets to reach but the key thing for us is that we deliver on so much more than just reaching that target.

Allan Thompson MD of Gentoo Construction Tel: 0191 525 5110 Web: gentoogroup.com Email: construction@gentoogroup.com Twitter: @gentoogroup

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ENTREPRENEUR

SUMMER 14

CHARLES’S FUTURE IS A PERFECT FIT

Few retailers have had it tougher recently than shoe sellers. Charles Clinkard has not only passed the test and measured up well to the multiples, but is now preparing to take the next big step with the famous family business of his name. Brian Nicholls reports

The downside of declaring you’re 90 years old is usually a riposte along the lines of “you don’t look a day over 75.” Charles Clinkard, at 48, gets the joke. His company of that ilk and age has every reason to keep him smiling.

His staff live with it too. One otherwise gentle lady in Keswick branch, who’s only 68, asked the area manager to be excused from wearing the firm’s badge with a big “90” on. “If someone wishes me happy birthday one more time,” she said, “I’ll stick the badge where the sun doesn’t shine!” Charles, naturally, empathises. The 90th year, otherwise, is going brilliantly, with history repeating.

When Charles’s grandparents Charles and Eveline set up the footwear business in 1924, that gruelling post-war year was inching towards Depression. And recently like them, Charles too has had to drive business through tough retail times. His skill in doing so has won him a regional award.

What was once a solitary shop in Middlesbrough, is now 33 stores and factory outlets – eight in the North East – plus online and wholesale operations run from headquarters at Preston Farm Business Park, Eaglescliffe. Shoe prices range from £375 a pair (Church’s) to £50 (Clark’s). Charles confirms that with shoes you get what you pay for. His elegant tan brogues worn this day with smart denims, are four years old, though he also has a pair at home 25 years old and good

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as day one. If a £1.3m gain on annual turnover of £34m seems modest it illustrates how, even for a well run medium size company, shoe selling is no lottery winner. The profit would have been higher had the company decided, unwisely, against investing in a new end to end computer system. That not only cost the initial £900,000 but also further costs from inconvenience during installation.

Warehouse management, merchandising, stock, accounts and office administration through to the tills were all revolutionised, but only one person had to be brought in, and only a few niggles arose under the BT Expedite overhaul. Only the web remained outside that.

“Visualsoft, a local firm, do a great job for us.

They integrated that and it’s worked very well.”

In company culture, tradition prevails. “The business has a lot of heritage, and we haven’t changed a great deal in core values,” Charles

states. “We still offer quality branded shoes and, we like to think, high levels of service, whereas high street service today has changed a lot. In some multiple businesses, frankly, you don’t get service. We don’t get it right always, but mostly we do. That’s a very important asset. We deliver on that 99%.

“Passion and culture here differs from that in many multiples,” he adds. “I love what I do, as my grandparents did.” Staff loyalty makes a big contribution. “We’ve 560 staff, over 60 of them with more than 20 years’ service.”

Charles himself may be seen at any time buying, stock checking and merchandising, for as he says: “Unless you know what’s going on at the coalface, and listen to what your customers and your staff are saying, you’ll miss important information. If there’s a customer complaint, I’ll deal with it. I maybe sell on the shopfloor a couple of times a year. But I >>

We still offer quality branded shoes and, we like to think, high levels of service, whereas high street service has changed a lot. In some multiple businesses, frankly, you don’t get service. We don’t get it right always, but mostly we do

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ENTREPRENEUR enjoy being there, and I get round all branches at least once a year. I’m in some regularly.

Northallerton’s on my doorstep. Newcastle, I go to regularly, since that’s our biggest store.”

This coalface patrol probably explains a stream of other awards, for example: 2002 – the business is named Best Footwear Retailer of the Year and Best Family Store at the Emap Fashion Awards, ahead of 10 other firms.

2004 – at the National Footwear Awards, Best Family Store and praise for the “dedication of staff and their passion for the business”.

2012 – the store is named Best Multiple Retailer at the Footwear Industry Awards.

2013 – Charles is named Personality of the Year at the Footwear Industry Awards.

Shoe selling, even so, has been challenging in recession. Have the awards helped? “I think they recognise what we do and have achieved.

They’re nice to win. But commercial success would be difficult to quantify. Fortunately shoes are a necessity. People have been very cautious in shopping generally, however, spending less freely, and a lot of big names have disappeared.”

Barratts, he points out, failed a third time last year and may finally have gone this time though the name has been bought. Faith Shoes went. British Shoes went. “Stead and Simpson was another household name that went. They had a small group of independents, a passion of the then chief executive, David

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Clinkard: Enterprise in an earlier age

Lockyer. “Twelve of them were either retiring or wanted to sell up. When opportunity arose to take them out of the equation we did. Two have gone because their locations deteriorated.

But the other 10 contribute very well for us.”

While volumes declined over three years,

A skill forsaken About 90% of shoes Clinkard sells are made abroad. “Shoes are still made in this country, but not a lot,” he explains. “When my grandparents started, probably everything was made in the UK. Now there’s Church’s, Crockett & Jones, some Loakes, some Barkers. Often shoes marked ‘made in England’ actually have uppers cut and stitched in India, then are flat packed to be put on a factory last for finishing in this country. We’re not in that trade.”

Clinkard buys nothing directly from China either, though some branded suppliers have product made there. “Most of our product is sourced out of Europe: mainly Spain, Italy, Germany. A lot of the factories are in Slovakia and Romania. We have a bit of product out of India also, where Bata remains one of the biggest footwear businesses.”

Ebac at Newton Aycliffe plans to build British washing machines again, and AMA Group at Peterlee is bringing clothing manufacturing back also. Could shoemaking be invigorated, if only at its traditional home in Northampton?

The biggest obstacle Charles sees is the loss of a skilled workforce. “It’s not straightforward, cutting uppers. Skills would have to be imported while people are trained. It’s still very labour intensive at some factories in Portugal, Spain and Italy. A man’s welted shoe involves over 260 processes.”

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Charles Clinkard maintained margins. How? Partly by following Next’s example. “Simon Wolfson there is a superb retailer,” Charles declares. “Next doesn’t go into sale beyond normal sale trade periods. We try to follow that. However, because of the internet’s growth and other market effects, it’s very competitive and occasionally you have to promote on line.”

Clinkard believes high streets have a future if they offer shoppers a good mix of retail.

“Large multiples once they come in, like Primark which has grown very quickly, tend to dominate. Their prices are good, and they offer a broad spectrum of fashion product.

But people want other interesting shops. High streets without independents bore.

“We’re a smaller independent and it’s not a level playing field with big multiples. Margins on products we sell are much less than they can operate on. They’ve buying power. Clout.

A lot dictate terms. We can’t do that.”

His business has mixed locations – “high street, shopping centre, out of town retail and factory outlets. The high street remains very important in all that,” he affirms. At Shrewsbury, >>

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ENTREPRENEUR the most recent opening, multiples don’t dominate. There’s a good ABC1 catchment.

It’s abundant with Clinkard’s core customers too: 50-plus, with high disposable income, all wanting service, quality product and knowing they’ll be looked after on return. “However, you can’t be all things to all people,” Charles admits. “With children, we’re strong up to early teens then we lose them as they think we’re old fashioned. I understand that – Mum, Dad and grandparents often shop there!”

However, there’s good business also in less affluent places. Redcar’s losing its Marks & Spencer. “But Redcar’s a good town for us. By having a different mix of product there, half full price and half shop sale, we cater to the consumer. So business is diverse, from Redcar where demographics are not fantastic to the much more affluent York or Northallerton.

You change the product range accordingly.

Be flexible and understand your consumer, or you’re finished.”One of his trading trumps turned up on a squash court. He was thumping walls with Ken Campling (then finance director of Williams Music). As Charles recalls: “He said, ‘Clink, you should be online. I’m doing £1m of musical instruments online.’ We became one of the first independents in shoes online.”

First year’s online sales (2004) totalled 250,000 pairs of shoes. Second year, they doubled to half a million. Now online sales, all handled from Eaglescliffe, exceed 6m. “We mirrored our stores,” Charles says. “We offered high service delivery, and someone to speak with for advice or to exchange emails with. We now deliver 99% of product within two days.”

About 90% of online is for the UK and, bliss, is largely in areas distant from a Clinkard retail outlet. “Some 25% come from London. We haven’t a shop within the M25,” Charles beams. “Before returning to this business 25 years ago, I worked for five years in London with the UK division of Bally. It was challenging to get good employees there even then.

“I think many businesses trade in central London more as a marketing tool. Big brands will make money. But going into London would be prohibitive for us since we’re not a brand in our own right. While well known in the North East, we’re seen beyond as a firm that sells other branded footwear. People often confuse us with Clarks. I understand that.”

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

SUMMER 14

Commercial pressures pinch beyond London too. Last year the branch at Trafford Centre, Manchester was closed – “one of our biggest shops,” Charles admits. “Rental there was crazy. We couldn’t make it pay with the terms we were on so we came out.” Competition is intensifying online too. “But we’re getting 15% of our turnover online and would like to get that above 20%.” There’s also a Charles Clinkard wholesale operation – Intershoe, which Charles’s father started in 1969. Charles

recalls: “He imported sealskin boots – a great success for about five years. Then sales died almost overnight because of the ‘antis’. The business was reignited in 1984 with Elefanten, a children’s brand, Gabor, a ladies’ brand and both German. We still distribute for Gabor in the UK to the likes of John Lewis, Jones the Bootmaker, House of Fraser, Amazon and other good independents. As with clothing, they like to have someone local who knows the market.” n

‘I’m not proud, I’ll walk away’ Charles is now looking for an even bigger site nearby to expand into, expects organic growth but doesn’t exclude acquisition. “However, it would have to stack up for us. If we make a mistake, like Trafford Centre, I’m not proud. I’ll walk away from it.”

If he needs a silent retreat to contemplate it, the Busby hamlets near Stokesley, where he and his wife Alyson live, have a view across the valley from the Cleveland Hills that is quite magnificent.

Charles (educated at Red House School, Norton, and Worksop College) was retail manager with Bally when invited to take executive roles in the family’s business. It had six shops then.

As a boy he’d earned pocket money scrapping boxes and wrapping customers’ buys for his grandparents. He still needed four weeks to convince himself he could both add value to Clinkards and achieve personal potential.

He worked closely with his father Roger for 16 years on his return and says they only fell out twice. “He had a great personality, got on with everyone and had a good eye for a product,” he explains.

His father was the first person ever to win the personality of the year accolade that he himself won later at the Footwear Industry Awards. In 1990 Roger handed over to him as managing director.

He died in 2005, having been a good mentor.

Today a narky knee has ended Charles’s squash networking, but not his gym workouts, or memberships of Middlesbrough rugby and Ganton golf clubs; time, however, permits maybe 10 rounds a year.

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SUMMER 14

COMPANY PROFILE

North East law firm builds up commercial property team NEWCASTLE and Chester le Street-based Gordon Brown Law Firm has seen its commercial property department expand once again with a second appointment in just two months.

32-year-old Gwen Jones took up her new role in May as commercial property solicitor. Gwen – who is originally from Swansea but now lives in County Durham – joins recent recruit Paul Crawley in the commercial property team, which is headed up by Gordon Brown himself.

Gwen began her legal career with Ward Hadaway where she started out as a commercial property paralegal in 2007, and shortly after qualified as a commercial property solicitor in 2011 with Mincoffs Solicitors.

Gwen said: “Since I first caught the commercial property bug, I’ve really enjoyed the variation that the role brings. I’ve been fortunate that I have already gained a wide range of experience in the sector, having dealt with commercial property matters for everything from individuals and local businesses to high street retail chains and financial institutions, and even public sector bodies and charities.

“I love getting to meet new people and working directly with individuals – something Gordon Brown will allow me to continue on a more personal level. The firm’s ambition is something that resonates with my own and I think I’ll be able to learn a lot from the others in what is a close-knit team.

“I feel that my experience has given me a robust, commercially-focused grounding, which I’m looking forward to applying as we seek to grow the team further and look to firmly establish ourselves

Commercial Team

as one of the big hitters in the North East, within the commercial property market.”

Gwen will be specialising in landlord and tenant matters, including lease renewals, assignments, the acquisition and disposal of leasehold and freehold property and all accompanying property finance matters, alongside the team of six that make up the commercial property department at Gordon Brown Law Firm.

Gordon Brown, head of commercial property, said:

I feel that my experience has given me a robust, commerciallyfocused grounding, which I’m looking forward to applying as we seek to grow the team further and look to firmly establish ourselves as one of the big hitters in the North East within the commercial property market

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“Having Gwen join us so soon after we welcomed Paul into the team is another great boost to our service – it’s a really positive sign that we’re attracting the industry’s talented professionals.

“It’s an exciting time for the business in Newcastle where we’re dealing with more of the city’s bigger clients. We have also gained a strong holding from our offering in Chester le Street so we’re covering quite a significant area, which our new faces will be invaluable in supporting over the coming months.”

For further information call 0191 3881778 or visit www.gblf.co.uk

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

IN ANOTHER LIFE

SUMMER 14

Russell Croisdale scores heavily as managing director of a packaging solutions and envelope making firm, but still has days of wishful thinking about crossing the try line once more on a rugby pitch Sport runs through the veins of Russell Croisdale. Managing director of Encore Packaging Solutions and Encore Envelopes, he’s also hooked on rugby – a real fan through and through.

He’s a former back row forward himself who, in another life, might have pursued a fulltime career on the pitch rather than running today a company thriving on the production of bespoke and off-the-shelf envelopes and packaging.

Russell brings many values he learned on the rugby pitch into practice at the Washington, Sunderland, business where he employs more than 250 people. “Rugby develops a team ethic,” he says. “You need to rely on the people around you and work together to win, just as in business.

“I started playing rugby in my home town, Leeds. Back then there were no ‘professionals’, everyone was an amateur and we played for the love of the game. I’d train three days a week which became difficult with two young children.

“But, if someone were to come along

RUSSELL KEEPS TRY-ING tomorrow and ask if I fancied playing full-time again, my heart would definitely say ‘yes’, though,” he adds with a grin, “I’m not sure my legs, or my wife, would agree.

“Rugby builds friendships and has taught me values which I’ve carried into my professional career. There’s respect and camaraderie among players who all understand that after knocking seven bells out of each other on the pitch, we’ll still have a friendly beer together. I’m still friends with many of my former team mates and opponents who, I’ve no doubt, would also

Rugby has played a big part in shaping my career. I was passed over for my first ever job promotion because I refused to change teams – the manager of the buying department chaired the rival rugby team BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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all jump at the chance to play again.

“Rugby has played a big part in shaping my career. In fact, I was passed over for my first ever promotion from picker in a clothing warehouse to buyer because I refused to change teams – the manager of the buying department was the chairman of the rival rugby team.

“The sport also helped me secure my first entry into the world of packaging solutions. I left the clothing warehouse and started working for a paper merchant. But I only landed that role as someone who worked there knew the rugby team I captained so gave me a shot – I was terrible at the interview, although I like to think I’ve improved since.

“However, for the time being I’ll have to remain an ‘alacadoo’ – a retired rugby player who thinks he knows it all, thinks he can still play better than others and has an opinion on everything. I’ve booked my tickets for next year’s Rugby World Cup. You’ll see me in the crowd loudly sharing my opinions…” n

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OBITUARY

SUMMER 14

REGION LOSES A LEADER INSPIRED

John Wall’s premature death at 60 has snatched from North East business, and an unstinting arm of its support for young people, an outstanding achiever – a doyen of dealmaking and a regional torchbearer who took big companies and charitable initiatives forward with equal enthusiasm and expertise.

“A son of the North East,” he called himself – and one who helped realise the Stadium of Light and the Riverside Stadium for Sunderland and Middlesbrough football clubs, and Newcastle Metro Arena for lovers of indoor sport and big name entertainment.

He was a serial chairman who got things done and done well, as when finding disadvantaged young people job openings, and even paths to self-employment through The Prince’s Trust.

John was educated at West Jesmond Primary School, then Manor Park Technical Grammar where he was head boy. He graduated in economics and accounting at Newcastle University, whose business school last year made him an honorary professor.

From 1987 he led PwC’s rapid regional growth, advising on more than 100 deals amounting to £1.5bn-plus. He co-founded PwC’s corporate finance business in the UK, and until retirement in 2004, led its operations in the UK, France and the Republic of Ireland, with 20 partners and 200 professional staff in 15 offices.

His deals with PwC had included: • The hostile bid by Lyonnaise for Northumbrian Water Group (£800m) • Sale of a strategic interest in Newcastle Airport to Copenhagen Airport (£400m) • Greggs plc’s acquisition of The Bakers Oven chain (£20m) • Reverse takeover of Dalepak and Stock Exchange listing of Cavaghan & Gray plc (£80m) • Disposal of Northumbria Bus to British Bus (£25m).

He masterminded PwC’s viability studies for the two football stadiums and, besides serving on PwC’s UK and European Corporate Finance boards, he was on the partnership admissions committee for all UK disciplines. He was named a lifetime achievemer in Nigel Wright North East Accountancy awards.

After PwC, John became director and founding shareholder of Adamson Joint Ventures, securing permission to build apartments and offices at the Bonded Warehouse on Newcastle Quayside, and to put up apartments beside the Hilton at Gateshead. Between 2006 and 2008 he chaired Ian Baggett’s Adderstone property

group. He chaired Albany RTA, an insurance outsourcing group he later sold to Helphire plc for £47m. He was a non-executive director of Bond Dickinson LLP, and an Arrowcroft plc adviser for a £500m development in Croydon.

He worked with East Coast Properties, Dodds Wall Partnership, August Private Equity, Primary Capital and Alchemy.

In 2006 he became non-executive chairman of Munich based Proton Power Systems plc, pioneers in hydrogen fuel cell and photovoltaics (green and solar energy) – leading it to the AIM. When The Prince’s Trust launched a Leadership Group in the region in 2012, John chaired the development committee, building funding streams that now back the young people.

A big personal satisfaction was enabling exAnimals bluesmen Chas Chandler and Nigel Stanger to create the 11,000 capacity Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.

Outside business, he chaired Northumberland lawn tennis and squash rackets club. As treasurer of Beadnell Fishermen’s Society, he raised funds to save the local harbour. And he designed his Beadnell family home. He grew up in Jesmond and mourners thronged his funeral at St George’s Church there and at a later celebration of his life at Gosforth’s Marriott Park Hotel. He leaves wife Pat, sons Gareth, Damian and Jonathan, mother Eileen and sister Lynn Christie; also grandchildren Seth, Edie, Isabella, Lily and Poppy.

>> How he’s remembered Bill MacLeod, senior partner at PwC in Newcastle remembers John as “ebullient, engaging, brimful of enthusiasm”.

Shawn Bone, founder and director of Newcastle-based Cavu Corporate Finance, who worked for John at PwC and later recruited him to Cavu’s advisory board, saw him as charismatic and a great influencer.

Jonathan Townsend, The Prince’s Trust director for the North of England: “John completely changed the face of our fundraising. He had a magic about his approach to all aspects of life.”

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

John Marshall, vice-president of Bond Dickinson and fellow of the trust’s development committee: “John brought boundless energy, eternal optimism, real tenacity, and his trademark sense of fun.”

Emma Reilly, who set up a business through the trust: “John believed in young people and had lasting impact on many lives, including mine.”

John’s son Jonathan says: “He instilled a lot of solid advice in our family’s lives. He taught us to work hard for everything. We’re proud of all he achieved and the legacy he has left.”

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COMPANY PROFILE

Enterprise project helps businesses reach new heights A local photography firm that’s flying high with mini-helicopters is just one of a group of businesses praising an enterprise project in Redcar and Cleveland iSky Unmanned Systems, set up by friends Tony Chapman and Mark Armistead from Redcar, specialises in taking high-definition aerial photographs of the area. The company is one of more than 200 receiving free business support from the Redcar and Cleveland Enterprise Team – a project which was commended for innovation and ambition at this year’s Enterprising Britain Awards.

The team offers companies at least 12 hours of free tailored support – dubbed the Dynamic Dozen. Its business coaches have helped create scores of jobs and enabled even more residents to realise their dreams of running their own business.

Mark Hannon, cabinet member for economic development, said: “In the last year the team has helped firms to create more than 150 jobs and boosted the performance of scores of companies.

“That success brings with it wealth and prosperity to families within Redcar and Cleveland and to the local economy. ““This is an achievement worth celebrating - a job well done!” iSky Unmanned Systems was set up in September last year and Tony and Mark are about to buy a further two of the tiny high-spec mini-aircraft, which need a special licence to operate.

Tony and Mark turned to the Enterprise Team for expert advice on setting up their company.

“They’ve been fantastic,” said Tony.

“Although I was previously a bank manager, I felt there was a lot I needed to learn about running my own business.

“So I did as many of their workshops as I could including marketing, media, sales, finance and

iSKY Unmanned Systems Tony Chapman

social networking.

“They also helped us put our business plan together and even pointed us towards some funding, so they were valuable in absolutely every way.

“There’s no-one providing our kind of service in this area.

“There are many applications – for instance, we can take high-quality photographs or videos of properties from the sky to help estate agents sell

In the last year the team has helped firms to create more than 150 jobs and boosted the performance of scores of companies. That success brings with it wealth and prosperity to families within Redcar and Cleveland and to the local economy

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them, and we can also help skilled roofers show off their work.”

Another of the companies that’s benefited from the Dynamic Dozen and has recruited an apprentice as a direct result of the support provided, is Sign Art. Elsa Weatherhead, Market and Finance Manager, said: “The Redcar Enterprise Team has given us new ways to market our business, we’ve learned invaluable skills through the workshops they offer.

“We’ve even set up a new website and took on an apprentice - we’d definitely recommend the team to fellow businesses in need of guidance and support.”

Helping businesses grow in order to boost the local economy is the prime focus of the Enterprise Team - a project part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Local companies can benefit from a wide range of support including identifying export opportunities, improving online trade, accessing external funding and even finding new premises.

Steve Turner, Director of Serendipity Cleaning, said the Enterprise Team not only helped him set up his business venture, but he continues to benefit from the team’s help via the Dynamic Dozen.

Steve said: “The Redcar Enterprise Team actually gave me the idea for a start-up and I’ve never looked back. The team’s help has allowed us to build our website, get SEO support and much more.”

The Enterprise Team’s business coaches provide advice on everything from marketing to web development, social media to recruitment.

Businesses in Redcar and Cleveland are urged to take advantage of the free support available – which is tailored to their individual needs.

Find out more about the Enterprise Team at www.theenterpriseteam.co.uk or phone 01642 438500.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

MEDIA BRIEFS

SUMMER 14

>> Biz Quiz

The Scrutator

1. Who’s now the David Goldman visiting professor of innovation and enterprise at Newcastle University Business School?

2. Shildon Wagon Works once built most of Britain’s railway freight wagons. When did it close?

3. Still on the railways, who is the manager currently setting up the new Hitachi train assembly plant at Newton Aycliffe?

4.The North East’s first regional development agency was set up in 1961. But what was it called and who was its first director?

5.Who’s the new chairman of the Institute of Directors in the North East and what’s his company called?

Answers at the foot of the page.

The majority of self-employed people and small businesses I’ve worked with over the years don’t even earn the same amount as they did when they had a job

Undervalued: Paul Wakefield’s biggest concern is that business builders often lack confidence to charge high prices for their products and services

>> Go out and sell yourself The other side of the self-employment coin is the finding of a recent survey that indicates more than a third of home-working business owners in the North East are earning below minimum wage.

And a third of them, according to Jayne Graham, founder of the Newcastle networking group Colleagues on Tap, are working over 37 hours a week - and over a third are reporting sales of £9,000 a year or less. Hardly a selfmotivating incentive, you might say.

Paul Wakefield, the 1913 StartUp Britain Business Champion for Northumberland,

runs digital media projects. He believes many business growers just lack confidence. They worry too that people won’t pay the going rate for their services. “So the majority of self-employed people and small businesses I’ve worked with over the years don’t even earn the same amount as they did when they had a job,” he says.

He believes you can make excuses or make money – but not both – and says so in his recently published book No Excuses, No Limits (Filament Publishing).

He has trained more than 3,500 people from seven different countries and his biggest concern is that people often lack confidence to charge high prices for their products and services.

His school teachers said he’d never amount to anything. Now he has three small global businesses comprising his Wakefield Group.

He has been at the forefront of offline and online marketing for several years.

In 2006, after three years as a pub manager, eight years as a sales manager leading eight staff in the motor trade, and four years as a

recruitment consultant, he went into business for himself. He set up in his back bedroom with an old PC and a tiny printer, and opened his own recruitment agency.

Before long he was working closely as a consultant for the likes of Renault, Audi, Peugeot, Northumberland County Council, dfs, Biffa and Sita UK. Since 2009, thanks to webinars, seminars and workshops, he is now known internationally.

Last year he was listed as a Top 100 marketer to follow on Twitter, and has been recognised also as a SageUK business expert.

He now runs operations from a nearby business centre, and has taken on three new staff to help him support Northumberland’s rising number of start-ups through regular workshops and networking sessions – and by lobbying Northumberland County Council on issues facing small business.

Wakefield says: “Start-ups? I’m addicted. And Northumberland’s small business community needs all the help and support it can get to grow and flourish.” www.noexcusesnolimitsbook.com

Answers: 1. Lucy Armstrong of The Alchemists. 2. 1984. 3. Darren Cumner. 4. The North East Development Council. The late Sir George Chetwynd.

5. Graham Robb, Recognition Marketing and PR, Darlington.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

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BIT OF A CHAT

SUMMER 14

the way business is going generally.”

Catering accompanies, also live music through Steve’s band Hip Operation if desired, and for the teambuilding showers, toilets, beds and fire pits. Eight staff have been taken on at Grange House, Morpeth, and Tina’s confident there’ll be eight more jobs next year.

So after the Indian rope trick, the Indian tipi take-off…

>> Never never land

with Frank Tock Making a pitch: Tina-style

>> Dance away the blues If things get on top of chief operating officer Ed Twiddy during the hectic launch period for the new Atom Bank in the North East, I reckon he’ll go home and relax to some piano tracks by Chick Corea. Ed got hooked seeing the American jazz fusionist play three or four times while he (Ed) was studying for his PhD at Durham University.

Try Armando’s Rhumba, Ed, slow to start but sure to unwind even the most uptight among us as it gathers pace.

>> Phone a friend Friends in high places can often seal a deal. Mike Stephenson pitched for a lucrative order from a wealthy potential client seeking handbuilt furniture befitting his Grosvenor Square, London, address. The client liked the ideas coming from Mike’s Herrington Gate Furniture business at Houghton le Spring, but wondered whether a small business in the sticks could attain the high standards required.

Mike got on to someone living just a stone’s throw away from the opportunity, someone who still buys from him herself though she’s moved back to London from Sedgefield. Of course, she said, she’d forward a reference on Mike’s behalf. After all wasn’t it she, Cherie Blair, who officially opened Mike’s factory for him some time back? Mike’s smiling. The reference obviously worked.

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

>> Making a pitch in style How profuse email shots are now, offering little novelty beyond smileys. Is ingenuity going out of PR? I did, however, receive recently an invitation to the Unique Tent Company’s party, introducing tipis as venues for outdoor corporate events.

The snail-mailed invitation fascinated me.

Recipients could assemble it into a minirepresentation of a tipi, poles and all - and you couldn’t do that with an email.

The origami creator was Tina Dolder who, with husband Steve, has been in hospitality for 12 years, running Toast Your Events.

When she took her DIY idea to the printer the first reaction was: “You must be joking!” But he did turn up trumps with a quirky “come, join us” that, judging from the attendance, couldn’t be ignored.

Tina says tipis in place of conventional marquees are catching on, particularly for weddings, one of which required five tipis to cover 250 guests. Tini’s diversifying now towards corporate clients, knowing Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone, PC World and Fatface have all taken to tipis elsewhere.

While teambuilding events are an obvious market, Tina says the 10 metre tall tipis suit all kinds of corporate gatherings. “Very relaxing and welcoming,” she suggests.

“Not stuffy and formal, and I think that’s

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How well are business start-ups in the North East region doing? Liverpool has the poorest survival rate. A LEP Growth Dashboard compiled by the Enterprise Research Centre and the advice network GrowthAccelerator says so.

Only 53% of new firms reach their third birthday there. In Manchester it’s 57.8%, Birmingham 58% and London 59.7%. What about the North East?

Highest survival rates are in Oxfordshire (68.4%) and North Yorkshire (68.1%). And firms surviving their first three years in London, Manchester and Liverpool are among the most likely to reach a £1m turnover. Aye, but what about the North East?

The Dashboard analysed all 39 Local Economic Partnership areas (LEPs) between 2009 and 2012 so the North East (by which we mean Tees Valley as well as the rest of the region) must be in there somewhere. But a cursory check of the Dashboard website and websites of its compilers failed to enlighten. So I did a quick glance at the websites of both LEPs in question. One would have thought a flagging up of start-up survival rates crucial.

Why this coyness?

>> Further outlook Only 3% of the £108bn spend expected by 2017 in the growing holiday trend of staycations will come to the North East, a Barclays survey predicts. In this massive outlay, which includes shopping, the South may benefit by about 40%.

What integrated plan do our diverse tourist groups have to counter that? And what’s being done to get Cleveland back on the holiday map?

SUMMER 14

COMPANY PROFILE

Premier Inn building strong foundations with the University of Sunderland With the creation of a new multi-million pound hotel in Sunderland City centre, Premier Inn is redeveloping the way it builds interaction with the University of Sunderland Having the University on their doorstep enabled the company to establish links with the University’s Business Services team that include both the University’s Professional Mentoring and Internship Schemes, whereby employers help students and graduates develop work-related skills and experience.

After talking to the team, the hotel chain soon had two Mentors working closely with two students from the University. Louise Hope, a Cluster General Manager, took on third year Psychology student Hannah Proud.

Louise said: “We have the University of Sunderland on our doorstep and Premier Inn is rapidly expanding, so we need to source high calibre potential future employees. We made contact with the university, and they blew us away talking about their Professional Mentoring Scheme. The agreement was that I would meet a student, have a chat with them and enhance their interview skills, look at leadership skills with them and explore anything that could add value to that person. After all, in the near future they may be approaching us for a job.

“The first time I met Hannah was at the University and we sat down and I didn’t know what to expect.

She had been for one interview which hadn’t gone as well as she would have liked and she wasn’t sure which route to take. I asked her a few open questions which put her on the spot and really got her thinking about her future and what she wanted to do.”

Louise is pleased she got involved in The Professional Mentoring Scheme and highly recommends it to the business community, adding: “There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, and once you get over the hurdle of the first meeting and understand what the student is looking for then you can tailor it to their needs. Your personal reward is amazing and you can make a difference.

Aaron Beswick and Louise Hope of Premier Inn

We’re always on the look-out for new Mentors It’s well worth taking the time out for it.”

Hannah has now passed an interview to continue her studies at the University of Sunderland on a PGCE teaching qualification.

Premier Inn’s Aaron Beswick, Operations Manager at their Washington hotel, mentored Jody Justo Calcutt, also a third year Psychology student.

Aaron said: “I joined The Professional Mentoring Scheme because I was given an opportunity to give something back to the community. I met Jody and we had four meetings over the course of a couple of months, as well as a few emails back and forth.

I explored what Jody wanted out of mentoring and went from there.

“We worked on mock interviews and on self-awareness as well as other elements that employers may pick up on, such as body language and being fully prepared. We all know how important it is to get that interview right!

“In terms of a time commitment it was very

97

minimal, and there is a lot that I actually got back from it; it helped me re-evaluate my own skills and strengths. It was a really rewarding experience.”

Jody is now planning to complete a Masters Degree in Occupational Psychology before completing a three to five year Chartership in the same profession.

Louise Dixon and Tonia Scurr manage the University of Sunderland Professional Mentoring Scheme which has been running for three years and seen almost 200 students mentored this year alone.

Tonia said: “Our mentoring scheme is designed to provide students with an insight into the professional world of work, or their chosen career, what employers look for and how best to develop themselves to be that best candidate at interview.

What better way to offer that advice than through employers themselves!”

Tonia went on to explain: “We request employers meet their student Mentees four times over approximately five months. Although we run an induction session and provide a Handbook, each mentoring partnership takes on its own style, as each student has their own individual set of objectives.

“It’s amazing what can be achieved in that short space of time. We are grateful to our existing and repeat Mentors but we’re always on the look-out for new Mentors.”

If you would like to know more about The Professional Mentoring Scheme, please visit: www.sunderland.ac.uk/professionalmentoring E: professionalmentoring@sunderland.ac.uk

BUSINESS QUARTER | SUMMER 14

EVENTS

SUMMER 14

unctions & Events > Bistro Café in association with>

e? Look no further.

ee parking

• Bistro facilities

BQ’s business events diary gives you lots of time to forward plan. If you wish to add your event to the list send it to editor@bq-magazine.co.uk and please put ‘BQ events page’ in the subject heading

• Equipment hire

AUGUST

20 Willow Wednesday, NECC networking, Willow Farm Pub Restaurant, Cramlington (8am)

7 Exhibition, FSB (South Tyneside and Wear), Design Works, Felling (11.30am)

22 Implementing the New FRS, ICAEW briefing, Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham (2pm)

14 Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Presentation, Newcastle University Business School (11.45am), booking necessary

22 to 25 MADE, The Entrepreneurs’ Festival, Sheffield City Hall. kirsty@room501.co.uk, 0191 426 6300. www.madefestival.com

14 Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Presentation, Best Western Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield (8am), booking necessary

24 Sharing Tips for Juggling Work and Life, National Women’s Network, Firenze Restaurant, Jesmond, Newcastle

20 NECC Willow Wednesday, networking, South Cramlington (8am)

24 Willow Wednesday, NECC networking, South Cramlington (8am)

21 Tapas networking, North Tyneside Business Forum, Windsor Hotel, Whitley Bay. Book online.

28 NECC Three Chamber Networking Lunch, De Vere Slaley Hall (11am)

25 MADE Gala Dinner, where BQ Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced.

Sheffield, Cutlers Hall. kirsty@room501.co.uk, 0191 426 6435

28 Introduction to Shale Gas, NOF, Durham (8.30am). Book online.

24 Networking Lunch with Houlder, NOF (10.30am) tbc

28 Views from across the Border, NECC and Scottish Chambers of Commerce, De Vere Slaley Hall (2.30pm)

25 NECC Tees Valley annual dinner, Thistle Middlesbrough (6.30pm)

SEPTEMBER

30 BQ Golf Day, Rockliffe Hall Hotel. kirsty@room501.co.uk, 0191 426 6435

OCTOBER

3 MBA Open Event, Durham University Business School (10.30am)

1 CBI North East Annual Dinner, Gateshead Hilton (6.30pm). Book online

4 NOF and British Forces Resettlement Society, Military to Energy Careers, Catterick

1,2 Northern Manufacturing and Electronics, Events City, Manchester

9 Import Procedures and documentation, NECC, Durham (9.30am)

6 CBI North East, regional council Q3, Northumbria University (9.15am)

10 Business Use of Social Media, CIM lecture, Christer Holman, Newcastle (1pm).

Diane Earles 07813 669 305

6 Access India Market Visit, NECC

10 Finance Act 2014, ICAEW briefing, Durham (8am) 1908 248 159

7 Getting Tax and Accounts Right, ICAEW, Durham (9.30am). Book online

10 Role of the Financial Director, Nick Lambert, Orchard Information Services, IoD breakfast seminar, Quayside, Newcastle (7.30am). Book online.

7 HR Knowledge, Legislation Update, NECC and Croner, Durham (9.15am)

11 FPAL Awareness Session, NOF. Gateshead Hilton (8.30am). Book online.

7 Non-Audit Work, Compliance, Cost Effectiveness and Management Risk, ICAEW, Durham (1.30pm)

11 BP Networking Lunch, NOF, Gateshead Hilton (10.30am). Book online.

9 BQ Golf Day, De Vere Slaley Hall. kirsty@room501.co.uk, 0191 426 6435

15 Finance Act 2014, ICAEW briefing, Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham (2pm). www.icaew.com/events#result

13 Auto-Enrolment, ICAEW, Durham (1.30pm). Book online.

16 Business Confidence Monitor and Update Europe (UKTI), ICAEW, Newcastle (8am).

Book online.

17 NOF Energy, an Evening with Phil Vaughan of Darchem Engineering, Rockliffe Hall Hotel, Darlington (7pm) 17 Business Confidence and Economic Review Lunch, ICAEW, Middlesbrough (12.30).

Book online.

18 BQ Breakfast Live: Finding Funding - The Entrepreneurs Guide at Quality Hotel, Boldon (8.30am) kirsty@room501.co.uk, 0191 426 6300 18 Letters of Credit and Methods of Payment, NECC, Durham (9.30am)

16 James Sproule, IoD chief economist, addresses IoD lunch, Durham County Cricket Club (noon) 17 132nd ICAEW Northern Society Annual Dinner, Newcastle (7.30pm). Book online.

19 HMRC tax and NI due under 2013/14 self-assessment returns

The diary is updated daily online at www.bq-magazine.co.uk Please check with contacts beforehand that arrangements have not changed. Events organisers are also asked to notify us at the above email address of any changes or cancellations as soon as they are known.

18 Bibby Offshore Networking Lunch, NOF, tbc (10.30am) 18 Top 10 Regulatory Tips for General Practitioners, ICAEW, Durham. Book online.

KEY: Acas: Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, CIM: Chartered Institute of Marketing, CECA (NE): Civil Engineering Contractors Association (North-East), HMRC: Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, ICAEW: Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, ICE: Institution of Civil Engineers, IoD: Institute of Directors, NEA2F: North East Access to Finance, NECC: North-East Chamber of Commerce, NSCA: Northern Society of Chartered Accountants, FSB: Federation of Small Business, Tba: to be arranged, Tbc: to be confirmed, Tbf: to be finalised.

18 Mussel Club Networking, Tynedale Rugby Club (8am). Book online.

19 Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s North East entrepreneurial awards, Gateshead Hilton, 0191 500 7780. www.entrepreneursforum.net

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What an international business should be John Carroll Head of International, Santander UK

Helping Businesses go Further

“International trade can unlock significant growth but is often complex. So, whatever your sector, our Trade Portal has been developed to help you identify the largest markets, understand local regulations and connect with potential customers and suppliers on the ground.

And with access to Trade Club, an exclusive online community for international businesses, we could give you the best chance of success overseas.”

GET CONNECTED WITH

MORE THAN ANY OTHER INTERNATIONAL BANK

,

To see how far your business could go, visit santandercb.co.uk/tradeportal email maureen.armstrong@santander.co.uk or call 0191 490 2926* Simple Personal Fair What a bank should be

5 million customer source: Santander Group internal data.

You need to be an online banking customer of Santander Corporate & Commercial to gain full access to the Trade Portal and Trade Club. Santander Trade Portal is provided and managed by Export Entreprises S.A. Santander provides access to its client companies but is totally unrelated to the database contents, which are the responsibility of Export Entreprises S.A.

*Calls charged at national rates. Santander Corporate & Commercial is a brand name of Santander UK plc, Abbey National Treasury Services plc (which also uses the brand name Santander Global Banking and Markets) and Santander Asset Finance plc, all (with the exception of Santander Asset Finance plc) authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Our Financial Services Register numbers are 106054 and 146003 respectively. In Jersey, Santander UK plc is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission to carry on deposit-taking business under the Banking Business (Jersey) Law 1991. Registered offi ce: 2 Triton Square, Regent’s Place, London NW1 3AN. Company numbers: 2294747, 2338548 and 1533123 respectively. Registered in England. Santander and the flame logo are registered trademarks. Santander UK plc is a participant in the Jersey Banking Depositor Compensation Scheme. The Scheme offers protection for eligible deposits of up to £50,000. The maximum total amount of compensation is capped at £100,000,000 in any 5 year period. Full details of the Scheme and banking groups covered are available on the States of Jersey website (www.gov.je)or on request.

CCBB0454 JUL 14 HT