BQ North East Issue 31

BUSINESS QUARTER

BUSINESS QUARTER

North East and Cumbria: Autumn 2015

Celebrating and inspiring entrepreneurship

Wrong turn, right move

Paul and Joanne Stonebanks got on the right road to build a £20m business

Inspiration for innovation Thomas Swan is a 90-year-old company but it’s still innovating

A piece of cake

£4.95

Art as business

Business Quarter Magazine

North East and Cumbria: Autumn 2015

A baker has a runaway success in Cumbria

A love of nature makes a thriving enterprise

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E N T R EP R E N E UR I N T E R V I E W S

B USIN ESS U P DAT E

IN SIGHT

LIFES T YLE

E VE NT S

BUSINESS UPDATE bqlive.co.uk

EDITOR’S VIEW NORTH EAST ISSUE 31 This North East economy just now takes three steps forward and two back.

We get a spurt of good news: • The official opening of the £82m Hitachi train factory at Newton Aycliffe • Nissan’s latest £100m investment at its Sunderland plant • Reece Group of Tyneside engineers are breathing life back into the famous but rundown Armstrong Works at Newcastle, with a £20m investment and recruitments.

Bravo! But then we get dread news: • SSI UK steelworks closing, with perhaps 3,000 jobs to be lost directly and indirectly in Redcar area • And that’s after the North East has already been found to have the highest unemployment in the country now, 8.6% against a national 5.4%. Where’s the progress? Well, the North East is now the fastest growing region in a country which is the fastest growing nation in the developed world.

That alone won’t inspire 109,000 people in our region who are jobless. And nothing we have been told convinces us yet that it is right, or impossible, to rescue collapsing banks but not troubled steelworks. Beneath the headline surface, however, there are many encouraging stories, as we hope this issue of BQ shows: • Harry Swan, acknowledged as “one of the UK’s most inspirational manufacturers” is leading his family’s long established and worldwide business, Thomas Swan & Company in Consett, on the frontline of new technology. Paul and Joanne Stonebanks, whose company AIS on North Tyneside has found jobs for 10,000 people. An exciting picture of Sunderland, a city in transformation, is painted

by Gary Hutchinson. We’re being warned by the Centre for Economics and Business Research that the North-South economic gap threatens almost to double over the next 10 years, with London growing by 27% against 14% across the North East North West, Yorkshire and the Humber.

Well, from this issue on we’re stretching our reach into Cumbria too. Relations and links between people of the North East and Cumbria have always been firm, because the two share many difficulties and advantages. Both stand to benefit by moving closer in these still uncertain times. The North East Chamber of Commerce, during its 200th celebrations, has published a delightful and helpful pocket book called The Little Book of 200 Business Tips, these valuable hints coming from many businesses and organisations. Ironically, and sadly perhaps, one of the tips comes from SSI UK. It says: “In the good times remember the lessons of the difficult times.” We owe it to SSI to carry that with us.

Brian Nicholls, Editor To receive your complimentary subscription of BQ magazine straight to your desk, register at bqlive.co.uk

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CONTENTS

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Autumn 15 64

FEEDING THE MARATHON MAN At lunch with Muckle’s Hugh Welch

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NOR TH EAS T HOSPITALIT Y IN LONDON’S HEART Hotelier Debrah Dhugga takes lessons learnt in Tyneside to the capital

INSPIRATION F OR INNOVATION Harry Swan talks about a company at the cutting edge

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HARD OF HEARING Car audio is growing increasingly sophisticated at all levels

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Celebrating and inspir ing entrepreneurship

FEATURES

REGULARS

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C R E A T I N G A R T, C R E A T I N G B U S I N E S S How Mary Ann Rogers overcame hardship to build a worldwide reputation

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ON THE RECORD Spotlighting the region’s best and brightest new ideas

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MAKING AND TRAINING A wrong turn led to business success

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BUSINESS UPDATE Latest developments in the business world

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INSPIRATION F OR INNOVATION Harry Swan talks about a company at the cutting edge

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AS I SEE IT How Sunderland is transforming itself

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COMMERCIAL PROPERT Y Who’s building what and where

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BUSINESS LUNCH Feeding the marathon man

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MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE Ian Malcolm renews old acquaintance with the wines of New Zealand

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MOTORING Richard Rafique lives the boyhood dream

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FEEDING THE MARATHON MAN At lunch with Muckle’s Hugh Welch

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NOR TH EAS T HOSPITALIT Y IN LONDON’S HEART Hotelier Debrah Dhugga takes lessons learnt in Tyneside to the capital

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A PIECE OF CAKE Justine Carruthers’s recipe for success

SPECIAL FEATURES HELPING OUT FOR S TAR TING-UP BQ special report on start-ups

20 30 MAKING AND TRAINING A wrong turn led to business success

DIY SUNDERLAND

A city transforming itself

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ON THE RECORD bqlive.co.uk/breakfast

GFW Letting Experiences Strong Growth

US link continues Direct summer flights between Newcastle Airport and New York will resume for a second season next year. And United Airlines is adding an extra flight weekly by request of business customers. It raises prospects the route may eventually become viable and permanent. David Laws, airport chief executive, is urging North East businesses to use the opportunity. Next year’s flights (May-September) will feature Boeing 757-200 aircraft of 169 seats, arriving at Newark Airport to link with other US cities.Twice weekly direct flights to and from Barcelona will also be introduced at Newcastle from March 2016. Spanish low cost airline Vueling’s flights will leave Barcelona at 11.10am and from Newcastle at 1.50pm, taking up to 180 passengers with return fares of £80.32 include taxes. And Ryanair’s summer schedule will include two new routes to Alicante and Malaga. Newcastle has been named the UK’s best large airport by readers of Which? magazine for the third year running.

City of opportunity Sunderland has been named best place in the North East - and fourth top in the UK to make a living in. A credit comparison website, TotallyMoney.com, bases its findings on wages compared to mortgage payments, cost of living and the local jobs market in 64 towns and cities.

Sunderland has a strong jobs market – more than 5,500 vacancies in three years and investment of £384.7m in projects to boost employment and the local economy.

In 2014/15, some 54 new projects - including automotive supplier Vantec’s second major warehouse development in the city – brought funding of £117m and led to 2,400 new jobs. Largest investment was in the automotive sector, where £83m in 12 projects led to 820 new jobs. IT and software created 210 jobs, contact centres 1,100. Outside the survey,

North East property rental specialists GFW Letting is continuing to enjoy strong and steady growth as it approaches its third year in business. Speaking about its success, Regional operations manager Fran Mulhall explained: “Renting is a long-term option for many people that has seen privately rented homes increase by 63% since 2001. There is now a demand for both rural and urban property which is outstripping supply. We understand that, in line with renting now also being a lifestyle choice, the expectations in terms of both the quality of the property marketed and the service given by the agent has increased significantly.” GFW letting has two offices - one in Newcastle upon Tyne and one in Northumberland - which are experiencing 29%% growth year-on-year. The Northumberland base has expanded into new areas, with the team now looking after 170 properties from Berwick to Darlington. Mulhall added: “We’re hoping to recruit a new member as part of our apprenticeship scheme, which has proved successful. The role of the letting agent is even more pivotal than before - we need to guide, advise and support landlords as part of our offering and continually provide a quality, transparent service.” For more information about GFW Letting, please visit: www.gfwletting.co.uk or you can contact Fran Mulhall on franmulhall@ gfwletting.co.uk / 0191 605 3151.

Geoff’s a giant culture and entertainment has been supporting more than 5,000 jobs, bringing in £384.38m in visitor spend last year.

Around 8.3m visitors were drawn to events such as the annual Sunderland International Airshow, a One Direction concert at the Stadium of Light, and big productions at Sunderland Empire including War Horse and The Lion King.

Time to travel Businesses will have to look further afield if the North East is to retain its reputation as a leading regional exporter. The region has seen the UK’s largest fall in overseas sales, according to HMRC calculations – a 1.5% drop from £3.1bn to £3bn in a year.

The region now contributes 4% of all exports from the UK.

Geoff Turnbull, chairman of Peterlee-based GT Group, the product development company in environmental engineering, has been acclaimed as a lifetime achiever in Entrepreneurs’ Forum annual awards. Entrepreneur of the Year was Geoff Thompson, of Utilitywise, the North Tyneside consultancy in energy efficiency, founded in 2006, and now employing more than 1,300 people. Emerging Talent award has gone to Alice Hall, who started her £6m turnover Pink Boutique from Newcastle in 2012 with £90. Mentor of the Year in the awards run in partnership with the North East LEP, is entrepreneur Alastair Waite. Highly commended were Richard Kirk (PolyPhotonix), Ben Staerck (Furniture Clinic), and Tom Riley (Whitewash Laboratories). Shortlisted entrepreneurs included John Reece (Reece Group) and Tony Cleary (Lanchester Wine Group).

ON THE RECORD

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Full speed ahead Virgin Trains has followed Grand Central’s lead and will run passenger trains between Sunderland and London. The direct service starts from 14 December. Grand Central has been running its link between the two cities since 2007. On Teesside, PD Ports and DB Schenker Rail UK now run a Monday to Friday freight service of 40 containers linking Teesport with Mossend and Grangemouth in Scotland.

Smell of success Ash Kapur left her native India to settle in Newcastle when she was 16. Now the postgraduate runs her own store at Eldon Square.

Her House of Scents with its wide range of perfumes also enables customers to create their own individual fragrance.

She got the idea after visiting a perfumery while on honeymoon with her husband Gaurav in India. Now she plans a package of unique scents for brides and bridesmaids.

NEWS MAKERS

Biologics advance A £38m national biologics manufacturing centre opened at Darlington by the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) gives companies facilities and expertise to develop, prove and commercialise new and improved processes and technologies for biologics manufacture. Biopharmaceuticals are medicines produced through biotechnology. They are delivering advances in healthcare as completely new medicines are developed for serious illnesses including cancer, blood conditions, auto-immune disorders and neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis. Using biotechnology can also facilitate the development of the next generation of personalised medicines for specific diseases and patient groups.

Vanessa Collins (above) who was promoted to relationship director at Santander UK in August 2013, has been recognised in North East business as Corporate Banker of the Year - the first female recipient at the Insider North East Dealmakers Awards.

Shirley Atkinson is the new vicechancellor and chief executive of the University of Sunderland. The former deputy vice-chancellor, who has been with the university since 2008, had been interim vice-chancellor since last September.

Paul Booth now chairs Tees Valley Unlimited. Chairman of Sabic UK Petrochemicals, he succeeds Sandy Anderson, TVU chairman since 2010.

Ian Swales, former MP for Redcar, has succeeded Paul Booth as chairman of the process industry cluster Nepic.

The place to be The Rugby World Cup 2015 brought £43m directly into Tyneside (indirectly £93m) and more people visited Newcastle and Gateshead last year than in 2013, contributing £1.42bn to the local economy (+1%). Overall 17.6m people visited NewcastleGateshead in 2014, day visitors in the majority. But overnight stays have risen to 4.5m nights (+2%), contributing £439m.

Average daily spend of an overnight visitor is more than three times higher than that of a day visitor at almost £177, the NewcastleGateshead Initiative reports.

And about 93m visitors came to Northumberland in 2014 - the most since 2009, Northumberland Tourism says.

Among all popular destinations across the North East and Cumbria, Cartmel has been this summer’s holiday spot with the biggest percentage jump in visitor numbers - up 116% on July and August 2014, hotel booker LateRooms.com says.

Lydia McCaslin of BHP Law’s Newcastle office, is one of the first lawyers in the country to gain the recently introduced Older Client Care in Practice Award.

Carolyn Sharp, 34, who set up Puddle Ducks Newcastle, has won the HSBC national Female Franchisee of the Year.

Five years on, Carolyn teaches with a team of 20 more than 1,000 children a week to swim For up-to-da in over 20 pools of the region, business ne te ws sign up for BQ her turnover now nearing Breakfast half-a-million pounds.

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FACT OF THE QUARTER SMEs in the UK turn over around £1.2trillion, which is just below a half of the UK’s total economy

BUSINESS UPDATE First the website Most retailers open a shop then introduce an online service. But Terence Turnbull and Gareth Thomas, a few months into running their home furnishings business online, have now opened a showroom at Eaglescliffe, Stockton.

Thomas, who built his own house, is also managing director of Icon Plastics at Eaglescliffe. Turnbull, as managing director of Turnbull and Thomas, is focusing on detail having, during 24 years’ service in the armed forces, been in distribution, resupply and logistics. More recently he has been general manager for four years of an online furniture retailer. Their showroom is linked to the website.

Flying fortress A Teesside firm has designed and delivered a control system to keep UK flights operating on time. Applied Integration has installed an emergency power management control system for a data centre that ensures the safe and timely operation of all flights across the UK. Having previously renewed a similar control system for the British Embassy in Moscow, directors of the Stokesely firm now aim to break into a potential multimillion pound international market over the

next decade. Launched by directors Roy Coleman, Graham King, Lee Raywood and Garry Lofthouse, the company hopes to double its £4.4m turnover and 34-strong workforce in five years.

Uniting the parks John Waterworth, chief executive of Parkdean, will be chief executive leading the new holiday group resulting from Parkdean’s merger with Park Resorts. Waterworth has led Newcastle based Parkdean since it formed in 1999 with the acquisition of Trecco Bay. The merger now will result in a business of 73 holiday parks, employing 7,000 staff and selling 400,000 holidays a year to 1.8m customers. Both head offices in Newcastle and Hemel Hempstead will be retained. Currently Parkdean runs 24 parks and has turnover of £142m. David Boden, chief executive of Park Resorts, is retiring.

The deal is subject to official clearance.

Business backs arts Business leaders on Wearside are backing Sunderland Cultural Partnership bid to become the UK’s City of Culture 2021. Paul Callaghan, serving on the Music, Arts and Culture (MAC) Trust, a prime mover, says: “Cities that throw their hat into the ring benefit immensely.”

For Terence Turnbull (left) and Gareth Thomas (right) the shop followed the web

Energy goes local North East energy company Future Energy has opened for business, challenging the Big Six energy suppliers. The Newcastle-based electricity and gas supply firm is the region’s first locally based energy utility for 20 years. Behind Future Energy is managing director and entrepreneur Tim Cantle-Jones, 54. He says: “For too long North East consumers have had to buy their energy in what feels like a game of Monopoly, in which the so-called Big Six hold all the cards.

Now there’s a chance to switch to a local supplier putting its customers first.” Future Energy believes it could save consumers around 15% or up to £300 a year. It promises a fair price for power, easy-to-understand bills based on accurate meter readings, and a free “smart” meter from next year. Support is expressed by David Faulkner, who was director of corporate affairs at regional electricity supplier Northern Electric before it was bought out, also by John Cuthbert, formerly chief executive of Northumbrian Water, and Tony Sargison, formerly customer service manager for BT in the region.

“For too long North East consumers have had to buy their energy in what feels like a game of Monopoly”

BUSINESS UPDATE bqlive.co.uk

STEM under study Within days of welcoming its first student, Tees Valley’s new £20m skills training centre hosted a VIP delegation from the Middle East. The group, including representatives from Oman’s ministry of oil and gas, visited the STEM Centre at Middlesbrough College and studied its support and delivery of apprenticeships.

The centre focuses on science, technology, engineering and maths, in an industrial environment. Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive, says: “The visit allowed us to demonstrate why Middlesbrough College is a leading UK provider of world class engineering skills training, and how our close links with local industry mean we deliver the training that employers need.” Courses include a number for individuals already working in industry. More information from the STEM team at the college on 01642 33322 or email employerservices@mbro.ac.uk

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TOP TWEETS #DidYouKnow we support an average of 4 businesses a week to start up? @tedcoltd Well done @VenturefestNE team for a tremendously successful day.

Proud to sponsor Inn. Showcase, proving innovation is thriving in the NE - @NEBICInnovation #Production of our #solar #streetlights getting ready for #export -bound for #SouthAfrica #Botswana #Zimbabwe #Gabon” @VidereGlobal Whole NE region is a “land of possibility and openness” says Japanese Ambassador @NECCRoss Great news that NE and Tees Valley agreed devolution deals. Looking forward to continuing to work together to get implementation right @FSBnortheast Chinese president asked to taste traditional fish and chips but they took him 2 a London chip shop! shud hve been @wetherbywhaler in Yorks! – GrahamRobb #Devolution - it’s a fantastic deal for the #NorthEast that will firmly link the region to the Northern Powerhouse For frequent @J_Middleton01 Love the front cover image - a change from people in suits! @BeckyTaylorPR

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Temperatures rising Renewable heat will send North East temperatures up thanks to major projects at Stockton and Cramlington. A £160m investment in a new power station could create work for up to 500 in Stockton - 300 for the construction and 200 permanent jobs on site and in waste wood delivery for 25 years. The Able Clarence Port project, begun two years ago, was being jointly developed by Eco2 and Temporis Capital for Port Clarence Energy. It has now been sold to Glennmont Partners, and building of the 40 MW waste wood fired power station will follow. By 2018, the plant will start generating enough renewable energy to power 70,000 homes. In Northumberland, the development of a £138m combined heat and power plant at Cramlington has won major backing by the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) and John Laing Group. They have committed £48m of equity towards the project developed by Estover Energy. It could bring 25 permanent jobs at the plant and about 20 in the supply chain. The biomass combined heat and power plant will generate enough renewable electricity annually to power 52,000 homes.

GIB will invest £21m, JLG £27m. Barclays will provide the balance as debt, 60% of it guaranteed by the Danish export credit agency EKF. Marcus Whately, founder of Estover Energy, says: “Nearly £140m invested means more jobs in forestry, and a secure energy supply for industry. It will be double the size of our first plant in Scotland.”

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“Our expertise is being exported abroad to countries that are investing in coal, but here in the UK I think most people would agree that government energy policy is in chaos.”

Gordon Banham, chief executive, Hargreaves, the County Durham

mining and transport business.

Exciting Downton deal

Durham-based Crafter’s Companion has secured the official licence for the Downton Abbey papercrafting collection. It’s the craft supply company’s biggest product deal in over a decade and coincides with the run of the final series of the TV show.

Crafter’s Companion is the exclusive papercraft licensee in both the UK and USA for the most successful British television drama ever created. The company has developed a range of embossing folders, metal dies, triple CD set, stamps, paper pads, toppers and many embellishments. Sara Davies, founder and sales director at Crafter’s Companion, describes it as “one of the most exciting launches we have ever been involved in, as it involves a blockbuster of a show people adore.

As a company, we are going as big as we can with this collection to ensure the range flies off the shelves in craft stores across the UK.” Located in Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, Crafter’s Companion specialises in making and distributing crafting tools along with its own brand goods. Its products are sold online across the world and through independent retail shops in the UK and Europe.

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BUSINESS UPDATE bqlive.co.uk/breakfast

of Defence, Northumbria and Newcastle Universities, and St John Ambulance.

Managing director Neil Tweddle says: “Corporate occupiers is a sector where we see significant potential we haven’t previously explored.” The company has invested £850,000 in a fleet of delivery vehicles, which travel about 47,000 miles a month throughout the UK. It is currently working on projects for the RVI Hospital in Newcastle, Newcastle College, Edinburgh University, ACC Liverpool, and the new £43m Consett Academy building.

It has just completed a £350,000 project at Newcastle College’s newly refurbished, £18m Parsons Building.

Height of fame Neil Embleton (above) of Stone Technical Services is seen restoring a 15 metre timber flagpole during restoration work that the Darlington firm has been carrying out at Windsor Castle, where the Queen usually spends weekends and carries out formal duties.

Furniture fortunes pile up Neil Tweddle, managing director of Godfrey Syrett is homing in on the commercial sector.

Booming business Godfrey Syrett could have a £40m turnover by 2020, and 20 more in the workforce. The firm which designs, manufactures and distributes furniture to the education and public sectors has been encouraged to tap the commercial sector, following a record-breaking July, when orders totalled £4.4m.

Established in 1947, Godfrey Syrett initially supplied the then newly formed NHS. Now, it has a £25m turnover and 220-strong workforce, with a head office and manufacturing in Killingworth, plus a distribution and logistics hub and another manufacturing site in Durham.

On a new site at Belmont Industrial Estate in Durham it is doubling its distribution space, enabling the existing distribution facility to be replaced in January. Clients now include, besides the NHS, Morrisons supermarkets, the Ministry

a joint venture, Mott MacDonald Bentley, Interserve and Integrated Water Services.

Work is being carried out both in the North East of England and in Northumbrian Water’s southern region, where it operates as Essex & Suffolk Water.

The awards follow an announcement of partnership agreements, worth £580m, with Esh Construction in Durham, and Seymour Civil Engineering Contractors in Hartlepool, to repair and maintain a 30,000km sewer network.

Fastflow Pipeline Services in Washington and three South East firms will maintain and upgrade 26,000km in the North East, Essex and Suffolk.

“Managing director Neil Tweddle says: “Corporate occupiers is a sector where we see significant potential we haven’t previously explored Insurance hike Concerns are being expressed that many businesses are unaware of a rise in Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) due to take effect on 1 November. It is set to increase to 9.5% and will affect how much firms must pay to protect their assets including machinery, buildings and vehicle fleets.

Jonathan Willett, a director at Henderson Insurance Brokers Teesside office, fears the change, announced in the Budget, was overshadowed by other announcements.

He explains: “The 1 November rise, unlike VAT, is non-reclaimable. Previously IPT rose at a steady rate from 5 to 6%. The latest rise, 3.5%, is disproportionate - harsh at a time when many businesses are emerging from a tough economic period.” He is advising businesses to take expert advice to identify the best insurance deals, to limit the effect.

£1bn water guards Contracts worth more than £1bn have been awarded to firms in Northumbrian Water Group’s drive to maintain quality tap water, reduce sewer flooding and protect the environment. Ten-year contracts have been awarded to Esh Construction and MWH in

Thai marches on Renowned restaurateur Terry Laybourne and one of his head chefs (above) have opened a noodle bar, Ko Sai, as part of his 21 Hospitality Group. Situated in the multi-million pound new look food hall of Fenwick’s department store in Newcastle, Ko Sai is a joint venture with Thai-born award-winning head chef Parichat Somsri-Kirby, who has worked at Café 21 Fenwick since it opened in 2006.

Ko Sai takeaways will also be available on the delicatessen counter.

Laybourne has also opened a fish bar and fishmongery, Saltwater Fish Co, in the same food hall.

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Insight, news and analysis to help grow your business

18

LEGAL BRIEF

In association with

Ward Hadaway

Tackling rising employment costs Jamie Gamble, partner in the employment team at Ward Hadaway, looks at changes in the workforce, and what you can do to increase productivity

A combination of factors is leading to rising employment costs for companies. How to tackle this situation could be key to your future profitability. Average pay is on the increase figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that average pay across the economy increased by 2.9% between May and July 2015 when compared to the same period in 2014, the fastest pace of wage growth for six years.

Wage costs are also increasing due to factors outside of companies’ control. In the last 12 months, businesses have experienced increased wage costs due to some or all of the following: • Annual increase to the National Minimum Wage; • Pensions auto-enrolment; • Case law involving the calculation of holiday pay when employees work overtime or receive commission; • Developments in National Minimum Wage case law (especially in the domiciliary care sector);

• And National Insurance and pensions contributions on these increases.

And of course in addition to the above, the National Living Wage will come into force in April 2016, replacing the National Minimum Wage for workers aged 25 and above. The National Living Wage will start at £7.20, meaning an initial increase of 50p per hour above the current adult National Minimum Wage of £6.70. This is a significant increase for businesses that only pay the National Minimum Wage.

Companies who already pay £7.20 or more per hour are still likely to be affected if their suppliers have to pass on the cost of wage increases.

And with the Government intending to increase the National Living Wage to £9 an hour by 2020, it is the case that most businesses regardless of the sector in which they operate will feel the effects. There is a concern that the pace of Government-led increases will mean that if businesses can’t pass on the cost of the increases

“In the Employment Team at Ward Hadaway, one way of increasing productivity that we regularly help employers with is to look at ways of improving absence and poor performance, both of which have a significant impact on productivity”

to customers, then unless productivity in the business can be improved, it will result in fewer jobs being created, fewer hours for existing staff and, in some cases, job losses.

So what can companies do? It is clear that productivity is the key to enable businesses to afford to pay higher wages. There are some encouraging signs in this respect as the ONS recently reported that productivity across the UK economy rose at its fastest rate in four years in April to June 2015. Output per hour in the UK economy rose by 0.9% in that period.

However, at the same time, the UK has the second lowest productivity rate in the world’s richest nations lagging well behind the USA, Germany, France and Italy. It’s a sobering thought that the UK economy would grow by 31% if it could match US productivity levels.

Increased productivity can be achieved in many different ways. Many businesses will invest in new technology; others will invest in training staff. In the Employment Team at Ward Hadaway, one way of increasing productivity that we regularly help employers with is to look at ways of improving absence and poor performance, both of which have a significant impact on productivity. Sometimes it is a matter of starting to take a harder stance on these issues and putting processes in place to tackle these issues when they arise. However, it is also important to look at ways of avoiding these issues in the first place. These issues may be caused by employees being in the wrong roles and a review of processes, structures and duties can result in significant improvements in productivity. Also, cultural changes that improve workforce happiness can have a positive impact on productivity. To explore ways in which you can make changes to your workforce in an attempt to improve productivity then please contact the Ward Hadaway Employment Team.

For more information on the issues raised by this article, please contact Jamie Gamble at jamie.gamble@wardhadaway.com or call 0191 204 4456.

PROFILE LEC Consultancy

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Leanne fulfils business dream Communications firm is riding on the crest of a wave after major growth For a number of years former business journalist and communications manager Leanne English dreamt of launching her own business. But like so many other people, the security of employment was always the more attractive option.

“On and off from my mid-20s I’d thought about going it alone but with a mortgage and bills to pay each month, I needed the regular salary,” Leanne said. “But when my circumstances changed shortly after I’d turned 31, I felt that the time was right to give serious consideration to working for myself.“I knew it was a huge decision to get right, but at the same time I thought, if I don’t do it now I never will and what’s the worst that can happen?”

So over the summer of 2012 Leanne, now 34, started the ball rolling on setting up a business and looked at the different options available.

Having decided on a name, LEC Consultancy, Leanne sought the support she needed to officially become self employed. In September 2012, the business launched and the challenge initially was to bring in enough work to get through year one.

Many sleepless nights followed as like most entrepreneurs can relate to, cash flow was the biggest challenge. Fast forward three years and the picture is very different. LEC Consultancy is now a fully integrated communications firm, offering

“I am so proud of how LEC Consultancy has grown. When I started out I really didn’t expect that within three years I’d be employing five people. Now I see no reason why our workforce won’t exceed 10 by the end of 2016, which is a fantastic achievement for a business that was started from nothing” its vast portfolio of clients everything from media profiling, internal communications and social media, media support to brand development, event planning and video production. From its offices at Novus Business Centre in Peterlee, the company employs five people including a marketing and design apprentice, and has plans for further team growth in 2016. Leanne added: “Over the last 12 months the business has grown rapidly and we have added to our portfolio with several new clients across a number of sectors. “To ensure we continue to deliver the best results for clients and maintain the overall growth of the business, we had to expand the team and the people we’ve recruited will enable me to take the business to the next level.

“We’ve also enhanced our overall service offering which means we are now a fully integrated communications consultancy, offering clients everything from media profiling, stakeholder

engagement and internal communications to marketing support, design, video production and website development. “I am so proud of how LEC Consultancy has grown. When I started out I really didn’t expect that within three years I’d be employing five people. Now I see no reason why our workforce won’t exceed 10 by the end of 2016, which is a fantastic achievement for a business that was started from nothing.”

For further information please contact Leanne English on 0191 587 8165 or email leanne@lecconsultancy. co.uk. or visit www.lecconsultancy.co.uk

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AS I SEE IT bqlive.co.uk

City in a billion Sunderland is about to be a city transformed with almost ÂŁ1bn of investment and the outcome will be an achievement by the people who live and work there, says Gary Hutchinson

Shipbuilding, glassmaking and an historic ability to unearth and transport coal – Sunderland has a proud industrial history. But what is happening now? And what will drive our economy, ignite our passions and help put our city on the map in the future?

Well, in short, we will. Our people, our businesses, our public bodies, our football fans, our shoppers, developers, traders, artists, photographers, innovators, deep thinkers and creatives.

As a city, we are taking our destiny in our own hands and we are ready to show the rest of the country just what can be achieved when a city comes together to maximise its own potential and realise its ambitions.

A concerted effort is being made to harness the drive and determination of the business community and combine it with the knowledge and experience of the public sector, to drive growth across Wearside.

I’m proud to chair the Sunderland Business Group, which recently launched the Vibrancy Partnership Scheme. Designed to encourage

AS I SEE IT bqlive.co.uk

firms to sign-up and work together to empower the city to realise its potential, we believe the scheme will be a catalyst for real change, harnessing pride and passion to drive ambition.

And what potential we have… The city has a clear vision for the future that will see it transformed with almost £1bn of investment by 2024.

We have a bustling city centre, alive with music, drawing visitors and further improved with the opening of Keel Square and upcoming regeneration of the former Vaux site to create a central business district. That’s a project spearheaded by Siglion – itself a partnership between Igloo and Carillion - to deliver five key regeneration projects.

The firm will regenerate Seaburn seafront, Chapelgarth near Doxford Park, Numbers Garth in the East End and Farringdon Row close to the city centre.

We now have a clear vision of how the city will look following that £1bn investment.

Sunderland knows what it wants to be and has the will and backing to be just that. The 3,6,9

Vision – which spells out what investment is coming into the city over the next three, six, and nine years – is a clear blueprint for growth. It’s a vision that will see Sunderland build on all that it already has, and become even stronger.

That transformation is already underway.

Sunderland is one of only three centres in the country to host a Digital Catapult, designed to drive tech innovation; we boast the most productive car plant in Europe with Nissan recently announcing production of the new Juke on Wearside; and the city was named the third “richest” in the country in a study exploring what makes a person fulfilled, and content, compared with the rest of the UK. In the next five years, city connectivity will be improved with the completion of the new Wear bridge, a hugely important infrastructure project; the Vaux site will begin its transformation, hosting a wealth of innovative new businesses; and the new Hilton Garden Inn by the Stadium of Light will improve Sunderland’s hotel offer immeasurably.

Innovation and technology is at the heart of the city’s vision. A new £9m enterprise centre with, space to trial new ideas and bring them closer to market, and room for creative businesses is being added to the University of Sunderland. It could create as many as 650 new jobs and up to 120 new businesses.

A key part of the facility is the region’s first

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FabLab, a project started by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which enables people to prototype and try out new product ideas. There’s a resurgence in our traditional maritime industry, with the Port of Sunderland’s rapid redevelopment, recently re-opening rail links to the docks, as well as undergoing a £1m resurfacing facelift. We are growing culturally.

Keel Square provides a gateway to soon-to-beredeveloped arts and culture hub, the Old Fire Station, neighbouring the Empire Theatre. High Street West is being improved – all projects to make the city centre a more attractive, welcoming place for visitors and people who live here. Sunderland is bidding to be City of Culture 2021. We launched our campaign with a showcase of our fiercely independent music scene. Our city is awash with electrifying young musicians whose skills have been nurtured, encouraged and honed at venues like The Bunker, an original independent hub for musical talent. I have heard Sunderland described as a DIY City – I couldn’t agree more. For years our independence has defined us.

That independence and our determination to “do it ourselves” will now fuel the fire that ignites our economic and cultural growth.

Just watch us go. n Gary Hutchinson is commercial director for Sunderland AFC, chairman of NECC’s Sunderland Committee and chairman of Sunderland Business Group

“We are ready to show the rest of the country what can be achieved when a city comes together”

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PROFILE South Tyneside Council

Testing times ahead as colleges face challenge and change The government is right to expect high standards, but its new national review must have a level playing field, insists Dr Lindsey Whiterod OBE, Chief Executive of South Tyneside College For education innovator Dr Lindsey Whiterod OBE, running a high performing North East college is not quite rocket science.

If it was, she says, she may well have introduced it into the advanced and progressive curriculum she has shaped since becoming head of South Tyneside College exactly six years ago.

With fresh ideas, she has wiped the board almost clean and replaced predominantly academic teaching with a vocationally-dominated syllabus attuned to the region’s modern business and economic needs.

Her thinking is crystal clear: why teach subjects for which there is little employment demand when more

powerful impact can be made by identifying the skills needed and fashioning accordingly?

In the past four years the college has invested more than £14m in new facilities to satisfy the ambitions of students, industry and employers, much of which was won competing for incentivised extra government funding – a sure sign the powers that be recognise her powerful ambitions and wellchosen aims.

Today it boasts sector-leading engineering workshops, the UK’s third largest welding department, a highly innovative science and criminology department and it is also home to

world-famous South Shields Marine School, a vaunted trainer of seafarers since 1861 and the recipient of around £5m of recent investment.

Add to that the fact it is co-founder of Career College North East, a pioneering initiative aimed at boosting apprenticeship provision in advanced manufacturing, engineering and computer science for pupils as young as 14, and joint partner of the Ford Engineering Academy, run with North East specialist components maker Ford Aerospace Ltd, and it is in rude health.

Yet Dr Whiterod, and all college leaders across England, now face a new challenge from a

PROFILE South Tyneside College

government fearful the country risks getting left behind economically unless post-16 education is overhauled to meet the need for better skills.

The opening salvo of its area reviews, a comprehensive national study of the sector, is set out in its ‘Fixing the Foundations – creating a more prosperous nation’ productivity plan, which makes it clear change is imminent, and very possibly drastic change. Nick Boles MP, the Minister for Skills tasked with reform, is clear the development of a professional and technical education system through strong institutions which have high status and expertise, is pivotal.

His aim is to provide all young people with a ‘high quality route to employment’ and to ensure ‘professional and technical education is a legitimate and equal alternative to the traditional academic route’.

Much of his review, which started last month and runs to March 2017, is based on economics.

Just as productivity is key, so too must colleges recognise the need to be run as businesses and going concerns.

This is not an issue for Dr Whiterod, whose policies as chief executive have ensured South Tyneside College is financially robust – it is officially rated ‘outstanding’ in this area. It is employer friendly, too, with dedicated staffing experts who engage with business bosses to understand their needs. And while she welcomes the general tone of the inquiry, she has called for balance.

“Mr Boles wants strong institutions, which have the status to deliver pathways to employment, and he wants fiscal discipline to meet what he says are significant financial pressures,” she says.

“There is no question that colleges will change, with the likelihood that they will be fewer and larger, with greater specialisation. The reality is we receive millions of pounds in funding each year and to manage that we must be run as any business would.

“We also play pivotal roles within our communities, and we cannot fail to take into account the needs of local employers to train people for the jobs they are creating.

“He is right that there are very real challenges in providing education that gives this country’s workers the skills needed to boost our international standing, but in recent years many enlightened colleges in our region have taken steps to bring his future plans into action here and now.

“South Tyneside College has reshaped and evolved

23

“Big changes are coming and we must adapt, but it is essential that the good work already done at South Tyneside and other colleges in this region should not be overlooked.”

its curriculum to directly meet the needs of the region’s businesses, investing millions in advanced facilities and working closely with employers. Others here have also set themselves up to teach the skills needed to feed the economy, just the kind of forward thinking Mr Boles’ review points to.”

His study follows the government’s stated aim, announced in the summer, of creating an additional three million apprenticeships by 2020 – and he has added two further planks of reform.

They are the creation of high quality professional and technical routes to employment, alongside robust academic routes, which allow individuals to progress to high level skills valued by employers, and better responsiveness to local employer needs and economic priorities to help meet changing skills requirements.

The questions being asked in the initial area reviews highlight the future direction he envisages, with answers demanded on opportunities for collaborations with other education bodies, possibilities for rationalisation of curriculum to reduce costs, and a reduction of estates being among the topics raised.

While accepting of the inevitable future path, Dr Whiterod remains apprehensive as to the review’s exact remit, sensing a failed opportunity to fully investigate what needs to be done to bring the correct changes.

She adds: “He has made it clear all colleges are likely to be affected, from curriculum rationalisation to major restructuring, and with a move towards fewer, larger and more resilient institutions.

“His desire for financial efficiency may seem fair, but colleges including South Tyneside, which is financially outstanding, should be commended for taking action to meet student and employer needs.

“Many North East colleges have already proved they can be run as businesses and going concerns and contribute to the North East’s skills requirements.”

And if Mr Boles is seeking answers, Dr Whiterod believes he too must face questions. A weakness she

has identified is his failure to include sixth-forms and other education providers in his remit, and she insists a college’s national and international reach should be considered.

After all, she highlights that South Tyneside College, a world-renowned educator with thousands of students from across the globe, will be judged on its financial efficiency, yet a local sixth-form with far fewer students but still drawing a budget, will not.

She contends this is an anomaly which must be considered carefully by the area review process and particularly by the regional schools commissioner, whose view will be part of an overall area steering group, which will include Local Enterprise Partnerships.

“That we will all be touched by this seems undoubted, but it will be a missed opportunity if Mr Boles fails to include all post-16 education in his calculations,” Dr Whiterod insists.

“Colleges play a vital role in people’s everyday lives and the communities in which they live – they act as central hubs and beacons that satisfy ambition and provide opportunity.

“Yes, in these tough economic times they must, like all bodies which receive public funds, represent value for money, but our playing field must be level.

“Big changes are coming and we must adapt, but it is essential that the good work already done at South Tyneside and other colleges in this region should not be overlooked or indeed sacrificed due to elements of the review which may be flawed.”

More information about South Tyneside College is available by calling 0191 427 3500 and by visiting www.stc.ac.uk

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ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

Where nature pays Celebrated artist and businesswoman Mary Ann Rogers didn’t have to live in a garret to know what hardship was. But a love of nature has led to her work being acclaimed worldwide. There’s money in it too, as Brian Nicholls discovers Even on this warm, sunny day a capricious wind has the trees that swaddle Mary Ann Rogers’ 1700s house making obeisance. The panoramic view from her conservatory is memorable: gentle slopes down to the River Rede, outcrops and hardy hedges, untamed floral sways beneath mantles of greenery, and nearby the traces of a Roman fort, a mediaeval bastel house, a 19th Century ironworks and drystone wall bordering.

What a workplace for a microbusiness. What a workplace for an artist. Ideal, then, for Mary Ann Rogers, both business owner and water colourist.

From this Cheviots setting springs her illustrative menagerie of creatures, her work that’s in demand from as far away as New Zealand: foxes, hares, sheep, hounds and cockerels among them. Every change of season is her enlightening opportunity, and this season’s visitor can only imagine the stillness prevailing when the snows, quick to lie on this English borderland, have settled here.

Her cottage industry at Leam House, West Woodburn near Otterburn, turns out not only paintings and prints, but uniquely decorated bags, hip flasks, phone, i-pad and kindle covers, silk scarves, calendars, bone china mugs, table mats, aprons and diaries - all portraying Mary Ann’s unmistakable animals and flowers.

You might think she’d gone through art school, the proverbial silver spoon accompanying. But you don’t have to live empty bellied in a garret

to be an artist impoverished. Mary Ann Rogers was once even worse placed. She’d moved from home at 18, met a much older man, left university but later found herself on “a rather tricky path” so that at 25 she’d bought and sold a house, bought the present one, had two young children and a divorce bringing, as she describes, “no income, no family support, no qualifications, no driving licence, no husband - just having to get on with it.”

After a year on the dole she went part selfemployed on an enterprise allowance. “This made the difference between starving and I don’t know…” She worked at the Co-op but, isolated without transport, often couldn’t get there.

“I did bits of gardening and cleaning for people, and signwriting. I’d occasionally be asked to paint someone’s dog or horse. I’d do anything to earn a bit of money. I had a two year old and a four year old, and two years after separating, and self-employed, I really started out. That was how I lived my life.”

But she’s been blessed throughout with her appreciation of nature, a painting talent and

friends. A friend drove her “on reccies” to Scotland and the Lake District to approach galleries which, in turn, realised her abilities.

Pre-website, money she could ill afford went on photography for marketing and a directory of exhibition spaces. “Everything was on a shoestring but I don’t think I ever got turned down. I think that was out of doing the homework properly.”

Because she refuses to create things identically season by season – even hares have individual character to her – she reached a point when she couldn’t keep up with galleries’ demands for originals. She’d have to resort to prints too: another big financial commitment.

Fortunately, a supportive friend offered barter, paying for the first print run in return for three originals, with repayment later, an agreement she met. Today only she publishes her work.

Today also, outside the North East, eight galleries from Aberdeenshire down to Herefordshire exhibit originals of hers. Her galleries within Leam House threaten to take over all living accommodation and she has a valued link now with Voyage Maison, a go-ahead upmarket

“My work’s a catalogue of my life, places I’ve gone to, encounters I’ve made, and things that have done it for me. I’m not interested in what’s most popular”

ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

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ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

company started in Glasgow in 1998, its modern art printing of water colours decorating locally woven Scottish linen, velvet and natural linen mix cloth.

Where does artist end, businesswoman begin?

Both areas are creative, she says. “First and foremost I’m an artist, a creator. I see things and respond. That’s me to the core. Responding honestly to things and doing it my way, completely originally, is my life, like eating and breathing and sleeping.

“To convert that into income over the years for myself, my family and staff, and to grow and build business you must generate income.

That involves a creative other side, but it’s the same creative brain. Whether someone sells ice creams, whelks, used cars or paintings, we’ve all something to learn from each other about making sales interesting, attractive and appealing, and to keep growing your audience.

If you have a creative brain you have a creative brain, and you might use it entrepreneurially as well as in making something with your hands, or being a musician or a dancer.”

That said, a lot of potentially creative time is given over. She has one part-time but permanent

“Whether someone sells ice creams, whelks, used cars or paintings, we’ve all something to learn from each other about making sales interesting, attractive and appealing, and to keep growing your audience.” assistant, Jane Peart, her aide for seven years.

Her husband David Lawrence - Fifey to all who know him because Fife is where he comes from – assists too, particularly with deliveries and greeting cards. And she uses designers and other freelancers, someone for project development, a schedule minder and a social media specialist.

Casuals come in for packing and events, 15 of which involve her this year. Some work is sold off the wall at Leam House (particularly during her Christmas exhibitions, this year on 26-29 November and 5 and 6 December.

She also sells through the galleries, the website, framing outlets and a fine art marketing distributor for sales throughout the UK, the Channel Islands, Germany and Ireland. She has trade accounts too. A bigger commitment to space and staff would be needed to go for mass distribution.

The demand on personal energy and attention is

immense. To get through her diary on the day of this interview she’d worked for two hours from 4.30am before returning to bed for an hour. “I have a very strong work ethic. Working is what I do,” she explains.

By 2009 she’d been acclaimed one of the UK’s most popular living artists by the Fine Art Trade Guild. But often over 29 years she has had to consider whether to “draw in her horns”, plough on as before and stick with a fairly good profit margin, or surge ahead embracing new technology - ‘bursting through the threshold’ as she puts it.

A major frustration arose when so many people were calling to see her work that she had to plan a house extension, giving a new combined studio, gallery, office, visitor centre and storage space. Getting permission took almost two years, with business repeatedly impeded.

The house, admittedly historic, had been

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ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

“I did bits of gardening and cleaning for people, and signwriting. I’d occasionally be asked to paint someone’s dog or horse. I’d do anything to earn a bit of money”

altered before. Once a one room cottage, it was later converted into a traditional Northumberland house - door in the middle, stairs up to a room on either side, then two bedrooms and a small bedroom above. Then, around 1910, its owner the then Sheriff of Newcastle, had the north side built on, providing a large dining room, a generous staircase, a hallway and landing, then a big bedroom and a bathroom. Come Mary Ann’s turn, though she worked closely with a planning officer throughout and an architect who’d won awards for designing art studios in the UK and abroad, proposals were repeatedly rejected at the now disbanded Tynedale Council. “Rules for farmers, hotels and garages requiring extra space somehow didn’t apply to me,” she complains.

“It kept coming up against apparently crazy reasons from people who, as far as I could see, had no architectural, building or design experience. We ended up having to have something that cost probably twice what would have been had they accepted the need was for something to serve various functions. We now have something with a fancy roof area using phenomenal amounts of heat for unused space.”

How did a city girl from Newcastle gain such sensitivity towards the countryside? How has she excelled without intense mentoring? “I think you’re an artist or you aren’t. I’ve always been someone who’d draw, paint, have a gut reaction and almost visceral feel for - I don’t know - seeing things. It never stops.”As she talks she’s looking to the light on the hills, feeling it demands a response. “It’s just how I am.”

Nature’s pull goes back to parents’ interests, their holiday cottage at Emble ton, and her childhood in a family of seven. “I was always interested in animals – cats and snails and things. We all felt we’d nurtured a love of nature and flowers.

“A farmer there didn’t seem to mind little girls tagging along. He’d show us how to garden, prune and take cuttings. He taught us how to trick chickens into laying eggs – and how to ride a horse frontways, backways and standing up.

“Sometimes we’d go on a pony down the fields, or to the beach. I always knew that when I had the choice, and it was within my capabilities, I’d want to live somewhere that I’d be in touch with nature. Here it’s totally part of every day, from the hills, the weather, the sky and the animals you see. Domestic animals, farm animals, poultry – things I connect with. Most of my friends are farmers. My neighbour is one of my best friends whom I usually help during lambing.”

She doesn’t just portray the country life; she indulges in it - eventing at quite a high level, and indulging in wild swimming and mounted falconry! For that, enthusiasts on horseback take a falcon to remoter parts to take out crows, sworn enemies of hill farmers during lambing time when they prey upon weak lambs, often pecking out their eyes while they’re still alive.

(Would that the falconers rode to the coast and kept seagulls in order!)

Mary Ann herself has a flock of Indian runner ducks and guinea fowl but, alas, no chickens since a fox ate them all last year. But the runner ducks and guinea fowl featured in paintings

recently exhibited at Blagdon Gallery. She has, too, four “sausage dogs” – her description – that on this occasion bark their delight at finding an open door through which they could dash to meet the postman. One of her sausages, 13 and stone deaf, happily curls at a visitor’s feet on its return to the conservatory from the unexpected furlough. Away from home, Mary Ann has also been inspired during visits to pig farms, private exotic bird collections, wildlife and waterfowl parks, zoos and safari parks – anywhere offering new aspects of nature. This year’s flame of enthusiasm, tulips, was ignited by Fifey’s memory of their visit long ago to a hotel in Scotland’s far north which was almost smothered in them.

“They’re explosions of colour - I love painting them,” his wife says.

Bright colours win Mary Ann many admirers.

She says she paints things as she sees them.

“I probably use more water colour than most water colour painters, and I’m always surprised and disappointed at how little of the pigment is actually used in other people’s water colour paintings,” she remarks. “My work’s a catalogue of my life, places I’ve gone to, encounters I’ve made, and things that have done it for me. I’m not interested in what’s most popular.”

Being one of the first North East artists to use the internet as a shop window has paid. She has sold originals to customers in the UAE, Qatar and New Zealand. “It’s often like a snowball. If the work one buys is seen by others the demand grows there.”

She’s struggling to keep up with customer demand for originals. Should she raise prices?

She seems reluctant. Meanwhile something to look forward to… Both her daughters are performing and teaching musicians, Ruth playing fiddle, Annie concert piano. Both are expecting babies on 19 December. That’ll make three grandchildren in all for Mary Ann, and while they’ll no doubt in future make further demands on her precious time, they’ll only be 40 miles or so away.

Mary Ann Rogers may well be West Woodburn’s most distinguished achiever since Adam “Old Hemp” Telfer bred the first ever Border Collie there in 1893. They’ve just had a memorial to that unveiled in the village. Posterity may deem a blue plaque at least for Mary Ann. n www.marogers.com

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“The joy of eventual reunion was the catalyst for Paul to do what he’d already been considering”

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Wrong turn, right move The wrong road turn that Paul Stonebanks’ wife Joanne took led them to their own £20m turnover business, and one that’s getting thousands of North East people back into work. Brian Nicholls reports

Funny how, in marriage, a wrong turning can still lead to the right one. It has done for Paul and Joanne Stonebanks. Their family life had been frayed by Paul’s 12 hour working days, seven days a week away from home. It regained quality after Joanne one day drove onto the wrong road. She arrived at Bath - just as Paul’s welcoming meal awaited her in West Wales.

Taking stock after that led to a gamble with their entire £10,000 life savings. It paid off.

Today a business they totally own, Advanced Industrial Solutions (AIS), is a near £20m investment turning over £12m after eight years.

Paul had hinted when he was 12 he might become an entrepreneur.

At the time of Joanne’s wrong turn, though,

when she and their son Cole still lived in North East England (Cole three then, 13 now) Paul had been at Milford Haven - as far west in Wales as you get - having waited six months for the massive Dragon LNG project to begin.

He’d already project managed globally the like of BP, McNulty’s Offshore and Amec - “wherever oil and gas was”. At least near Milford Haven, where Paul had a comfortable seaside flat, Joanne and Cole could visit easily – in theory.

The family were finally reunited at midnight instead of 7pm on that occasion. The joy of eventual reunion was the catalyst for Paul to do what he’d already been considering.

Today North Shields based AIS, holder of a Queen’s Award for enterprise, has just made

Paul also North East Entrepreneur of the Year, and its campus cum industrial location on Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate will shortly extend to 20 acres. Its six diversified operations cover technical insulation and fire protection products, training services to mandatory level, facilities management, business efficiency software, and engineering, manpower and online sales services. It’s developing training centres also in the Caribbean and on 21 acres at Grimsby. And working with blue-chip clients worldwide it has offices in Aberdeen, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, and Dammam in Saudi Arabia, plus another planned for Abu Dhabi.

Despite the oil price drop, Paul’s diversification partly explains an 80% increase in turnover

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and profits year on year. The workforce of 150 – all but 25 on Tyneside – has suffered no redundancies. Indeed, in its short life AIS has got 10,000 people into work – both new entrants to industry and victims of redundancy.

North Shields facilities include a world-class offshore survival centre, an onsite hotel and a renewable energy centre of excellence. Paul’s Welsh epiphany, realisation there’s more to family life than breadwinning, came as he expected to be working three more weeks in Wales on the largest LNG operation in Europe, one that three major forces – Qatar Petroleum LNG Services, ExxonMobil Qatargas and ELF Petroleum UK – have made capable of supplying 25% of Britain’s gas needs.

With his conservatory back home an office initially, Paul (both inventor and innovator) devised jacketing to protect pipework and offshore structures against corrosion, fire and water damage. He invented the world’s thinnest flexible fire-protection jacketing. AIS now does nearly all its own manufacturing, which helps finance a training arm and business also in onshore energy conservation.

The firm has developed eight new products this year, building the most diverse portfolio available of jacketing to stop fire spreading for anything up to three hours, thereby giving workers time to get to safety and time to control a blaze.

With weld products also growing, only large steel structure work is now outsourced, and that too may come in-house eventually. “We’re not just a training business. Any problem in industry – we’ll find a solution,” Paul says.

Summer heat in the conservatory drove him to a temporary office in Wallsend before today’s complex now unmatched in Britain, and world class in standards. The hotel for trainees and delegates provides 19 bedrooms (rates £34 upwards), and visitors stay from as far as Thailand and New Zealand. There’s a restaurant too.

Classrooms host 150 courses (200 soon).

Training facilities cater for offshore survival, rope access and work at heights and in confined spaces, fabric maintenance, electrical, mechanical and wind energy and technical training - as well as for riggers and banksmen (handlers who transfer cargo from ship to berth).

In a 4.5m deep pool workers learn how to survive a helicopter ditching at sea. There are

“We talk more together then about everything than we ever could before. We’ve probably talked more in one walk than we were able to for months before, I like that part” 15m high climbing and rescue platforms for wind sector training. AIS has also secured use of a 27m high wind turbine training tower at the National Renewable Energy Centre test and research facility in Blyth.

By agreement with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, AIS thus has access to a tower almost double the current height required for working at height training by industry bodies. It enables AIS to recreate the conditions of working on turbines that can tower up to 125 metres. Arrangements also cover high voltage and cable-laying and repair training.

Products and training numbers fell about 40% with the offshore trough. But with wind opportunities growing, AIS minimised the drop to about 20% and it is now also training in fracking plus nuclear training ahead of upgradings for Sellafield and Hartlepool.

Paul says: “About 90% of what we do is transferable into nuclear. Apart from procedures it’s 100% transferable in manufacturing processes. Only on site are changes seen. The

main difference in fracking is that you drive to a site instead of sailing to it. A fracking platform is like an oil platform. Training requires only a tweaking of procedure.”

While setting up jackets manufacturing – and before the banks crash – AIS effected big energy savings for Halifax Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sainsbury’s and University College London – not by brokering for cheapest suppliers but by developing and installing its software guaranteeing results to within 2%.

Paybacks could be had in 24 months.

This benefited 216 Sainsbury’s stores, 80 HBOS branches and 60 for RBS. Now AIS is eliminating wastage for cash-strapped councils: Redcar and Cleveland for example, and North Tyneside which wants 12 leisure centres sealed. With almost 800 award-winning AIS jackets fitted, both energy bills and carbon footprint will be lowered, the jackets saving up to £40 a year for every item of equipment covered.

Paul explains: “It’s win, win. Savings in lighting come too. Sainsbury’s got an average payback of 18 months, saving about £50,000 a store per annum. With a business of up to £100m we can effect £50,000 savings. The business needn’t pay anything if it goes through the Carbon Trust for unsecured and interest free loans.”

The Duke of Northumberland is unlikely to leap into a turbulent sea, or creep through a smoke filled chamber. But His Grace must be pleased other people may – and that Paul coaches them.

For in the expansion of AIS Paul has become first occupier on Axis 19, a £12m speculative development by the Duke’s property business, The Northumberland Estates.

AIS has committed to a 15 year lease on the estate’s first phase - a let on a 28,000sq ft industrial unit. Conveniently, its new building will be alongside units already leased from The Northumberland Estates on adjacent Orion Business Park.

The company expects turnover this year, £20m, to be £23m next, with perhaps a not-for-profit recruitment arm for employers also.

Paul, who aims to change the mindset of young people approaching work, recently led 22 young trainees on a 17 mile hill-walk ahead of 10 week work placements. That, he told them, was nothing compared to a real hard day at work.

“You’ve got to get it into your minds everything will be difficult,“ he told them. “You must fight to get into work and fight to stay in work.”

Some of the trainees were first in their family

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21 and in charge Company sponsored and self-sponsored trainees pass through AIS in generally equal numbers, and AIS sees young people earlier apprenticed at 16 now, at 21, running departments effectively.

Often 20s to 40s are freelancers wishing to upskill, or switch from oil and gas to renewables.

Others come from abroad eager to go offshore.

One attendee was returning offshore at 69.

Next year’s throughput target is 23,000. Among unemployed attendees, AIS claims 77% or so get jobs – some high paying. Others, having trained, take a different route into work. One new nine day course equips people to work offshore, or in renewables, construction or health and safety. Out of 170 recently completing the fully funded course, almost half found work, including Jenna Morrison from Newcastle. She left school unqualified at 16 and, at 30, had been jobless more than six months, and with an adopted son suffering a heart condition.

She has since found a rewarding job with a big energy company in Aberdeen. AIS even helped her confront her fear of heights. It expects renewables will create 70,000 new jobs over 10 years, and even oil and gas needs 12,000 skilled workers for current projects. Half of its new building will be for an AIS academy taking trainees and apprentices and, where necessary, teaching basic English and maths and Levels 1 to 3 apprenticeships, also skills and understanding of industry. AIS is already delivering a traineeship scheme for South Tyneside Council, giving 16-24s industry experience and a level 2 qualification, with employers offered a chance to “try before they buy”. So far 30 individuals have enrolled.

The 16-24 model for apprentices is being complemented by one for 24-year-olds upwards, and the academy will tutor in underwater welding (AIS holds intellectual property there), and also non-destructive testing, fabrication, assembly, forklift and scaffolding training, plus skills in computerised numerical control machine work. He is also in discussions with Sunderland and Newcastle Universities over possible accreditation taking students up to degree level – an all energy diploma/degree covering wind, oil and gas, nuclear and subsea. Post graduate involvement for management is also a possibility.

Meanwhile a drive is on for 14s to 19s, with a model hopefully to be approved by January. www.aisgroup.co.uk.

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for a generation or two with hopes of a job.

“I’m certain they’ll get a job because they’re a fantastic bunch,” Paul says. “They were towards the end of their course and we’d had not one absentee, not one person late.

“They’re imbued with a sense of value in a job to themselves, to their firm, their industry, their family, even their country. Making them feel valued has a real impact,” he observes.

Paul, 39 and born and bred in working class Percy Main nearby, speaks from the heart. At 12 he delivered milk, recruited other helpers, and did other jobs until leaving Norham High School. He invested his earnings in a window cleaning round. “A great upbringing in energy and life,” he recalls. “There wasn’t a lot of money around. But you’ll one day want to give your kids something you’ve possibly never had.

I was thinking even then, invest. We expanded the window cleaning into Howdon and parts of North Shields, built that up then sold it. I was 15 or 16.” He left school with enough money to buy a car and commute to a three year apprenticeship at Cape Insulation. He also bought another window cleaning round. At 20, he went to work for another firm. At 23, he was one of the youngest project managers, at home perhaps three days a month. Committed though he remains, Paul and Joanne share a more structured family life now. At weekends he gets through what work has to be done before the rest of the family are up. In the business there are a board of five non-executive directors and a senior management team of eight in support.

Paul golfs at Tynemouth and occasionally Archerfield, North Berwick. He might attend a big football game. But on Sundays he manages the North Shields Billy Mill club, where his leadership skills enabled the footballers to win a sporting treble - undefeated.

And with a recently bought retriever, Dexter, the couple are often on six mile walks. “We talk more together then about everything than we ever could before. We’ve probably talked more in one walk than we were able to for months before,” says Paul, smiling. “I like that part.” n

“You’ve got to get it into your minds everything will be difficult. You must fight to get into work and fight to stay in work.”

£250,000pa and unsettled Job dissatisfaction is growing in energy industries where salaries range from £35,000 to £250,000.

A survey for recruitment specialist Nigel Wright, based on more than 1,000 respondents and published as jobs in oil and gas are being shed in their thousands globally, indicates that while pay rose on average by 5% last year, increases in many roles and levels have dropped by an average 2.3% this year as falling oil prices impact. Payouts in personal and company performance related bonuses have also fallen. Market conditions have hit non-management most. Over half of those questioned indicated they’re now dissatisfied – 30% more than last year, with overall job dissatisfaction up 17% in all. Pressure’s mounting on employees to deliver more for less.

Those still with a job but unhappy will explore other opportunities. Intention to move jobs was fairly consistent throughout. Average salary of respondents (excluding benefits and bonuses) was £76,000, ranging from £35,000 non-management to £250,000 at chief-level employee.

Around 87% of respondents receive some benefit or bonus in their package which, on average, could be up to 28% at “chief employee” level. Anthony Broadhead (above), country manager for Nigel Wright’s energy division, says: “Impact of the falling oil price impacted hugely, with energy companies slashing capital expenditure and making other savings through large scale redundancies. It’s a rude awakening but, some argue, a much needed readjustment. “Businesses seeking success in this environment will need to be increasingly agile and look for opportunities to diversify while awaiting return of market demand,” he added. The price has since crept back up towards US $50. The report meanwhile had found 46% of respondents planning to change jobs within 18 months. Traditional jobfinding routes - approaching recruiters (74%) or the employers directly (56%) - remain important. But social networking (36%) is increasingly important.

Employers clearly last year anticipated wage inflation, and were creative around benefits packages.

This year, with salaries and bonuses hit, it seems new challenges, flexible working and holiday entitlement are being considered more important than bonuses and more pay.

“With market conditions unlikely to change immediately, the businesses will likely find it easier to incentivise prospective candidates with unconventional benefits packages,” Broadhead predicts.

Despite further jobs doom predicted, AIS remains bullish. More than 400,000 people work in the UK offshore oil and gas industry, the North East contingent being perhaps 50,000-plus. But retirements suggest 12,000 more UK offshore staff are needed even now. Paul Stonebanks feels the oil price trend is already reviving. He also believes: The fall in oil prices, despite deterring new exploration, will boost growth in petrochemicals and nuclear activities, both of which AIS serves.

North Sea operators and contractors, who must maintain existing assets and maintain health and safety standards, will still outlay perhaps £10bn in operational expenditure this year alone.

Platforms and infrastructure designed to last 25 years are being reconditioned to be leaner, more cost efficient, and usable for maybe up to 10 years more, then decommissioning will eventually lead to new builds. www.nigelwright.com

Corporate & Commercial Banking & Finance Employment Commercial Dispute Resolution Corporate Restructuring Commercial Property Construction Wills, Trusts & Tax Planning

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PROFILE Newcastle College

Let’s add value and impact

Tony Lewin has taken up the reins at Newcastle College and aims to make a difference to his students, his staff and to the local economy One of Tony Lewin’s first jobs was in a leisure centre - useful as he has had to hit the ground running as principal of Newcastle College.

The 51-year-old took up the reins on September 1, as further education, FE, came to the forefront of the agenda of the government, which has launched area reviews to rationalise FE provision to prevent duplication. This now looms large for the region.

“Devolution will bring forward an area review for the North East quite quickly we would expect,’’ says Lewin. At the same time, the Northern Powerhouse, with its focus on infrastructure investment is likely to intensify demand for new skills.

But he’s up for the challenge.

He says: “I was very excited to come to what I considered to be the most prestigious of colleges and being part of a group added a whole new dimension.

“Newcastle College has a substantial national reputation. It has always been innovative. It’s always pushing the bounds to make sure we are doing what’s right within the region.

Lewin worked in leisure services in Durham City for 15 years before doing a teaching qualification in 2002. That was followed by a job teaching business and IT at New College Durham. He was deputy principal there for the last six years.

He identifies two broad aims at Newcastle.

“The first is about our staff considering Newcastle College to be a great place to work. Having staff who enjoy their work is obviously better for the business in the longer term.

“Externally, the aim is to be the preferred provider of training and learning for employers and employees.’’

Related to that, he explains, is making sure that Newcastle College has a strong local and regional identity and is seen to be part of addressing local economic needs.

“It’s very fundamental now in the make-up of colleges to make sure whatever you do isn’t just providing qualifications for the sake of it but that you’re adding value to the economy in general.’’

As part of this the college has just reopened a new and improved Parsons building, an £18m facility which houses its business, uniformed public services, health and care and childcare courses.

Last year it opened a £7m investment Rail Academy

Tony Lewin principal of Newcastle College

“We have to ensure that we are having that local impact in terms of industry, so if a business wants employees trained in something which isn’t full qualification but in particular parts, that’s what we are here to do.” in Gateshead. Significantly, this was the location Chancellor George Osborne chose for signing the North East’s devolution deal, The Chancellor said: “I was delighted to visit Newcastle College’s new Rail Academy and see first-hand how the college is helping to address skills gaps in rail engineering. Our Northern Powerhouse is all about backing the strengths of the North, like science, manufacturing and engineering and facilities like the Rail Academy are a great example of education and industry working together to create a national hub for training skills.’’

The college also has academies for: aviation; digital skills; energy; construction; and lifestyle, which teaches travel, sport, hospitality and hair and beauty. The Aviation Academy is located at the airport where it has its own Boeing 737, two aircraft

hangars with jet engines and smaller jet and prop planes for students to work on.

“Part of our expansion plan is to grow that provision because it’s already at capacity and we produce engineers in that field who will work across the UK and the world,’’ says Lewin.

The Digital Academy has forged strong links with employers, developing qualifications to meet their needs, particularly in the rapidly moving world of cyber security.

“Normally people would associate that with universities but whereas universities might do the theoretical and academic side, the people who do the programming and operate at the middle tier organisations tend to come from us,’’ he adds.

The Energy Academy based in Walker looks at energy across the spectrum, from offshore to renewables,

PROFILE Newcastle College

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Newcastle College Newcastle College is part of Newcastlebased, NCG, a group with an annual turnover of about £180m and more than 3,000 employees.

Newcastle College is the largest college in the group and is third biggest FE college nationally. It has an annual turnover between £65m and £75m and has around 1,300 employees. Its main campus is on Scotswood Road with a number of satellite sites.

The college has some 18,000 students, from the age of 14 upwards, a mix of full-time and part-time, and 3,000 of those are full-time higher education students. It has Foundation Degree awarding powers and it is in the final stages of getting taught degree awarding powers which will allow it to award its own degrees and masters’ degrees.

It currently offers Honours Degrees in partnership with Teesside University and other specialist institutions.

another area which is key to the North East economy.

“The college has identified the importance of linking to the local economic strategy, whether that’s coming from the LEP or the combined authority,’’ says Lewin. “ It’s about making sure we are delivering on the skills needs and those agendas. We work strongly in collaboration with the employees’ and the employers’ groups. We are also very careful to make sure we deal with the SMEs. “We very much see ourselves as the North East region’s institute of technology and that encompasses all of those disciplines around science, engineering, technology and maths.’’

In his new role, Lewin is keen to engage with business, attending events, making contacts and letting people know how the college can work with them.

“If there’s anything we can do to engage with you, tell us. We’d like your advice in terms of what you think we could be doing better and more of but at the same time we are there to respond to your changing needs. It might be retraining staff rather than developing a qualification for them that might produce the employees they need in two to three years’ time. It might be they need to retrain their existing workforce into a new skill set and need it

doing in the next two months.’’

The college has a business development team and a number of business development managers who are experienced in their industries.

“We have to ensure that we are having that local impact in terms of industry, so if a business wants employees trained in something which isn’t full qualification but in particular parts, that’s what we are here to do, we are not just here to deliver the full recognised qualification, we’ll adapt our delivery to meet that particular employer’s needs.’’

The college offers higher apprenticeships at levels 4 and 5 and degree apprenticeships. Other apprenticeships which were previously done at group level, are being phased back into the college.

The college is striving to fill the skills gap, but that gap also creates problems for the college.

Lewin explains: “Part of the problem we have is that industry is short of trained engineers and they pay them high salaries. When we are trying to recruit them to teach we are having to match. It’s an expensive area to work in. So we say to employers: if you can spare some of your staff to work with us, to come in and advise students to add value to the programme - it really helps us a lot.’’

But, being part of a group such a NCG Group, gives

the college a greater level of resource and clout and the kind of economies of scale looked for by the area reviews “It means that as a college we have a wider influencing network than most colleges. That’s very good in terms of being able to support and add value to what we do.’’

Lewin has hit the ground running and he is determined to keep his feet on that ground.

He says: “I’ve never lost sight of what it was like to be a student and I’ve never lost sight of what it was like to be a manager in the world outside of education. I understand and empathise very strongly with the students and the staff.’’

W: www.newcastlecollege.co.uk T: 0191 200 4000 E: employers@ncl-coll.ac.uk

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Innovation’s where you find it Harry Swan has been described as one of the UK’s most inspirational manufacturers. Where does he find his inspiration, Brian Nicholls asks him On the Silk Road to successful innovation the printed word remains important. Harry Swan, 39 and managing director of the flourishing family firm Thomas Swan & Co, has been described as “one of the UK’s most inspirational manufacturers”.

Where do he and his father, chairman Tom, find their inspiration? “We’ve long had an interest in new technology. We’ve a habit of picking up New Scientist or any other scientific magazines.

If we see something interesting we may pick up the phone to enquire about it – talk to the professor or the doctor who’s done the work on it.

“We also talk to people by going round the universities, buying some of them a pint and asking ‘what are you up to?’ It’s a great way of finding new things.

“We’ve worked with a wide range of universities including Durham, Newcastle, Oxford, Cambridge and Nottingham, although our most recent graphene work has been developed with Trinity College Dublin, which has gone very well.

We tend to go to centres of excellence if you need something. Find where it’s done best and go there.”

This significant innovator in performance and speciality chemicals goes back to 1926.

“Tommy” Swan, Harry’s great grandfather, founded the firm on the Consett site where it stands transformed now, to recycle slag waste from the now vanished steelworks to improve roadsurfacing. It has since diversified into photonics, protein separation, flat screen displays, contract research, hydrogen storage and MOCVD reactors that deposit thin layers

of atoms onto a semiconductor wafer. Its coatings weatherproofed the Statue of Liberty’s interior. Today, turning over up to £27m, it’s a world leading developer of potentials in carbon nanotubes and graphene.

With operations also in the US and China and a global network of distributors – Thomas Swan exports to more than 80 countries around 72% of production, about half into Europe. It recently won the company a special award from HSBC. Harry says his father built much of the export model.

All the overseas offices are thriving and, beyond that, long-term arrangements are maintained with key distributors and agents. “Japan holds family companies in high regard, and we’ve had probably a 30 year relationship with one agent there,” Harry says.

A Durham University graduate (1998) and managing director of the firm for nine years, Harry joined in 2002, initially to develop the carbon nanotubes, a discovery first made in 1991. He’d initially entered business as a scientific affairs manager for Monsanto - followed by two years at Regester Larkin crisis consultants, advising major international companies. He specialised early in his career in making complicated science easier for others to understand, skills that come across still.

More recently he has led the graphene surge

too. So how might nanotubes and graphene change our lives? Nanotubes, seamless carbon cylinders with unique mechanical and electronic properties, are about 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. In 2004 Thomas Swan was first in the UK to produce the large molecules of pure carbon in rolled up sheets commercially. They’re now used in aerospace, defence, automotives and sports equipment manufacturing. Harry thinks, long term, they’ll largely advance memory applications.

“We approach nanotubes and graphene from a merchant supplier’s perspective, being a stable supplier of good quality material,” Harry explains. “A lot of our market lies in materials for industrial research and development.

When the public sees them in end-product applications, that’s when it gets exciting.”

Both lines are doing well for the firm, graphene perhaps even faster than early carbon nanotubes did. It’s the thinnest and strongest material yet discovered, its breaking point nearly 100 times stronger than steel – and a better conductor of heat and electricity than copper, at a fraction of the weight and with only 2.3% absorption of light. Thomas Swan got into graphene after a casual chat Harry had at a conference the company was sponsoring at Duxford Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire. He met Professor Johnny Coleman, the Trinity

“It’s the thinnest and strongest material yet discovered, its breaking point nearly 100 times stronger than steel”

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From one gram to multitonnes The Consett company’s 100-plus products are turned out in quantities ranging from 1gm to multi-tonnes.

Its additives, resins and active pharmaceutical ingredients go into tyres, synthetic rubber, leather, powder coatings, flexographic inks and household and personal care products. The latter has brought in a lot of new business, especially from the USA. The portfolio also includes non-carbon two dimensional (2D) materials such as boron nitride, molybdenum disulphide and molybdenum trioxide, all available in 1gm quantities. Their proprietary process can break 3D materials down into two dimensions, opening up many different applications from different materials.

Thomas Swan intends to launch the first non-carbon 2D products made by direct liquid exfoliation within the next few weeks. The company is working on four pioneering projects initiated by Innovate UK under a title Realising the Graphene Revolution. In this it’s linked with other leading firms, including Sharp Laboratories and M-SOLV Ltd, and with experts from Manchester, Bradford, Surrey and Nottingham Trent Universities.

It’s investing extensively to support products such as synthetic rubber additives, and to upgrade the Consett facility. And it’s a chemical business very environmentally aware. An anaerobic digestion facility provides all its electricity from grass and maize, and it takes hot water from the generator to heat the research and development laboratories, so reducing the spend on natural gas.

“Their proprietary process can break 3D materials down into two dimensions, opening up many different applications from different materials”

professor the company now works with, Harry the biologist, Professor Coleman the physicist.

Harry recollects: “I’d seen him lecture about a very interesting and different way to separate graphene out of graphite.

“When you get down to nanoscale, sciences merge. Physics, chemistry and biology start to become quite similar, since you’re talking in molecules and atoms. Under the wings of Concorde, as we walked round the museum, I said ‘would you like to work with us?’ A couple of years later he came up with a process for us.”

Graphite pencils have been around since 1564 following the discovery of a huge mine of graphite at Borrowdale in Cumbria. So why is graphene only in vogue now? Harry says: “In scientific breakthroughs often what looks simple is in fact a complicated bit of thinking or chemistry.”

Professor Konstantin Novoselov and his colleague at Manchester University, Andre Geim, in fact shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for preparing graphene and discovering its remarkable properties.

There are many ways to get to graphene, Harry points out. “The graphite in your pencil is layered with stacks of graphene. Each layer - imagine it as a bit of chicken wire - is one graphene platelet. You can grow that from bottom up by laying down very thin layers of graphene onto a catalyst.

“Or you can do it top down, beating graphite up so you end up effectively exfoliating the graphene from the graphite. Our process developed with Trinity is top down.”

Thomas Swan has a 1kg a day capacity in graphene production. That’s a lot for commercial purpose. Advanced electronics – flexible and printable electronics, for example – look likely to benefit from it, also super-capacitors, thermoelectric materials and thermal management materials. It’s likely to be invaluable in mechanical reinforcement and transparent conductive materials too.

With support funding from Innovate UK, the firm is collaborating with customers to develop applications in printed electronics, touch panels and energy storage devices. Understandably, sales have been good for Thomas Swan both at home and abroad, and the graphene plant has been enhanced.

Nanotube demand remains strong, too. “It’s 12 years since we got into nanotubes. We’ve been very patient. Some years we’ve made a profit, others we haven’t because we’ve reinvested.

Our strength comes from not spending too much early on.

“We kept overheads low, didn’t overstretch on patent costs and suchlike, and kept our capacity small, recognising the market would take time to develop. That has probably been our strength. A lot of competitors have shut down. They ran out of money because they were start-ups.

“We’re helped by a core business able to make money while we invest in new technology. Our focus has always been good and consistent quality, and sustainable supply. I think it’s now near the stage where, hopefully, we’ll see commercial success.”

So there’s little carbon or nanotube competition within the UK, and competition in graphene comes from only one or two firms. Its major direct market is the US. “I’m interested in America because of its fracking, enabling them to revolutionise their chemistry industry,”Harry says.

“Suddenly they’ve access to cheap energy and good feedstocks coming from the gas. We’ve long been told to watch Asia because it’s going to be cheap and everyone’s going to move everything to Asia. I think the US is suddenly a very interesting area to watch now.”

Of the 150-strong workforce, about 25 work on research and development, a lot of which

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The world’s best commute Harry Swan as a plant biologist wants to move towards plant derived chemicals. “We have some plant derived chemicals here, and I think it sensible to move away increasingly from crude oil derived chemicals,” he explains. Born at nearby Shotley Bridge, he attended Wolsingham Primary School, then Aysgarth School in Yorkshire and Uppingham in Rutland before entering Durham University. In a Manufacturer Top 100 report he has been named as one of the UK’s most inspirational individuals within UK manufacturing.

He was recently appointed non-executive director of Cella Energy, spun out from the Science and Technology Facilities Council at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, for which his firm provided seed funding in 2011. Also he serves on the board of Innovate UK, an agency aiming to spur growth by business-led innovation.

Harry and his wife Nicola, who live at Barnard Castle, have four boys aged from seven to recently born. He reckons his daily commute over two moors is one of the world’s best, except during winter’s excesses, when it gets “a bit hairy”.

Having successfully launched the graphene and nanomaterials processes, Harry has entrusted the market development to a divisional head, Andy Goodman, who’s doing “a very good job”. His own focus now? “Leading Thomas Swan into an exciting new future, developing our credentials as an innovative global player and maintaining our core values of outstanding quality and customer service.”

When he’s not doing that you might just catch him doing a spot of trout or salmon fishing.

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was outsourced previously. Harry predicts: “As we look at new product development, and emphasise developing new products for new markets over the next couple of years, there’ll be more internal R&D focus.”

Advantages would include not having to patent things immediately or risk losing trade secrets by going through a university. “If you fund a university you must patent because they’ll want to publish. There are advantages both ways though,” Harry concedes. “However, some years ago universities went onto full economic costs.

It brought the cost of funding a project in line with funding two people internally.”

In such rarified work is it hard to find suitable staff? “We sometimes struggle over specific skills, among engineers for example, although at the moment we’ve some exceptional apprentices. But on the whole we’re ok hopefully a sign we’re doing something right.

“Retaining staff helps because you have long term growth in skills and capability that you can work with your staff to develop.

“One gentleman here had worked under my great grandfather, grandfather, father and me.

He’s now retired but that’s pretty impressive.

Dad and I feel like we are custodians rather than owners. The business is run to benefit the company and people who work here.

“We wish there were more women. But I’m very proud we have a female engineer, a former apprentice who’s come through the system. I’d love to encourage more. It’s important we get more women into the chemical industry.”

There’s no fixed percentage of turnover or profit for research; investment is made on a basis of need against a specific project. “We spend quite a lot of time looking at new things, leading then to quite a lot of R&D effort. It’s critical to innovate and bring in new products. If you stagnate you die.

“About five or six companies we’ve been involved with have been spun out of universities and either sold off or floated. My focus since taking over in 2006 has been on making the core chemical business properly profitable by reinvesting money we make back into that.

“Now and again, though, I allow a percentage of profit to spend on non-chemical business technology. So I’ll invest in a different company. My last one was Cella Energy, into hydrogen storage. We’re currently looking at something in Amsterdam too.” n

42

PROFILE Rathbones

PROFILE Rathbones

43

Uncertainty but no surprises In an age of increasingly impersonal servicers Rathbones aims to offer a service that is tailored for you Investors face uncertainty wherever they look. There is continued weakness in the Eurozone, China is slowing, commodity prices are falling and war stalks the Middle East.

But uncertainty, points out James Kyle, investment director with wealth management house Rathbones, is by no means unusual.

James, who works in Rathbones Newcastle office, says: “As far as the uncertain economic outlook and volatility we have seen in recent months goes, I started in 1998 and I’ve never really experienced a year where similar sentiments haven’t been expressed. To an extent, it feels like Groundhog Day. Even when markets experience growth over several years, which they do regularly, there’s an expression: `markets climb a wall of worry’, and I think that’s very apt.’’

His colleague, financial planning director Kirstie McKeown, agrees that uncertainty is a constant and that while there are changes to pension legislation that again is nothing new.

“There are always changes, the pensions arena has changed over the years countless times. We had pensions simplification in 2006 and they changed that six months later.’’

They both point out that economic uncertainty underlines the importance of diversification in making investments.

“The industry has learned a lot about diversification and has a greater understanding of investment correlation and volatility,’’ says James. “We have to make sure that we construct a portfolio whose outcomes are as predictable as we can possibly

make them. There may well be more uncertainty in the next 12 months and we have to communicate effectively with our clients so that they understand if the market falls again what the likely outcome is on their investment portfolios. What we are good at is making sure they don’t get unwanted surprises.’’

Both are part of the Rathbones Newcastle team, although Kirstie works for Rathbone Pension and Advisory Services while James is part of Rathbone Investment Management. Other key members of the office are regional director Nick Swales, who heads up the office and James Garbutt, investment director.

James explains: “Kirstie and I work very closely together. There’s a huge overlap of people who use both Kirstie’s services and my services together.

It’s an important differentiator for Rathbones in that we have that financial planning and investment management in tandem which delivers the best of both worlds to the client.’’

Rathbones opened its Newcastle office, on Grey Street, in February 2013. The firm now has 15 offices in the UK, including Jersey, and manages around £28bn of client funds. It started in Newcastle with a team of seven and now has 12 staff.

It prides itself on providing a bespoke service to its clients and it has attracted investment managers, brokers and research analysts from big banks, broking houses and boutiques who want to do business in that way. In the North East, its target market is individuals with investible assets from £100,000 upwards but the majority of its clients are in the £500,000 to £1.5m bracket.

“We look after a lot of high net worth individuals and their families and in order to give them proper advice, you need to consider all their circumstances,’’ says James. “Kirstie and her side of the business needs to be involved because, much as I would love to just go in and offer them an investment solution, without looking at all their background details, how their assets are structured, how they might want to move wealth down the generations, looking at their pensions and their bigger financial plan and objectives, you’re not really giving best advice to the client.’’

He describes how Kirstie will lead on the first meetings with a new client to establish these details.

She interrupts him with a laugh: “I was told the other day that women make really good IFAs [Independent Financial Advisers] because

“Kirstie and I work very closely together. There’s a huge overlap of people who use both Kirstie’s services and my services together. It’s an important differentiator for Rathbones in that we have that financial planning and investment management in tandem which delivers the best of both worlds to the client’’

44

PROFILE Rathbones

they’re just inherently nosey – and that is absolutely the truth.’’

This process is aimed at ensuring an investment strategy is tailored to the individual and goes handin-hand with their financial planning. It also tends to lead to a closer relationship between Rathbones and the client. “Often, through that combination of planning and investment, you end up cementing the relationship to a much greater extent,’’ says James. He emphasises Rathbones’ insistence on autonomy and devolution of decision making. “The mantra has always been self-empowerment; it’s selfempowerment of the individual as an investment manager and self-empowerment of the office as an entity and Rathbones has absolutely delivered on that.

“The great thing about working here is that it feels like our business. We don’t have a huge amount of interaction with the Board, for example, because they can see that we’ve had a good start to our careers here, we’re professional, compliant, we put appropriate investment structures in place and we’re growing rapidly.’’

At the same time, he says it is “really reassuring’’ to know that the office has the backing of a FTSE 250 business. Wealth management and investment houses have come and gone in Newcastle. Is Rathbones here for the long term?

James points out that the office is thriving.

“Rathbones is absolutely delighted with the way the first couple of years has gone and they want to back us now to double in size again over the next few years.’’

“Rathbones don’t open offices that they intend to close,’’ says Kirstie. “They are a considered organisation, they don’t open offices and look for staff to fill them, they open offices with a team they want to have in place. We’re here for the long haul.’’

For more information contact James Kyle,

Rathbones’ Gang of Four A leadership group of four heads the Newcastle office of Rathbones. The regional director is Nick Swales, who was born in Middlesbrough and went to Newcastle University where he read Politics and Economics. He joined brokers Wise Speke (now Brewin Dolphin) in Newcastle in 1986. In 1998, he joined Merrill Lynch, a US investment bank which opened a Newcastle office. When they closed it in 2002 Swales joined Laing & Cruickshank, who were then taken over by UBS for which he worked for the next 10 years, before joining Rathbones.

Kirstie McKeown is financial planning director. A chartered financial planner, she has been in the industry for 28 years. County Durham born, she went to school in Consett and then joined Lloyds Bank Financial Services and Trusts Division, which became Lloyds Private Bank. She worked for Lloyds for 25 years in Newcastle. She retrained as an IFA in 2003. Lloyds closed its IFA business in Newcastle in 2012 just as Rathbones was opening an office, which she joined. She advises on pensions, protection needs and overall financial planning.

Investment director James Kyle (above) went to school in Belfast and then read law at Newcastle University, from which he graduated in 1998. He had always been interested in the stock market, so, instead of pursuing a career in law, he joined Wise Speke, who had just been taken over by Brewin Dolphin. He worked for a while in London before moving to UBS in 2006 and then joined Rathbones in 2013. As an investment director he looks after the investments of individuals and their families, taking in personal pensions, family trusts, ISAs and all types of accounts related to individual wealth.

Investment Director T: 0191 255 1444 A: Rathbones Investment Management Limited Earl Grey House, 75-85 Grey Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 6EF W: www.rathbones.com

James Garbutt is also an investment director. He worked for Gerrard Investment Management, which became part of Barclays Wealth. He joined UBS in 2005 before also joining Rathbones. He focuses on more institutional clients: charities, corporate accounts and some defined benefit company pension schemes and employee benefit trusts.

Tell us where you want to go, we’ll help you get there

Investment management for individuals, corporates and trustees.

We’ve been helping people like you achieve your unique goals for over a century – and we’re proud to continue today.

With our Newcastle office now well established in the region, we’re here to help you plan a wealth management strategy around your individual requirements.

Talk to us today about your specialist investment requirements on 0191 255 1440 or email james.kyle@rathbones.com

rathbones.com/newcastle @Rathbones1742 Rathbone Brothers Plc

The value of investments and income arising from them may fall as well as rise and you might get back less than you originally invested.

Rathbone Investment Management is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY £20m office block

Parks in demand

Central Square (above), a key office block in the upcoming Stephenson Quarter

occupied. Over the past year, 180,000sq ft of offices have been let with a further 50,000sq ft under offer. Other tenants there include Santander and the NHS. At Quorum, Tyneside’s other major business park is still developing; Greggs the national high street baker will relocate into new headquarters about 400 staff from Gosforth, guided by consultants Sanderson Weatherall. The staff will occupy the threestorey, 30,715sq ft Grade A office building Q9 before next July, joining the likes of Tesco Bank, Balfour Beatty and British Engines.

Movement grows on Tyneside business parks.

Central Square (above), a key office block Castel Commercial Property Fund – advised in the upcoming Stephenson Quarter

by Aston Property Ventures – has acquired behind Newcastle Central Station, is up for 13A, a 30,000sq ft office building at Cobalt sale at £20.52m freehold.

Business Park. The building has three tenants: Built in 2000, it provides 72,389sq ft of Barnardos, Det Norske Veritas GL and Balfour grade A office space, along with a five Beatty. One unit remains available for lease. storey atrium and parking. Winner of Cobalt Real Estate the vendor was advised by a Best Refurbished Workspace national Farrer & Co. Shoosmiths legally advised the award, it is already fully let. Tenants include purchaser, Lexicon Cole was agent. Elsewhere Ove Arup Partners, Jackson Solicitors, at Cobalt, the UK’s largest office park, IT giant Bilfinger GVA, Cushman and Wakefield, 4 Accenture has spread into a second building, Projects and The Arts Council. adding 51,000sq ft of space at Cobalt 9C to In Middlesbrough a once disused property Newcastle offices of Bilfinger GVA and 20,000sq ft taken up in 2012. Three other office on Albert Road, Middlesbrough, is now a Cushman Wakefield have been instructed buildings have been acquired there by estate 138-bedroom hotel employing 20 staff.

by Parabola Estates to market and sell. investor Praxis, which bought the assets out Ashall Projects, with Middlesbrough The combined passing rent comes to of administration for £11.5m (net initial yield Council, carried out a £12.4m regeneration £1,446,126 a year (average office rent 11.3%). The three units at Cobalt 7A, 7B and over a year for the Holiday Inn Express £18.55psf). Asking price realised would 8 comprise 81,701sq ft and stand on 4.5 acres.

Middlesbrough. The UK’s largest reflect a net initial yield of 6.75% after Current occupiers include G4S and Formica, independent hotel management company, deduction of standard purchaser’s costs with one unit vacant. Finn & Company acted for Redefine|BDL Hotels, which already taken at 5.8% - reflecting a capital value Praxis, GVA for the vendor. e20314 oce20314 oce20314 Washington Washington Washington Business Business Business Centre Centre Advert Centre Advert 175x20mm Advert 175x20mm 175x20mm BQNEBQNE Strip BQNE Ad.qxp Strip Strip Ad.qxp 27/04/2015 Ad.qxp 27/04/2015 27/04/2015 15:4215:42 Page 15:42 Page 1 Page 1 1 manages 69 properties, is running it. of £284psf.

Cobalt, with more than 1.6m-plus square feet of offices and associated amenities, is now 83%

Hotel Regeneration

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48

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY bqlive.co.uk

Generating Logic LogicNow, deliverer of Cloud-based IT services, has chosen Newcastle’s Metnor-owned Generator Studios (above) on Trafalgar Street for a North East base. The Edinburgh company, which has offices also in North America, mainland Europe and Australia, was advised on the deal by consultants Naylors,

Hotels defy risk

in Newcastle from the 35,000sq ft The Rocket in Stephenson Quarter and the 14,000sq ft Live Works building, on Quayside.

Of 33 city centre deals completed in H1 2015, the largest leasing was Iparadigms’ 19,904sq ft at Wellbar Central. Activity was strong on historic Grey Street, where lettings have included Gardiner & Theobald, Adecco and Office Angels. The only new speculative development for Tyneside outside Newcastle city centre so far this year is The Jesmond, which will deliver 11,000sq ft of Grade A space beside West Jesmond Metro. Hoult’s Yard on Newcastle riverside has had a £5m makeover creating 40 more business units, a reception area and new meeting rooms. Some 20% of the new space created by Brims Construction of Sunderland was let within the first few weeks. At Campus North, a Newcastle tech hub, a bigger events space has been created beside current premises in Carliol Square. Already home to the Ignite100 accelerator programme, it supports start-ups, freelancers and hotdesk workers.

Charlie Hoult, the Hoult’s Yard site owner and developer, says: “Bespoke office space is urgently needed in Newcastle to provide for the rapidly growing creative and tech sector.”

being pressed to consider asset disposal, it was Hotel deals and developments are pressing sold to West Hartlepool Steam Navigation.

In Blyth a new hotel of 40 bedrooms is being ahead despite a warning by insolvency trade Management then, led by Peter Land, tried built ahead of the Tall Ships next year. The body R3 that the proportion of North East hotel to effect a management buyout. Instead, BTH four storey, Commissioners Quay Inn - built businesses with a higher than normal risk of hotels, of which the Grand was one, were sold

by Arch the Northumberland Development insolvency has risen by more than 4% recently – by open tender, probably at lower value to the Company and run by The Inn Collection standing now at 21%. taxpayer than an MBO would have realised.

Group - will create 35 jobs. Further The Avalon at Whitley Bay has gone into The hotel was sold again in 1997 to private afield, the White Lion at Brampton has liquidation, but The Best Western Grand Hotel hoteliers Messrs Kohli and Chawla, then resold been auctioned off for £155,000, while at Hartlepool has been bought by Shepherd in 2007 to Tavistock Leisure, the Sunderland Newcastle’s Cairn hotel group has made Cox hotel group after six difficult months. group whose assets include the Tavistock Roker a multi-million pound purchase of the Improvements and 10 more staff promise new Hotel. Now it’s in the hands of Shepherd Cox, a Ramada hotel at Glasgow Airport. R3 levels of service.

Hertfordshire group. suggests the disappointing weather this John Duckberry had the hotel built between summer may have raised risks perceived in 1899 and 1901, envisaging the biggest and hotel businesses. Some managements also grandest hotel in the North East. It had 100 A surge in pre-letting has driven annual take-up consider a recent proliferation of new hotels bedrooms. But by 1912, unviable, the Great of regional office space to its highest on record, e20314 oce20314 oce20314 Washington Washington Washington Business Business Business Centre Centre Advert Centre Advert 175x20mm Advert 175x20mm 175x20mm BQNEBQNE Strip BQNE Ad.qxp Strip Strip Ad.qxp 27/04/2015 Ad.qxp 27/04/2015 27/04/2015 15:4215:42 Page 15:42 Page 1 Page 1 1 may be a factor also.

Northern Railway Company bought it. research from DTZ suggests.

In 1983, when nationalised industries were Supply of Grade A office space will get a boost

Tall Ships ahoy

Office demand climbing

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PROFILE

50

Business Durham

Start-up support for long-term success

With the right support, businesses can go on to become global leaders in their field.

Lindsay Parker looks at how Business Durham is helping start-ups to grow and thrive It began with just one employee with one idea six years ago. Today, PolyPhotonix, is one of the most exciting healthcare photonics innovators in the world. Led by founder Richard Kirk, the company has gone onto manufacture a phototherapy eye mask to treat the principal cause of blindness in the western world - Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO). It is estimated it could save the NHS more than £1bn per year. PolyPhotonix is just one of the like-minded companies based at the North East Technology Park (NETPark), at Sedgefield, which is run by Business Durham, the economic development company for County Durham.

Dr Simon Goon, managing director of Business Durham, says the community is one factor which makes the park appealing to start-ups. “It’s the perfect place for innovative companies to start up and scale up. Not only does it offer a dynamic and supportive environment to accelerate growth into global markets, it brings a like-minded community together. With links to a ready-made manufacturing supply chain and a talented workforce on its doorstep it has everything a business needs to achieve fully supported, sustainable growth.”

To accommodate a future generation of PLCs, NETPark will be expanding over the next 10 years and will create 3,000 jobs and add another £400m to the region’s GVA. NETPark has proved so popular that it’s

e house that ounty Durham ilt...

now full – hence plans for the major development.

But running NETPark is just one small part of what Business Durham does to help start-ups grow and thrive in the region. For example, they can help identify training providers to help companies up skill their workforce as the business reaches the next level or needs access to training schemes, many of which are subsidised or free. Says Simon: “We can help businesses maximise their investment opportunities by putting them in touch with the right funding and we have a team dedicated to finding them the right property to help future proof their business.” The property environment can vary from virtual offices and lab spaces to factory units or warehouses.

Business Durham is one of the county’s biggest commercial landlords and its properties are available to buy or rent at a range of competitive rates and attracted 79 new tenants last year. Experts from Business Durham also have access to properties run by other landlords. Either way, tenants get ‘more than just a landlord’ when they sign up. Says Simon: “Whenever businesses choose one of our properties and becomes a tenant of Business Durham, our team of experts are here to support them in any way they can. They find that we’re more than just a landlord and that support continues as their businesses grow.”

Business Durham is 2 keen to support 1 3

the region’s future entrepreneurs via programmes such as its Future Business Magnates competition in schools. This year, it was based around the United Nations’ International Year of Light, with children set the task of creating a business idea with light as its central theme. The development company has also brought our manufacturers together in an infographic entitled House of Durham as part of a campaign to highlight manufacturing excellence in the region. As well as leading manufacturers Romag and Ebac, it includes smaller creative companies such as Liberty Drums – the latter a tenant at the Dabble Duck Industrial Estate in, Shildon, which makes hand crafted drums using traditional and modern techniques. The infographic showcases that while many companies start small, with the right support, global aspirations can be met and exceeded. Adds Simon: “Business Durham is a trusted guide. We forge long-term relationships with companies so they can see real, sustainable growth. We want to see businesses locate here, stay here, and grow here so it’s imperative we offer them the right environment in which to grow and thrive.”

For more information visit www.businessdurham.co.uk

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www.businessdurham.co.uk

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of Durham’s manufacturing stars...

1. Orsto: Wrist watches incorporating smart communication technology 2. I Sunk Your Battleship: High fashion streetwear for men 3. Liberty Drums: Hand crafted drums

13 4. rist watches built incorporating smart communication technology Gestamp Tallent: ChassisProperty, for most ofwith Europe’s Think your saving company should be on here?glass and solar using traditional and modern techniques Esh Construction: fencing, landscaping and energy services 5. Romag: Specialist car manufacturers ur Battleship: High fashion streetwear for men and wet rooms 7. GlaxoSmithKline: products 6. Roman: Showers World leading medical treatments 8. Email Tricogen>Laboratories: Hair and beauty care products 9. Bristol story@businessdurham.co.uk 14 Car electronics, including parking sensors Drums: HandLaboratories: crafted drums built using traditional Generic pharmaceutical productsTRW 10. Automotive: BHK: UK market leader for bedroom and kitchen drawers 11. PolyPhotonix : Sleep masks treating diabetic blindness 15 Stanley Black & Decker: Power and garden tools ern techniques your company locate 12. Husqvarna: Flymo and robotic lawn mowers 116 13. Gestamp Tallent: Chassis for most of Europe’s Think car manufacturers 14. TRWshould Automotive: Carhere? electronics, including truction: Property, with fencing,15. landscaping Ebac:and Washing machines, chestEbac: freezers, parking sensors Stanley Black & Decker:16Power garden tools 16.

Washing machines, chest freezers, dehumidifiers, and water coolers 17. Wilsonart: Kitchen Email > invest@businessdurham.co.uk gy saving services dehumidifiers, and water coolers worktops 18. Walkers: The nation’s favourite crisps 19. Compound Photonics: High definition projectors for smartphones 20. Lanchester Wines: Bottling, wholesale and 17 Wilsonart: Kitchen worktops Specialist glass and solar products gift hampers of wines and whiskies 21. Thorn Lighting: Architectural, emergency, street and sports floodlighting Call us > 03000 261261 18 Walkers: The nation’s favourite crisps Showers and wet rooms Tweet us > @_BusinessDurham #houseofdurham 19 Compound Photonics: High definition ithKline: World leading medical treatments

SPECIAL REPORT

Seeds of success

Helping out for starting-up

52

SPECIAL REPORT bqlive.co.uk

Small is beautiful–so let’s celebrate start–ups Start-up businesses are vital to our economic well being and we must nurture them says Peter Jackson

Welcome to this BQ2 special report on business start-ups.

All businesses begin as start-ups and their importance to an economy cannot be overstated. Furthermore, they are important not only for what they can become – after all, Sage began life as a start-up – but also for what they stand for in their own right in the here and now. Start-ups - including those which are not destined to grow to become multi-nationals represent a large proportion of small businesses in this country. Last year small firms accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses in the UK, nearly half of all private sector employment and almost a third of private sector turnover.

We cannot do without them and they should be encouraged.

This is particularly important in the North East where our history has been one of reliance on jobs provided by big employers in heavy manufacturing and public services. This means that there has been less of a culture of taking the plunge into self-employment than there has in other parts of the country. In recent years there has been a danger that this gap would widen as house prices in the South East have soared, which, in turn has provided budding entrepreneurs in that region with far greater access to finance.

While this has undoubtedly been a challenge for the North East, the region has risen to it.

Indeed, last year we had the UK’s second largest percentage increase in its number of businesses, at 12%.

This has not come about by accident. The region has been lucky in having some first rate and innovative agencies and support organisations which have nurtured and advised hundreds of

young businesses and helped them to thrive.

We have also had a number of inspirational role models whose success has convinced others that they too could take that decisive step towards fulfilling their dreams and being their own boss.

We also like to think – in all modesty – that we at BQ Magazine have played our part. It has always been our mission in these pages to celebrate and support business success in the region, to showcase not only those who have built big companies but also those who are on their way to doing so.

In these pages, for example, we profile Green Digit, a seed packaging and design business set up by Daniel Robson when he was still at university. Now the business employs four people, is heading for a five figure annual turnover and is looking at its first export sales.

We also pass on tips from entrepreneurs who have been there and done it themselves and highlight some of the funding and support available.

We trust that this will encourage those who are already working hard on their start-ups and will also inspire others to join them on their journey.

After all: `Mighty oaks from little acorns grow’.

“We have also had a number of inspirational role models whose success has convinced others that they too could take that decisive step towards fulfilling their dreams and being their own boss.

PROFILE Sunderland Software City

53

400 businesses and counting for tech support specialists Sunderland Software City Sunderland Software City is inspiring and supporting the growth of the software sector in the North East of England We have helped over 400 businesses to start and succeed with our range of services designed to give your business everything it needs grow, from hands on business and technical consultancy from experienced industry experts to support trading overseas. Rapid market research from our Intelligence Service helps new and established businesses to better understand their market, customers and competitors and with support to identify and secure finance and funding, we make sure your business accesses the right sources of revenue. Our dedicated technical resources including research and development, product development and functional specifications help convert your ideas into marketable software products and services.

And as the delivery organisation for the Digital

Catapult Centre North East & Tees Valley we help businesses from a wide range of sectors to understand and exploit the value of their data and bring commercial opportunities to the region’s SMEs. We are an established Tech City UK partner, advocating the region’s software sector and raising the profile of North East companies on a national and international level and are working alongside Tech North to ensure the North continues to establish itself as a centre for global excellence in digital innovation.

Sunderland Software City Chief Operating Officer Billy Webber said: “The North East is internationally recognised as a hub for technical innovation. At the heart of this are the entrepreneurs and businesses that are driving the digital revolution.

To discuss your software business or idea contact 0191 562 3350 or email billy.webber@ sunderlandsoftwarecity.com. For more information about Sunderland Software City’s services for start-up and established businesses visit www.sunderlandsoftwarecity.com.

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“We’ve an established record of supporting the region’s software businesses and look forward to helping even more businesses to start-up, innovate and grow.”

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54

SPECIAL REPORT bqlive.co.uk

A new business is like a delicate seedling and nobody knows this better than Daniel Robson of Green Digit Daniel Robson’s new seed packaging business had an unlikely – even subversive – germination.

He got the idea for 100% biodegradable seed packaging while he was at Northumbria University from a movement known as guerrilla gardening. Robson, 28, became aware of it when he was studying industrial product design at Northumbria in 2012.

Guerrilla gardening, which began in 1970s New York, is gardening on land that the gardener has no legal right to use, usually on land that is seen to be neglected or misused.

He explains: “Guerrilla gardeners will go and throw balls of clay with seeds in them on the ground in urban areas that are neglected. It’s giving back in an interesting subcultural kind of way. It’s a bit like graffiti but a kind, eco-friendly graffiti. ‘When I got to know these guys I found they are very industrious and very clever and have to be very considerate of the environment in the material they use.’’

This planted a seed in Robson’s brain. Why hadn’t this been considered in the gardening sector which uses a lot of plastics and composite materials that cannot be recycled?

He designed a basic version of the product his business now sells, a cell, made of natural pulp, in which the seed is embedded to be put directly into the soil and which absorbs ground moisture which is delivered to the seed while providing a micro climate in which it can grow. He took it to a London design exhibition where it attracted much attention and this convinced him that the idea had potential.

He then did a Masters at Northumbria which involved working with various companies such as Unilever.

“When I left I decided this was as good a time as any to take what is now Seed Cell forward,’’ he recalls. In late 2013 he and a business partner secured a government innovation grant of about £5,000 and began to develop the product and the business. “I went round as many factories as I could find, I spoke to as many people as I

A green fingered guerrilla

SPECIAL REPORT bqlive.co.uk

“More important, we have a very good relationship with about 50 independent retailers across the UK now and with whom we deal on a daily basis and they are starting to make reorders for spring, which is great.” could, I went to all the trade shows,’’ he says.

“I bounced ideas off people and spoke to a lot of operations managers and development managers.’’ They had a soft launch of the product in the spring of 2014 and managed to sell about 10,000 units. He then put together a business plan and went looking for investment and was able to secure “a six figure’’ investment from venture capitalist Rivers Capital which allowed them to get some automated machinery which they designed themselves and set up a factory on Teesside.

Green Digit has now completed its first trade show and is talking to various High Street names.

“More important, we have a very good relationship with about 50 independent retailers across the UK now and with whom we deal on a daily basis and they are starting to make reorders for spring, which is great,’’ says Robson.

The company has four employees, its head office is in Gateshead and it is currently looking at properties on Tyneside where it can consolidate the offices and factory onto one site. Green Digit is aiming for a turnover of £100,000 next year and hopes to be employing 10 people in two years.

“At the moment we are talking to Amazon, we sell directly through our website and we are selling through various other online channels,’’ says Robson. “We are also looking at exporting into the EU this year and there’s also interest from non EU countries so we are looking to possibly export as far away as the Middle East to Dubai and UAE.’’ Green Digit currently has nine varieties of seeds

in the Seed Cell range. These include popular kitchen herbs, tomato, pepper and sunflower.

“We are looking at expanding the range of products that we do, as I’m from a design background,’’ says Robson. “But I don’t want to try to run before I can walk. I want to try to break into the market with Seed Cell before we push any other new product. We are waiting for customer feedback for 2015 to see what’s next on the agenda and what we can launch into 2017.’’

So, having been in business for a little over a year: has it gone as he expected?

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“It’s tough. No one has done this before, it’s totally unique to us, totally new territory. But overall it has been a really good year. We won the Gardening Industry Manufacturing Association’s seed fund for new businesses, which was about £5,000 towards the trade show, but, more importantly, it’s great to get a thumbs up from the gardening industry manufacturing body. We’re on a lot of people’s radar now, which is great.’’

So no regrets about starting up a business?

“Not today,’’ he laughs. “If you’d asked me yesterday you might have got a different response. It’s the biggest roller coaster ride you’ll ever get on, that’s the experience I’ve had.

“But, no, I’ve no regrets at all. The wealth of knowledge that I’ve managed to acquire and the things I’m learning every day is great. I’ve met some fantastic people and I’ve surrounded myself with some really good advisers.

“I’ve had some fantastic help from various bodies like Northumbria University who have been a huge help. They have provided office space and a wealth of different consultants and contacts.’’

What has been the biggest lesson?

“Don’t let things get on top of you and crush you. You have to grow a thick skin quickly. The reality of it is that every day there’s something new and that’s part of the excitement and part of the reason people do it.’’ n

Graduating to businesses success Lucy Winskell, pro vice-chancellor for business and engagement at Northumbria University, says: “Northumbria is the number one university in the UK for graduate start-ups based on estimated turnover. Dan is a shining example of how great creativity within this University can lead to individual success stories. “We need innovators like Dan for the North East to be globally competitive and entrepreneurship is very much at the forefront of this activity. Northumbria has supported the development of more than 100 graduate companies since 2009 that employ almost 950 staff with a combined turnover of £62.2m. Most of these businesses are based in the North East but are trading nationally and internationally.

“These figures are significant to the North East economy and further reinforce why we are committed to supporting our students and graduates with their business ideas. We are helping generate new businesses that in turn are recruiting Northumbria graduates to build on their growth and success. “We provide wide-ranging support to help students and graduates maximise the potential of their business plans through the start-up process and beyond. Dan is a brilliant example of this, having undertaken undergraduate and postgraduate study with us then receiving specialist mentoring support through our Student and Graduate Enterprise service, successfully securing £150,000 investment.”

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SPECIAL REPORT bqlive.co.uk

Learn from the experts’s top tips Others have already been on the start-up journey and BQ passes on their entrepreneurial tips

STEVE COCHRANE

S A L LY WATERS T ON

Psyche

Waterstons

• Choose your advisers very carefully. You will need an accountant from the outset and a good one is priceless but they vary infinitely, as do their fees, so interview several.

• The same applies to banks, some are helpful and some are not. Also, charges vary and are negotiable. A good bank manager will take a keen interest in your business and give free advice and guidance, though my first bank manager advised me not to go into business in the first place. Tell the bank manager that you would like to schedule monthly meetings and if they are not keen look elsewhere.

• A trade association relevant to your business is a good source of impartial information.

• Before you launch your new business, you MUST research the market that you are entering. It is essential that you become an expert in your chosen field, so that you can be certain that you have identified a gap and are bringing something genuinely new to the market. Most start-ups fail because not enough market and competitor research was carried out before launch. A business plan may sound daunting, but it is absolutely vital.

• You must list all of your costs and try and estimate your turnover and breakeven point.

This is the time to involve your accountant and bank manager. Do not commit any of your hard earned or borrowed cash without a scrutinised plan.

• Do not enter into any leases, or contracts etc unless you fully understand the terms and conditions and the term etc. If you have any doubts see a lawyer.

• Finally, if you start up in business doing something that you are passionate about then business can be fun and then you won’t work a day in your life.

• Don’t do it if it isn’t fun.

• Treat your employees the way you want them to treat your customers; with respect, trust and gratitude. If someone you work with, be it employee, customer or supplier, proves untrustworthy, deal with them appropriately and bravely and do not assume the rest of the world is like them. Bad people are a rare exception.

• Stick to your values and do not compromise.

• Never lie or do anything in any way doubtful; you want to sleep at night.

• Always be open and honest- admit mistakes.

• Keep in touch with all your customers through hard times and good times. Remember that you owe them that loyalty.

• Don’t use the hard sell; usually people will not trust people where the relationship is one-sided; it must be mutually beneficial.

• Look after the cash- cash is critical.

GEOFF THOMPSON Utilitywise • It was less than 10 years ago that Utilitywise was itself a start-up! We now have revenues approaching £100M and employ over 1,500 staff. However the journey hasn’t been easy and it’s continuous.

• It’s imperative to start with a detailed plan that defines all the financial and operational assumptions that underpin it.

• Secondly, once the plan is complete you simply must measure financial and operational performance weekly, daily and hourly as

required. It’s key to have a set of KPIs and the IT systems in place to measure and report on performance.

• If you can identify any variance to plan early you can intervene and act swiftly. Hence it’s also important to adapt and change when necessary as new circumstances and facts emerge.

• Finally you must find great talent and nurture and develop it as without great people you are unlikely to succeed.

SARA DAVIES Crafter’s Companion Ltd • There are many factors to creating a successful business, but the one tip I want to share with you is the importance of marketing. I believe that it not only forms a solid foundation to your business but is also key to success. • • You could have a product/service that’s the best thing since sliced bread but if none of your potential customers know about you, you’re unlikely to make any sales.

So, what are the benefits of marketing and why is it so important?

• First and foremost is your market research without this you may not fully understand your customers’ needs. Social media gives you direct access to your target audience and the chance to talk to them… think of it like a large-scale focus group.

• Once you have this you can develop your marketing strategy. This will enable you to spread the word about your business and promote particular products, allowing you to build a consistent brand image which will raise awareness and brand loyalty.

Your customers might spot an advert, read about you in the paper or come across you online many times before they buy, so you need to have a continual presence.

PROFILE Rivers Capital Partners

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The Entrepreneurs’ Fund Manager Rivers Capital Partners have been investing for growth since 2010 Founded as a joint venture by Jonathan Gold, John White and Peter Hiscocks with a vision to use their entrepreneurial backgrounds to provide investment for other entrepreneurs. With over 50 years of combined investment experience, they know that the ‘next big thing’ can have the smallest beginnings. Their experiences as entrepreneurs mean they do things differently. Like you, they are interested in your success. Now, transferring their experience in founding and growing businesses, they want to help regional businesses achieve their aspirations. They are Managers of the £9.5m North East Angel Fund and the £6.5m North East Microloan Fund from the Finance for Business North East programme. Both funds support the growth and innovation of products and services in SME’s across the North East of England and between them have

invested almost £15m into over 450 companies since 2010. The Angel Fund is a specialist early-stage seed fund for small businesses in the region. Recognised as the ‘flexible Fund for growing innovation’ it will typically invest between £10,000 and £150,000 in any one funding round. It can invest initially on its own but seeks to involve private investors whenever appropriate. The Fund offers a tailored investment solution, whether it be pure equity, pure loan, or anything in-between, to best suit the needs of the business. This flexibility is very attractive and allows a large breadth of early stage and established companies in a variety of different sectors and stages to apply to the Fund. The Microloan Fund is designed to support small businesses looking for funding to expand their operations and start-ups.

The Fund is committed to providing straightforward

loans anywhere between £1,000 and £25,000 with the potential in exceptional cases to go to £50,000.

The Fund works exclusively with businesses that have been struggling to secure mainstream finance with the purpose of stimulating the creation of new business and securing jobs within the region.

Email us at: info@riverscap.com or call 0191 230 6370

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PROFILE Business Enterprise Fund (BEF)

Going further for small business funding Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) are a not for profit company that delivers loans to businesses unable to access mainstream finance elsewhere. We serve all sectors, including retail, and consider high risk businesses, lending up to 100% of the proposition.

We offer unsecured lending up to £50,000 and from £50,000 to £150,000 secured, including commercial mortgages. We are also a delivery partner for the Start Up Loans Company, a Government initiative which aims to finance pre-start and young businesses who have been trading up to 24 months.

We understand that it’s not just about the money.

Business mentoring and support are an offer to our clients; as well as an assigned member of our investment team is available to help with the application process and beyond. We are also partnered with useful services who can help your business thrive to provide added value to our finance service. We know the positive impact that thriving businesses can have on the community and the economy as a whole. We began in 2004 with a mission to help grow SME businesses in the Bradford area and to this day we assess the potential impact that a business can have on the economy.

We have now expanded to cover North and West Yorkshire, East Yorks, North Lincolnshire and all the North East of England and we lent over £7 million in 2014. Our loans are used for all kinds of business purposes; from growth financing, for wages, stock and equipment purchase, to cash flow support and refinancing. Read some of our client’s stories below and to find out more why not visit us online or give us a call today.

PERFORMANCE GLASS PROCESSING LTD Performance Glass Processing are a Halifax based business which specialises in providing cut fire and acoustic glass to businesses. In 2014 they began trading with help from a loan from BEF and have since expanded their operations and exceeded targets by a milestone. Director Steve Wilson saw a gap in the market for supplying cut glass to businesses in the region and having founded the business he had a clear view on where to take things.

Now PGP have established a deal to become the only mainland stockist of high performance fire rated German products from Schott Glass. They have also begun manufacturing their own fire rated integrated blinds. “We will be closing our first and second buildings to relocate to a much bigger space. This will give us more room to stock a variety of our high

“BEF have not only helped us financially, but surrounded us with the right people, who helped us in different ways”. Steve Wilson, Performance Glass Processing” quality glass, as well as allow us room to develop as a company.” Steve said. The expansion is due to create around 5 new jobs and promote further growth in the future.

NOVO COFFEE HOUSE Neville Morris had over 20 years’ experience working in sales, and was aching to put his passion for good food and coffee to work. With help from a Start Up Loan delivered by BEF, Novo Coffee House was born.

Neville immediately used the funding to purchase equipment and fixtures for the shop. Start Up Loans offer up to £25,000 at 6.2% APR for businesses up to 24 months old. The café has now been trading since September 2014 and Neville is enjoying being his own boss for the first time. Located in an ideal space in the centre of Dewsbury, Neville serves his flagship coffee and delicious food.

“Our coffee is wood roasted which is a new approach, I’ve done lots of research and become quite a connoisseur” Neville said. He has also taken on young apprentices, who acquire the skills to work in the industry, including the all-important barista training.

FURTHER DETAILS The Business Enterprise Fund provides loans from £500 to £150,000 to businesses that are unable to raise the finance they require from mainstream lenders. Lending up to 100% of the proposition

across all sectors BEF has assisted over 2000 businesses since making its first loan in 2004.

Funding can be for all business needs including cash flow, assets and expansion plus those applicants with poor credit are also considered. In addition to their Bradford base, BEF operates from local offices in both York and Leeds and has recently expanded into the North East with an office in Darlington. In 2014 BEF has celebrated its 10th birthday.

The Business Enterprise Fund is a social enterprise and a Community Development Finance Institution, all our profits and reinvested in the company to further our social aims.

www.befund.org Tel: 0845 2003919 Email: info@befund.org Twitter: @BE_Fund Facebook: ‘Business Enterprise Fund’ Bradford: Devere House, Little Germany, BD1 5AH Leeds: Vicarage Chambers, 9 Park Square East, LS1 2LH York: Blake House, 18 Blake Street, York, YO1 8QH Darlington: Darlington Business Central, 2 Union Square, Darlington, DL1 1GL

Inspiring communities through enterprise.

The Beacon offers high quality office space making it the perfect location to accommodate the needs of your new or expanding business.

• Various work space currently available • Access to meeting rooms and conference space in our state of the art events centre, The Skylight Suite • Access to free business / mentoring support • An environment specifically designed to facilitate networking and collaboration

www.thebeaconnewcastle.co.uk

0191 2424894 info@thebeacon.co.uk www.thebeaconnewcastle.co.uk

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MADE 2015 bqlive.co.uk

MADE - a festival business Hundreds of businesses showed how strong the BQ entrepreneurial spirit is at this year’s MADE Festival in Sheffield. Set in the stunning surroundings of City Hall at the heart of the city, MADE is now in its sixth year as the UK’s largest festival of enterprise and was again supported by a range of sponsors including Irwin Mitchell, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Sheffield, Sheffield College, Microsoft, JCT600, UK Steel Enterprise as well as Business Sheffield and Sheffield City Region. With presentations throughout the day, entrepreneurs from all over the country came to be inspired by the guidance and experiences of high-profile names such as Paul Lindley from Ella’s Kitchen, Joe McEwan from innocent, Kevin Byrne founder of Checkatrade.com and JB Gill of JLS. A range of masterclass presentations were also delivered by the likes of Geoff Ramm and Anthony Stears with the audience also hearing from a number of BQ featured entrepreneurs including Petra Wetzel from WEST Brewery. There was also a series of fringe events throughout the city covering everything a new business needs to know from marketing and branding to start-ups, intellectual property and social media. One of the highlights was the naming of BQ’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year for 2015 in partnership with Gateshead College.

Sheffield saw the UK’s entrepreneurial spirit at its strongest at this year’s MADE festival, celebrating new business and showcasing some stars as Mike Hughes reports “We spent 12 months searching the UK and eventually narrowed it down to four worthy shortlisted finalists from the North East, West Midlands, Scotland and Yorkshire,” said Bryan Hoare, managing director of BQ. “We were delighted to crown Richard Kirk, founder and CEO of PolyPhotonix in Sedgefield, as BQ’s national emerging entrepreneur of the year. It is a remarkable company that we will continue to cover in BQ and we wish him all the best for the future.”

When we talked to Richard in BQ North East, he told us how the company’s phototherapy eye mask, which is worn during sleep, uses light therapy to treat diabetic retinopathy and could save the NHS more than £1bn a year.

Richard told us: “We use our expertise to bridge the gap between research and commercialisation and often we meet with academics in unrelated fields to try to create a culture of ‘organised serendipity.’

“It’s great to get physicists, medics and biologists

– all at the top of their game – together in one room to spark ideas off each other.”

If you have been inspired by this year’s MADE festival and want to find out more about the country’s leading entrepreneurs, follow what’s going on at www.bqlive.co.uk, where you can also sign up for our BQ Breakfast morning email and discover how easy it is to get a subscription to BQ magazines throughout the year. n

Entrepreneurs from all over the country came to be inspired by the guidance and experiences of high-profile names such as Paul Lindley from Ella’s Kitchen, Joe McEwan from innocent, Kevin Byrne founder of Checkatrade.com and JB Gill of JLS

MADE 2015

A MAJOR EVENT TO INSPIRE, MOTIVATE & SHARE BUSINESS SUCCESS bqlive.co.uk

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National Emerging Entrepreneur Dinner 2016 In association with

Thursday 25 February 2016, ROYAL ARMOURIES, LEEDS BQ Magazine is delighted to announce that nominations are now open for the BQ National Emerging Entrepreneur Dinner 2016 sponsored by Irwin Mitchell.

Celebrate the legacy of MADE by supporting emerging entrepreneurs across the UK. The search now begins once again to identify some of the UK’s leading emerging entrepreneurs. We are seeking nominations across Scotland, the North East and Cumbria, Yorkshire and the West Midlands to find the best in emerging entrepreneurial talent.

The BQ National Emerging Entrepreneur dinner brings together established entrepreneurs with the challenge of being accompanied by individuals who in their view are representative of a next generation entrepreneur. The 2016 dinner is being held at the Royal Armouries, Leeds on Thursday 25 February 2016 where we will celebrate and acknowledge entrepreneurship across the UK. If you would like to nominate an emerging entrepreneur for consideration then visit www.bqlive.co.uk/events/bq-events/

Richard Kirk receiving his award (left) from Bryan Hoare, Managing Director BQ with Nigel Risner, MADE festival host

“It’s a great honour to win this award. Whilst it is recognising entrepreneurship it is also recognition for the whole company that have put in the hours of work to enable me to stand up and receive it” Richard Kirk, founder and CEO of PolyPhotonix

For more information about joining us at the dinner and to enter see www.bqlive.co.uk/events/bq-events/

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PROFILE Esh Constuction

BIM, the construction sector’s information management revolution is due in 2016 Esh Construction up to speed and helping brief the sector - showing how it has used aspects of BIM in five highly innovative, architecturally designed schemes totalling £23m+ which are transforming Teesside’s Heartlands Esh Construction, part of Esh Group, is taking a lead in helping the construction sector get to grips with the requirements and processes of BIM - the information management revolution which kicks in fully next year.

Led by Paul Redman, a highly technical team employed by Esh Construction is delivering some of the most innovative and eye-catching buildings constructed in the last four years as part of its integration of BIM technology and preparations for full accreditation. Building information modelling (BIM), announced by the Government in 2011, sets out to achieve a reduction in carbon levels of over 20% in the sector.

The system will be mandatory from 2016 when every Government funded or part-funded project worth £2m or over must be managed according to BIM and only suppliers accredited to PAS 1192 will be eligible to work on such schemes. BIM involves creating and managing the digital files which are used in the design and function of any construction project and are exchanged between the companies involved. Individuals and businesses at every level in the construction process are affected from architects and consultants involved in all aspects of design through project management, build, fit out, operations and management.

Over recent years Esh Construction has been gearing up at every level of its operations employing highly technical specialists within the business who are qualified and able to run and manage BIM accredited schemes and who have been preparing the business to achieve PAS 1192 accreditation.

Paul Redman, Construction Director at Esh Construction explained: “At Esh Construction we’ve been using aspects of BIM in a number of highly innovative schemes which we have built in Teesside. We’ve made this part of our preparations towards full BIM accreditation.

“It’s been successful on every level – we are well on the way to applying for PAS1192, the statutory

standard, in early 2016 and we’re finding that BIM is proving to be a great catalyst for collaboration and is unlocking new and more efficient ways of working at all stages of the project life-cycle.

“What’s more we’ve recently shared the learning and knowledge we have accumulated on these schemes in a series of BIM presentations to clients and consultants. Everyone, irrespective of their level of understanding of BIM, welcomed the opportunity to review these practical case studies and to see how Esh Build uses BIM from the start, at Tender stage, right through the construction process.”

Mark Thompson, Managing Partner, Ryder Architecture in Newcastle said: “Our experience at Ryder is that Esh Group has made a real commitment to BIM and is up there with the more advanced contractors. BIM is as much about the people as the systems and the people at Esh have a properly collaborative approach and have embraced the technology of BIM ahead of the many in their field. Newcastle is already seen as a centre of excellence for BIM globally, it’s great to have

firms like Esh committed to the journey.”

The total value of the Teesside contracts amounts to over £23m in developments which form part of the regeneration of Middlesbrough and Stockton’s riversides, Teesside’s heartland: THIRTEEN GROUP HQ, STOCKTON – FEBRUARY 2014 – MARCH 2015 £5.4m, three-storeys, 43,000 sq ft HQ for this major social housing provider. Part of the £100m Northshore Riverside Regeneration Scheme, sited next to the Infinity Bridge. The building provides modern, user friendly office accommodation aimed at promoting collaborative working for over 400 staff. It achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and includes two iconic feature stairs which required a bold move to cut two holes in the new office floor plate that create a short circuit within the office wings to foster vertical as well as horizontal collaboration between staff.

STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHS) Skills Centre – June 2014 – September 2015

PROFILE Esh Construction

£7.4m, for Middlesbrough College. A three storey, steel framed building combining classrooms with workshop, production and manufacturing areas, ICT Suites, cafe and break out rooms – and a rooftop teaching platform with learning facilities including rainwater harvesting tank, crane installation, wind turbine and photovoltaic panels Sited on reclaimed Middlehaven Dock, a leg of the filled dock projects beneath the building footprint. Up to 500 of the College’s construction skills students regularly visit the site during construction as part of their studies and to develop their understanding of the world of work. BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

BOHO 5, MIDDLESBROUGH - JUNE 2014 – JULY 2015 £3.3m, high quality, innovative incubator offices for Middlesbrough Council. Built on a brownfield site next to Middlesbrough Dock, Boho 5 is designed to provide small, flexible spaces for start-ups. Use of space was a key factor in the building design, maximising interaction opportunities to support collaboration between occupiers.

FUSION HIVE, STOCKTON INNOVATION CENTRE, – JULY 2014 – AUGUST 2015 £5.4m, commissioned by Stockton Borough Council for University of Teesside occupancy. A hi-tech modular incubator centre with state-of-the-art ICT services for fledgling businesses seeking flexible ‘in and out’ tenancies for their embryonic digital and science based businesses and start-ups. The building has been designed for current/future flexibility of space size with a full height-atrium, feature stair case and communal meeting facilities located in the building’s core, which are an attractive focal point for the building’s staff and visitors.

BREEAM ‘Very Good’.

ORION BUILDING – MARCH 2015 – SEPTEMBER 2015 £2.2m, for Teesside University. Extension and refurbishment to existing University building involving partial demolition of three-storey east elevation, an extension to building incorporating a new glass facade, cladding and brickwork, break out area, exhibition space and associated services.

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Refurbishment of the existing building to provide increased computer facilities and laboratories.

The schemes have been overseen by Paul and his project management team at Esh Construction.

He said: “We’re delighted to have worked with so many partners to create these buildings, to have contributed to the fabric and legacy of the region and to have shared our learning with so colleagues on the important issue of BIM implementation has been a valuable extra outcome and benefit. We’re hoping to meet with over 100 different organisations as part of our information sharing programme.”

Esh House, Bowburn North Industrial Estate Bowburn, Durham, DH6 5PF www.eshgroup.co.uk 0191 377 4570 enquiries@eshgroup.co.uk

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BUSINESS LUNCH bqlive.co.uk

Lawyer on the run

BUSINESS LUNCH bqlive.co.uk

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Thirty years with the same firm is a tad unusual for lawyers these days but then Hugh Welch, who took up marathon running at the age of 50, is a tad unusual himself. Brian Nicholls samples a new hotel with him One’s first mischievous thought on entertaining Hugh Welch to lunch is that the bill should be modest with a build like his. You’d expect more than three diary-packed decades of corporate and often complex legal negotiation to have left on him evidence of abundant consumption of carbohydrates.

But Hugh, senior partner with 30 years’ service at Muckle LLP commercial law firm in Newcastle, is also a marathon fun runner. His footprints were laid on Dubai last January, London last April, and will be along the route of the Dublin run again soon. He has also run the shores of Loch Ness. Yet he only took to marathon running eight years ago when he was 50.

In June he actually tackled an ‘ultra’, 70 miles plus following Hadrian’s Wall from Carlisle to the Millennium Bridge at Gateshead. “I ran it in fifteen and a half hours,” he says, rightly pleased. “We were pretty shabby when we got over the bridge, I can tell you. You can stop on the run for a drink but that’s about all.”

This interview worries him. “It’s easy to come over self-important - a bit of a prat. It’s too easy for lawyers to be too full of themselves,” he suggests. Not so here.

Wasn’t he a bit old, though, to have become a marathon man? “I enjoy running nearly as much as I enjoy working,” he admits. A family challenge started it. “One of my sons suggested I was too old to run a marathon.

“I said ‘you find me one and I’ll do it. Somebody Googled marathons. Rome’s run came up - four months away. Jane my wife said ‘oh, I like Rome. I can go shopping. You can go running’.

I started training…didn’t bother with half marathons or anything, just got on and did it.

I’ve enjoyed it ever since.”

Brave? “I think foolish is the word,” he suggests. “But it keeps me fit. I like the mix of a physical and mental challenge, keeping on going when you’re really tired and your body is saying ‘hey’.”

The novelist Alan Sillitoe wrote about The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Is it long and lonely out there? “I’ve never had a problem with my own company. I did run once with a couple of French Foreign legionnaires. I left them behind. I feel if the law ever gets too tough for me there’s another career beckoning,” he chuckles.

His other passion is “giving back”. Sir John Hall

has remarked: “Not many businesses in the North East have a social conscience. Muckle LLP certainly leads the way.” And Rob Williamson, chief executive at Community Foundation, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland, considers Muckle a stalwart supporter.

The latest Legal 500 cites Muckle LLP as top tier in charities and not-for-profit work, with Hugh a key contact. Hugh believes a strongly successful law firm cannot isolate its success from the broader North East community where its people live and work. It’s also important to him as a committed Christian.

“Being so fortunate in my life, I feel a need to help others less so. That’s one of the things that has, I suppose, helped develop our corporate social responsibility over the years. It isn’t about me but about the firm and its commitment to the region.”

For 15 years Muckle LLP has given 1% of annual profit for distribution of grants of between £500 and £2,000 among smaller projects and charities that Muckle folk have an involvement or an interest in.

“The Community Foundation administers our fund, and we have a community team within

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BUSINESS LUNCH bqlive.co.uk

“I’ve never had a problem with my own company. I did run once with a couple of French Foreign legionnaires.

I left them behind.”

the firm. They assess proposals and we support a wide range of things. Also we try hard around environmental issues. We measure annually our carbon footprint and have managed each year for the last six years to bring that down.”

There’s unpaid pro bono legal work too – felt important enough to commit to almost £100,000 equivalent. “As a corporate law firm we can’t help with hard social issues like debt, housing, domestic violence, poverty. I’d love to open a law clinic but we don’t have that expertise. So we help charities that help others to meet their challenges, with perhaps employment or property issues, or governance or trustee issues. That’s where we have skills.”

For some years the firm has encouraged everyone working for it to take two days’ extra leave a year for any voluntary community or charitable involvement they wish. “I’m not convinced it’s terribly good for lawyers to go painting sheds and that sort of thing. As lawyers we won’t do it very well. Others might need to repaint it. Aren’t we better using our legal skills and knowledge to help charities? But any

volunteering is good.”

Staff can also nominate a charity of the year for the firm’s support. Enthusiasm thereafter has been known to extend to walking on glass or hot coals, and even parachute jumping. St Oswald’s Hospice, the NSPCC and Brysons Animal Refuge have all benefited.

Work experience too is encouraged. “People from disadvantaged backgrounds might not think a career or opportunity in law is open to them. Yet many skills are required in a practice besides legal expertise - IT, accounts, and administration for example.”

Working with schools in difficult localities, the firm encourages 16s and 17s to visit on holiday breaks and see opportunities for themselves.

A Northumbrian – and son of a schoolteacher and shoe seller – Hugh had no idea how long law might attract him, even though his grandfather had been a barrister. At Cambridge University he found the law course so dull he contemplated switching his ambition - but to what? He joined Muckle - then Robert Muckle, Son and Hall - as an assistant solicitor in 1985.

The following year he was a partner. “I’ve been doubly lucky ending up doing something I love when I had no aspiration,” he says. “I’ve every sympathy with young people trying these days to work out what to do with their lives.”

Yet Hugh has resisted the increased mobility trend many other lawyers have taken to. “I’ve enjoyed playing a part in what Muckle LLP has been trying to create. When I joined there were about 15 or 20 people. There are 140 now.”

Senior partner since 2007, Hugh says: “Muckle’s probably in a stronger position than ever because we’re the biggest corporate law firm that only has an office in Newcastle, and so is exclusively committed to business in this region.

Other major firms – and this is no criticism – have offices in Manchester, Leeds or London.

That’s fine and suits them. It’s not for us, which gives us a clearer market position.

“We’re certain we can generate enough growth in the broad North East market to fulfil ambitions. About 75 or 80% of our fee income comes from North East business. I think we can contribute to the North East economy, bring

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The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Stephenson Quarter, Newcastle

“There’s a slightly disparaging expression – ‘lifestyle business’. What’s wrong if someone wants to run well something that funds his or her lifestyle, and treats its employees well?” work in that gets serviced in this region.”

Hugh particularly enjoys working with private companies and family businesses. He has noticed, as BQ has, some recent suggestions they may be less efficient than they could be.

“There’s a slightly disparaging expression – ‘lifestyle business’,” Hugh concurs. “What’s wrong if someone wants to run well something that funds his or her lifestyle, and treats its employees well?

“Some people lump under the heading of family firms a vast range of businesses of different sizes and shapes and aspirations. I don’t think you can criticise family businesses as such. There’s so much more to them all, and every big business started somewhere. Acting for thriving private companies, you can get to know people well.

You develop trust and confidence with them.”

He cites the Benfield motors business for whom Muckle recently acted in its £88m sale to Lookers. It’s widely respected in the North East, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Southern Scotland, he points out, and has been run “with extraordinary success by the Squires family over several decades.” Sometimes home ground

work brings international business. When the second generation of Sehgals, a wealthy Tyneside family owning Visage clothing firm at South Shields and Washington sold for £175m to Li Fung, a global business in Hong Kong, Muckle acted for the Sehgals and Li Fung used a London law firm. Muckle has since then been instructed to act for Li Fung. Similarly, when Tor Coatings at Birtley was sold to RPM, this American buyer subsequently has used Muckle’s services. “There are quite a few examples like that,” Hugh observes. Last year Muckle delivered the biggest float in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology on the Alternative Investment Market - Burnopfield based Quantum Pharma, with £106m raised, giving it a market value of £125m. The business has been advised by Muckle since its management buyout of 2009, and in strategic acquisitions following.

Experian CorpFin recently rated Muckle as this year’s North East top legal adviser in its deal volume league table. Hugh feels the performance may indicate the North East economy generally is picking up. Coming from him, you feel there’s something in that. n

Lunch was in the Crowne Plaza, Newcastle’s new four star hotel. First things striking you here are the panoramic views across the city and the ground floor spaciousness created by sheer height of the atrium. Our visit to the seven storey, 251 bedroom destination came during a quiet interval between the Great North Run and the World Rugby Cup. Meals can be formal or informal, taken from mix and match menus. From our choice of seven starters, 10 mains, five grills, eight desserts, 10 small plates and two sharing platters plus sides Hugh selects a togarashi salmon salad with peppers, scallions, fresh mango, rocket, soba noodles and Korean dressing. For his interrogator: a garden pea risotto with Elsdon goat’s cheese, broad beans, lemon thyme, and bitter leaf salad. Before the dishes arrive Hugh hears about The Gin Bar’s USP there. Engineering student and paper boy Jake Reid, 18, found ingredients enough to create an astounding variety of gin based cocktail options. Gary French, the Gin Bar’s manager, has explained how customers can now themselves create and engineer their perfect cocktail, choosing from 27,500 possibilities the liqueur, garnish, the vermouth and how they want it mixed. There are more than 60 choices of wine including pudding wines and port. Hugh’s enthusiasm for sparkling water he’s insisted on earlier seems to fade. A glass each of Sauvignon Blanc seems a reasonable compromise.

His determination to stick to one course also weakens on studying the desserts.

He has spotted a white chocolate and mascarpone mousse with blood orange salad and bitter chocolate, his companion having already decided on broken apple and blackberry cheesecake. Only when wine has loosened the tongue does Hugh mention that Muckle also represents David Clouston, a main inspiration and driver behind this new hotel development via his Tyneside based Clouston Group.

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PROFILE Gentoo

Gentoo celebrates £1 billion of investment in Sunderland L-R, Ian Self, Vice Chair of Gentoo Group; The Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Sunderland, Councillor Barry Curran; The Mayoress, Mrs Carol Curran; John Craggs, Acting Chief Executive of Gentoo Group, outside Haddington Vale, marking £1 billion of investment.

This year marks an exciting milestone for social enterprise Gentoo Group as the company reaches its billionth pound invested in the City of Sunderland, on a variety of property related activity.

In 2001, the Group purchased its housing stock from Sunderland City Council for £240 million, as then Sunderland Housing Group. The Group soon invested a further £219 million on new housing, £562 million on modernisation of existing properties and £15.5 million on PV Schemes. A total of 1,829 new homes have been built by Gentoo Group to date in Sunderland alone, including 1,406 social rented homes and 423 properties for sale. This was complemented with nearly £60 million invested through Gentoo Ventures, transforming Sunderland City Centre buildings into modern homes which otherwise may have remained empty.

The Group recently marked this incredible achievement with an official opening of its latest innovative extra care housing scheme.

Haddington Vale in Doxford Park, Sunderland.

Haddington Vale is a £12.2 million development that provides residents with a safe and secure place to live, whilst also enabling them to live independently in their own homes. A total of 96 homes have been built consisting of 42, two bedroom extra care and 40, two bedroom elderly person apartments, all available for rent by Gentoo customers. 14 bungalows have also been built with four for rent and 10 for sale bringing some much needed housing of this kind to the area. The exemplar scheme is designed by Gentoo based on HAPPI (Housing Aged Persons Panel for Innovation) principles. It followed a close study of the latest European thinking

on building great homes for older people with developing care needs. The building is designed to encourage socialising with the space cleverly planned to have large open central areas which are full of natural light, eliminate internal corridors and importantly make them more easily legible for residents with dementia.

John Craggs, acting chief executive of Gentoo Group said: “From day one we set out to deliver far more than bricks and mortar. We believed in our ability to create sustainable communities people would be proud to call home – where future generations could have the lifestyle they deserve. Improving the Art of Living has been at the forefront of our investment and we are proud that our modernisation programmes, new build schemes and PV programmes have delivered wide spread benefits to the local economy, members of the community and the environment.

Our investment and commitment doesn’t stop there.

We are passionate about the delivery of excellent housing products and services like Haddington Vale as well as making a lasting difference to society and the city. As we progress into the future, we remain committed to improving people’s lives throughout a range of housing and social investment initiatives.”

The Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Sunderland, Councillor Barry Curran officially opened Haddington Vale, he added: “Haddington Vale provides residents with a homely, sociable and safe place to live, and allowing them to remain independent. It’s also great to see the environmental design features that have been included in the scheme as these will help lower

customer fuel bills and minimise the impact on the environment. It truly is an innovative scheme.”

Karen Anderson, area manager at the Homes and Communities Agency said: “The opening of Haddington Vale shows how Gentoo meets the needs of everyone in the communities their serve. High quality supported accommodation for older people is just as important as family and starter homes, and Gentoo is providing these across the city as part of the £1 billion investment that they have made along with our help.” The Group continue to deliver even more high quality, affordable new housing for residents with developments recently underway at Doxford Park, Downhill and High Ford.

Its future renewal plans include further new homes at Houghton-le-Spring, Chester Road Pennywell, Glebe and Broomhill. In terms of Gentoo’s existing homes, in the last year alone they have invested £24 million on maintaining its properties and have committed a further £26.8 million to deliver its extensive planned maintenance programme in this financial year.

Gentoo Group will continue to use resources, be they people, properties, relationships or networks to make the maximum positive difference to society and continue to create great places to live.

To find out more about Gentoo, visit gentoogroup. com or follow @gentoogroup on Twitter. If you’d like to find out more about Gentoo’s billion pound investment visit gentoogroup.com/billionpounds.

We bought 36,000 homes for £240 million. Then spent a further £562 million modernising them.

This marked the beginning of Gentoo’s £1 billion property investment in Sunderland.

In 2001 we spent £240 million buying homes from Sunderland City Council.

We then spent a further £562 million on an ambitious modernisation programme, helping the local economy and improving lives.

Our commitment to the city and its residents continues…

Find out more about Gentoo’s work in Sunderland at gentoogroup.com/billionpounds

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MALCOLM ON WINE bqlive.co.uk

Memories are made of these Ian Malcolm, Elring Klinger, Managing Director renews old acquaintance with the wines of New Zealand When I was initially contacted by BQ to make a contribution my first thought was: would it be about training, about apprentices, the skills shortage, or even a German business in the runup to the EU referendum. Imagine my pleasure when I was asked to do a wine review, then how that pleasure was increased when I was told that would involve two New Zealand wines.

Having spent time working in New Zealand many years ago, I had a fantastic time exploring what was then a relatively unknown wine industry.

I get taken back to balmy summer afternoons, sampling the fare of a vintner in the suburbs of Auckland.

The wines to come under my scrutiny are a “Definition” Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. I talked to the supplier, Majestic, to find out more. I was told they are creating this range to enable their vintners to explore the winemakers of the regions and find the unusual. With these wines they have certainly succeeded. I decided to try the Sauvignon Blanc over the weekend. The sun was shining

so sitting in the back garden was the order of the day. The immediate effect on opening was of buckets of citrus shouting at you from the bottle.

The wine, almost clear in colour, is stunning to the senses, both smell and taste. The citrus nose continues to what can only be described as robust grapefruit flavours coming through. This is not the sweet pink grapefruit most commonly found in the supermarket today but the original one you may have had as a child (perhaps grilled with brown sugar). Extremely tarte but in a great way. Refreshing, and benefiting from being thoroughly chilled. So as not simply to enjoy it as an aperitif, the wine was studiously replaced in the fridge to allow us to prepare supper.

The choice was seabass with stir fry vegetables. Very simple, but it proved to be a great accompaniment to the wine.

Yes, I like to choose my food to go with my wine. It was midweek before I was able to indulge in the Pinot Noir. I decided that rack of lamb would be the food of choice this time. What the

Sauvignon packed in citrus the Pinot packed in earthiness as the first glass was poured. Blood red in colour resembling a good burgundy, the sensation that hit my nose as I raised the glass was one of light wood smoke and smouldering rosemary. Very dry to taste and light with a smoothness that was surprising.

The first glass went well as an aperitif with a selection of salami, jamon, and hard cheese.

Lamb to follow was the perfect combination.

The wine continued to improve as the evening progressed and I think, rather oddly, it benefited from a little air. My partner and I agreed it would also go well for those people who prefer to drink red wine with fish as it has a gentleness of taste.

It was a real privilege to sample these two wines.

I have a simple view that there are two types of wine in this world, wine you like and wine you don’t. These two beauties certainly fall into the first category for me. Thank you, BQ. n

Definition Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is £11.99 single bottle price.

Buy 6 at £8.99 each. The Definition Pinot Noir is £15.99 single bottle price and £11.99 each for 6. Wine supplied by Majestic Wine Warehouse, Gosforth.

Head of User Experience Head of Business Change Head of Service Delivery

Finance Director

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We widen the net when it comes to raising your profile Fundamental to this is the strength of network and the knowledge, insight and expertise of NRG’s consultants; the region’s go-to team for executive appointments.

To land the very best talent for your organisation, contact NRG Executive Search & Selection: Tel: 0191 260 4412 or Email: executive@nrgplc.com

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74

MOTORING bqlive.co.uk

Making boyhood dreams come true Surveyor Richard Rafique steps into the shoes of Jeremy Clarkson and behind the wheel of the Porsche Cayenne to put it through its paces As a surveyor I’m constantly reviewing commercial properties for clients, from small industrial workshop units to prime, city centre developments and investments, reporting their pros and cons.

Although these skills are transferable, I’m a little too late to apply for the Top Gear presenter’s job. Nevertheless, it has been a pleasure to step into the musty suede shoes of Jeremy Clarkson to review a Porsche.

Fortunately, I was able to refrain from punching any colleagues as the day drew to an end. And for purposes of this review, I’ll try to stay away from using such expressions as “we all know small cars are good for us. But so is cod liver oil.

And jogging”.

The Porsche Centre at the Silverlink kindly lent me the latest Cayenne for a weekend, a car which has undergone a revamp since its introduction in 2002. First impressions are of a sleek and sporty SUV, unmistakingly Porsche, with the distinctive curves and rounded headlights which are synonymous with the sports cars.

Its 21 inch Sport Edition wheels with wheel arch extensions and chrome plated tailpipes in silver colour enhance the sporty look. As soon as you open the door you notice so many remarkable and exciting details.

The front leather headrests are adorned with an embossed Porsche crest. The centre console armrest bears the model logo. And the Tiptronic S gear selector is made from aluminium. Sitting in the sculpted and sporty driver’s seat, too, you’re aware of a vast range of seating options.

Looking at an array of aluminium trimmed buttons and dials, set in the carbon interior package - and with a large touchscreen monitor and five dials on the dashboard - is like fulfilling

MOTORING bqlive.co.uk

two boyhood dreams – being at the wheel of a Porsche and in the Batmobile.

The set of grab handles and illuminated door sill guards, also set within carbon, add a nice touch of motorsport flair. Although I am not a masked vigilante, hurtling through the streets and over the roof tops of Gotham, I do think I put this car through its paces. There are three drive options, cruise, sport and sport plus. Needless to say, I spent most of the time in sport plus. It would have been almost rude not to have.

This is the most exciting 4x4 I have driven, offering great handling, grip and quick acceleration. As the boost builds, the Cayenne scorches down the road to a gruff growl – a pleasant sound fitting of the performance. In either auto or manual mode, the PDK gearbox switches between its eight gears with no fuss.

It’ll shift up when cruising to maximise fuel economy, hold a gear in sport mode for dissecting a B-road and downchange promptly for a burst of acceleration. This car has the practicality of a large 4x4 and something of

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the driver appeal of a sports car. In all, a great looking SUV and a pleasure to drive, living up to the strong slogan of “Porsche, there is no substitute”. n Richard Rafique is a director of Bradley Hall, the independent North East chartered surveyor and estate agent. The car Richard drove was an Porsche Cayenne OTR £73,677. Car supplied by Porsche Newcastle, Silverlink Park, Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne. Tel 0191 295 1234

“Looking at an array of aluminium trimmed buttons and dials, set in the carbon interior package - and with a large touchscreen monitor and five dials on the dashboard - is like fulfilling two boyhood dreams – being at the wheel of a Porsche and in the Batmobile”

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PROFILE Seaham Hall

The vortex opens for business With brand-new events space The Vortex, plus 37-acres for team-building activities, and easy transport links between key business travel hubs, the beautiful five-star all-suite hotel Seaham Hall, on Durham’s Heritage Coast, offers a stimulating and elegant venue for meetings, conferences and events. The Vortex offers corporate clients a new, contemporary, multi-use zone to inspire creative thinking. Accommodating up to 40 guests, it can easily be transformed from a more typical meeting room to a less conventional and inspirational space that’s conducive to free-flowing exchange of ideas.

Swap chairs for bean bags, dream up award-winning strategies or simply relax, team together, by sharing a private film viewing.

The Vortex boasts state-of-the-art in-built AV facilities - including a smart TV which is hidden by artwork when not in use. Inspiration has been taken directly from the iconic water feature at the front of the hotel that shares its name with the new space; the vortex of swirling water is replicated in the bespoke carpet design. The hotel’s location by the sea is reflected in the wallpaper, which features

illustrations of giant jellyfish. All is combined with a slick contemporary twist on a grand Georgian Break-Front bookcase, which houses games and puzzles and conceals a drinks fridge and technical equipment, while complementing the impressive historical context. Following recently-established partnerships with local companies – Valley Adventures and Karting North East – Seaham Hall has built upon existing activities on offer for corporate parties. Within its own grounds, Seaham Hall can now offer a wide range of team-building activities, including falconry, treasure hunts, bush craft and cookery classes. In addition, Valley Adventures offers archery, paddle-boarding, surfing, scavenger hunts, coastal discovery days, orienteering, circus skills, military-style assault courses and raft building, while Karting North East offers professional Karting experiences, plus paintball, rage rally, archery, tomahawks and offroad 4x4 driving.

Hall is ideally located for that quick catch up with colleagues or business associates without the need of a formal meeting room. Why not join us Monday-Friday from 7-10 am to get your morning off to the perfect start? Our business booths are ideal for small morning meetings (maximum of 4). Enjoy free wifi, complimentary coffee, and the morning newspaper whilst you gear yourself up for the day ahead. If you’re feeling peckish why not indulge in one of our bacon or sausage baps?

We can assist with everything you need to make your morning that little bit brighter!

For more information, contact Seaham Hall’s expert

MAKE OUR LOUNGE YOUR MORNING OFFICE Just a few minutes drive from the A19, Seaham

meetings and events team on 0191 516 1400 or email events@seaham-hall.com

The Vortex Room

A new inspiring space with an unconventional twist.

The Vortex Room

Meetings & Events from 2 - 120 people

The Ballroom

The Annabella Room

Discuss, debate, plan, reflect, wine and dine.

You set the scene, we will provide service and cuisine that is exceptional. @seahamhallhotel

Seaham Hall

@seahamhall

www.seaham-hall.co.uk

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EQUIPMENT bqlive.co.uk

So me

Next time you consider the stereo system in a car, look around the exterior. “In just a couple of years we can expect to see microphones around the car,” reckons Rene Ronning, product manager automotive for Dynaudio, the Danish audio company, which has recently launched a 12 speaker system for the new Volkswagen Passat Alltrack. “They’ll be analysing the sound environment outside the car and adapting the audio inside the car accordingly. It’s basically about taking the active noise cancellation technology from hearing aids and using them in car audio systems.”

If the booming bass of cars stopped at traffic lights makes you wonder if the driver might well require a hearing aid, that too will be addressed.

At the premium end of the market it already

d n u o s deas i

Car audio systems are becoming increasingly complex and are likely to be increasingly tailored to the market as Josh Simms reports

EQUIPMENT bqlive.co.uk

has been: Bentley requested that Naim, the British audio company with which it has had an exclusive contract since 2008, tackle what the industry calls ‘bass leak’ - a product in part of how the speakers are mounted, but right down to how a door is constructed and out of what.

“There are so many areas of refinement now being investigated for the future of car audio,” says Naim’s electronic design director Steve Sells.

“And they’re going to require an enormous amount of multi-disciplinary design.”

Indeed, if for decades car audio has been something of an after-thought for many automobile manufacturers, that attitude is rapidly falling by the wayside: “Decision-making about what car to go for is increasingly about what you can do in a car as much as factors like fuel economy, ride, performance,” argues John Buchanan, CEO of Meridian Audio, which develops systems for cars

by Jaguar, Land Rover and McLaren. “For a lot of us it is in the car that we listen to more and more music. And, remember, audio quality is not just for music, but phone conversations, sat-nav, warning sounds...”

Certainly the car audio industry is moving towards ever higher levels of complexity and subtlety, perhaps well beyond what might be expected for the average listener to distinguish, although Ronning argues that “people are sensitive to sound only when it’s bad - but poor sound quality is actually stressful to listen to, subliminally. So sound quality while driving is more important than might at first be imagined.”

On the one hand designing car audio seems simpler than designing audio for the home: a car is an enclosed space, and designers know where people will be sitting. But on the other sound has to be designed to work in an environment of mixed materials that reflect and absorb it in

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“Certainly the car audio industry is moving towards ever higher levels of complexity and subtlety, perhaps well beyond what might be expected for the average listener to distinguish” very different ways. “Then there’s road noise and turbulence, the fact that there will be a varying number of people in the car,” adds Buchanan.

And even the audio system’s weight can be a factor in a high-performance sports-car.

According to Sells, a few psycho-acoustic tricks - working with the science of how the human auditory system processes and interprets sound - are required. Intricate timing is one: given that speakers are typically set at or below chest level, setting the tweater sound slightly ahead of the other speakers can give a sense of one complete sound at ear-level. Even how sound responds to different speeds on the road, and how drowning out road noise affects the driver’s sense of speed, are now being investigated to improve safety. Small wonder those aforementioned refinements are coming ever faster, and trickling down from the premium end of the car market to the economy ever faster too. Streaming from smart-phones is becoming increasingly important - and, as with home audio, getting the best sound out of a digital format (often hardcore audiophiles’ bete noire). Active speaker systems give the impression of more power without the distortion.Today’s car audio systems are, in effect, audio computers. Meridian’s Buchanan suggests that the next key advance will be from surround sound - now commonplace in car audio systems at the top end - to what he calls 3D audio.

“This adds a heightened sense of atmosphere, so rather than sense the sound coming at you from certain places, you get a sense of scale, of

being in the music,” he explains. “It’s this kind of development that is making audio one of the key battlegrounds in the auto industry now.”

Looking further into the future we’re likely to see a much more bespoke approach, as the top-end of the market is already adopting - car manufacturers will work with audio specialists from a vehicle’s conception, “so, for example, you’re not trying to pack a system into a car using whatever space is left,” suggests Buchanan, with different systems designed for different cars: even a long wheelbase Land Rover, for instance, will have a different system to a short wheelbase model. “The dream scenario for me would be to have a car designed from the outset to be dedicated to sound and speed,” says Sells.

Even cultural difference will be taken into consideration: in the west, for example, an expensive premium car is likely to be proudly driven by its owner; in China, it is still more likely to be driven by a chauffeur, and a system needs to be able to recognise the location of the most relevant person in the cabin: equalizers that can optimise sound in a specific part of the interior are likely to become more commonplace. “We can expect systems to be made with much more focus on where that system will be sold, according perhaps to the different materials used in a model from market to market,” says Ronning. “It’s going to get very complex. But the next few years are going to be very exciting times in car audio.” n

“

Using our local knowledge and expertise, we work with you to deliver solutions which are right for your business.

Phil Hourigan

Director Corporate Banking M: +(0) 7771 933656 Phil.Hourigan@rbs.co.uk

”

Meet the North East team We’re here to help At The Royal Bank of Scotland, our team work closely with our customers – combining our extensive local knowledge with a thorough understanding of your sector – to help you fulfil your ambitions and achieve your business goals.

Mike Holloway

Neil Simpson

Mark McLoughlin

Relationship Director

Relationship Director

Senior Relationship Manager

M: + (0) 7876 393874

M: +(0) 7831 145130

M: + (0) 7909 998786

michael.holloway@rbs.co.uk

neil.simpson@rbs.co.uk

mark.mcloughlin@rbs.co.uk

Lesley Cross

Phil Dobson

Doug Fraser

Relationship Manager

Senior Relationship Manager

Senior Relationship Manager

M: + (0) 7917 598619

M: + (0) 7810 813962

M: + (0) 7818 013295

lesley.cross@rbs.co.uk

Phil.dobson@rbs.co.uk

doug.fraser@rbs.co.uk

Mike O’Hara

Sarah Thompson

John Copping

Relationship Director, Healthcare

Relationship Manager, Healthcare

Head of Corporate Transactions, North

M: + (0) 7876 256982

M: + (0) 7768 368244

M: + (0) 7900 227758

michael.ohara@rbs.co.uk

sarah.thompson@rbs.co.uk

john.copping@rbs.co.uk

The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. Registered in Scotland, No. 90312.

Registered Office: 36 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh EH2 2YB. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

PROFILE Royal Bank of Scotland

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Firm focus needed for the legal sector Despite recent economic and political potentially be achieved. This could be challenges, lawyers are optimistic done through an improvement in fee that the local landscape will earner productivity, more effective remain positive for them capture of time recorded and during the remainder of 2015. being more confident with According to a recent Legal negotiating fees with clients.

Benchmarking Survey conducted The legal services market by the bank across the UK we continues to prosper in the North found that 80% believe that East, especially in Newcastle and fee income will grow, with 30% Teesside, benefiting from top believing that revenue growth quality national and local firms Mike Holloway, Relationship Director will reach 10% or beyond. Last undertaking highly regarded RBS Corporate Banking year marked a turning point for work for a variety of corporate, the sector with performance improving, and whilst commercial and personal clients. What is clear from some firms have still experienced challenges with our experience of working with law firms of all sizes cutbacks and administrations affecting the sector, is the importance of a coherent business strategy there is a generally positive mood. Many firms are which can translate into deliverable objectives and now looking ahead and recognise the need to focus be supported by an effective financial plan and their business strategy. With opportunities to grow access to funding. Growth, whilst highly desirable fee income from increasing transaction volumes, the does need to be accompanied by credible steps to translation of this into a healthier bottom line can ensure that cash does not become absorbed into

increased lock up so that firms end up with problems rather than increased prosperity. For those firms who are still engaged in legal aid work, recent changes in both fees and scope mean that operating efficiency needs to be uppermost and this needs to form part of their strategic planning. Royal Bank of Scotland remains committed to assisting legal firms to develop a successful business, and it demonstrates that commitment by providing access to Relationship Managers who understand the Professional Services Sector and benefit from accredited training.

Mike Holloway, Relationship Director, Corporate Banking, Royal Bank of Scotland T: +44 (0)7876 393874 E: michael.holloway@rbs.co.uk W: rbsbusinessconnections.co.uk

BREAKFAS T LIVE THE ANATOMY OF A LAW FIRM MERGER 11 February 2016. Registration 8.45am The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 1BS

Our panel of speakers include:

• Peter Scott, Peter Scott Consulting • Andy Poole, Armstrong Watson • Jamie Martin, Ward Hadaway

• Mike Holloway, Royal Bank of Scotland

More panellists to be confirmed.

To book your free place visit:

www.bqlive.co.uk/events/bq-events/bq-breakfast-live/

Join us for an inspirational morning of insight, discussion and debate on the legal sector.

08:45am Breakfast and registration

09:15am Debate

10:30am Close

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HOSPI TA L I T Y bqlive.co.uk

Debrah Dhugga chuckles as she remembers how she once reacted to the original plans for the Millennium Bridge, linking Newcastle and Gateshead across the Tyne.

“I was furious,” she says. At that time – in the late 1990s – she was director of sales and marketing at Malmaison, whose Quayside hotel overlooks the site. “I wrote an angry letter saying: ‘What the hell are you doing building this bridge outside our front door!’ I never heard back - just as well, as I now love the bridge and what it’s brought to the region.”

Debrah’s talking to me in the lounge of the exquisite Dukes hotel in London, where she’s now managing director, and involved in opening a second Dukes in Dubai next year.

The London venue is a luxury, high-end establishment in Mayfair, a stone’s throw from St James’s Palace, and a place where writers, musicians, politicians and royalty often stay. Its list of awards is endless, but the most recent hint at the experience it offers: AA London Hotel of the Year, and England’s Leading Classic Hotel at the World Travel Awards.

“Even though I now live in London, I like nothing better than going running on Sundays at Druridge Bay, and going for coffee at Tynemouth.”

HOSPITALIT Y bqlive.co.uk

Debrah’s bridge almost too far Surrounded by luxury in one of London’s poshest hotels is Debrah Dhugga, a destination specialist who picked up her trade in the North East. Steve Dyson catches up with her over a pot of tea

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HOSPITALIT Y bqlive.co.uk

Dukes hotel in London, where managing director Debrah Dhugga tries to maintain a North East attention to detail in the service.

Despite her sumptuous surroundings, Debrah remains a Geordie, returns home to Stannington, near Morpeth, most weekends, and strongly believes that one day she’ll return full time to the North East. “I love the warmth, people and friendliness there,” says Debrah, who was born and brought up in High Spen, and attended Hooker Gate Grammar School.

With two grown up children who also love the North-East, and her husband Shindi who works at Nissan, it’s no surprise that Debrah very much treats the region as “home”. She says: “Even though I now live in London, I like nothing better than going running on Sundays at Druridge Bay, and going for coffee at Tynemouth. It’s great to get away from London for that.

“I’ve always felt the North East is like a village in how it treats people, and I’ve always tried to adopt that service quality, that attention to detail here in London. Of course London’s international, and Dukes is in Mayfair, next to St James’s, and one of the most beautiful parts of London you can ever wish to be at.

“Despite that prestige, I still like to bring that North East class of service, making sure people

“I want guests to feel like somebody coming into their own house.

The North East has that community feel.”

feel like the hotel is their home. I want guests to feel like somebody coming into their own house. The North East has that community feel, which makes it a tiny bit special, and I’ve tried to bring that kind of atmosphere here.”

Debrah’s life in hotels began at Five Bridges Hotel, Gateshead in 1981 – when Vaux Breweries owned it. From receptionist she became a management trainee, working both front-of-house and on the rooms.

The list of North East hotels pours out as she reflects on her career – the George Washington, the Royal Station, the Thistle County and the Hospitality Inn. Her skills developed in all of these before she landed at Malmaison, opening their Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester venues.

She then became chief executive of The Samling and Seaham Hall hotels, before eventually being

headhunted to run the Dukes in 2009. I ask Debrah what she remembers from her career in the North East, and she smiles as she recalls specific events and the warmth of the region’s business community.

“Opening Malmaison in Newcastle was one of my career highlights,” she says. “It’s wonderful there, really special. I also enjoyed Seaham Hall, bringing it up to a five red-star level, deluxe hotel. And I loved the business community – it really was a community. Steve Brown, who used to head Trinity Mirror’s newspapers in Newcastle, used to have ‘curry Fridays’ in his office - memorable times.

“And going to the races for Plate Day was a real event. The whole business community at senior level get together there. It was in the diary like Ascot and Wimbledon are in London - really big on the social calendar.” n

FASHION BRIEF Psyche Fashion

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A suit for the businessman on the move A suit must be robust enough to handle a hard day’s work but also sharp enough to impress the most tight-fisted of clients. Renowned designer Paul Smith addressed both issues with his latest ‘Suit to travel in’, as BQ found out from the guys at Psyche Fashion.

The suit has been around in its various guises for more than 300 years, and in its most basic form, can be described as ‘a set of garments made from the same cloth’ this however does not take into account the myriad of possibilities open to a man when buying or indeed wearing ‘a set of garments made from the same cloth’. However, this does not need to be complicated, and why should it be?

When talking about suits, I feel it imperative not to stray too close towards that tired old cliché phrase of ‘must have’. A good suit can and should be looked upon as being transcendent of trends or seasons, having said that, if there is one item every man should own it would be a navy suit.

Although times have changed and many offices do not necessarily employ a strict dress code, and you may not be required to wear a suit every day, a good fitting navy suit is a solid no fail sartorial investment which will serve you well for years to come.

To start with we would suggest the Paul Smith: Suit to travel in.

The ‘Suit to travel in’ is a concept that allows the wearer maximum comfort throughout the working day. This has been demonstrated through some stunning visuals of British Olympic gymnast Max Wittlock performing handstands and backflips while wearing the suit as shown on the Paul Smith website and YouTube. While we are not suggesting that the wearer has to do (or should do) acrobatics, it certainly goes to show that you will not feel restricted while wearing.

The slightly slimmer cut of the suit is nothing to be scared of as the construction and fabric of the suit is geared towards making the wear feel comfortable and providing a more modern silhouette.

To pair with this we would suggest a crisp white shirt. We would recommend either the Paul Smith London Slim fit twill shirt which also features a spread collar, and side pleating for more ease of movement, or a cut away collar shirt from Swedish shirt specialists Eton. Footwear and accessories can be tricky so to keep it easy to complete the outfit we would suggest a pair of Oxford shoes, rather than brogues, to compliment the navy suit such as the Bertie toe cap Oxford shoe again by Paul Smith. Or to add a point of difference opt for a double monk strap

“A navy suit is one of the most versatile things you are likely to have hanging in your wardrobe, and to get the most out of it, you should be able to wear it for different occasions and scenarios.” shoe such as those by Paolo Vandini.

Both the footwear options have been selected in a complimentary shade of tan and brown.

Finally we would recommend a slimmer tie to work with the slimmer cut of the suit, ideally a silk tie in a complimentary shade like the Paul Smith contrasted polka dot.

As we have previously mentioned, a navy suit is one of the most versatile things you are likely to have hanging in your wardrobe, and to get the most out of it, you should be able to wear it for different occasions and scenarios.

For example there would be nothing wrong at all with dispensing with the shirt tie and oxford shoes all together and replacing them with a merino roll

neck and Chelsea boots.

In short, once you have a well-fitting, well made suit, there should not be any requirements or rules of what can and cannot be worn with it. Just different options.

About us: Psyche is a 35,000 Square foot independent retailer located in Middlesbrough, spread over three floors, Men’s Fashion, Men’s Tailoring and Ladies and Children’s wear.

Established in 1982 Psyche has a long history of providing cutting edge menswear that serves to cater for any occasion, including formal and occasional wear.

Psyche Offers a unique and varied range of tailoring, from bespoke suits to off the peg, also offering an in-house alteration service.

T: 01642 707286 www.psyche.co.uk @psychefashion The Psyche Building, 175-187 Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, TS1 4AG

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ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

“I never envisaged the success we’re enjoying,” Justine says.

“My desire to make cakes was purely because I loved baking.

In 1990 you couldn’t easily buy a decent handbaked cake.

Everything was mass produced.”

Justine Carruthers upholds the best traditions of handmade baking commercially between checking the cows and regularly running 12 miles over Lakeland fells. Brian Nicholls tries to keep up with her

ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

Most founders of a small business might consider running the firm to be more than a full day’s work in itself. Not so farmer’s wife and mother of two Justine Carruthers. Before driving to her bakery at quarter to nine in the morning, she may also have checked the cows nearly four hours earlier and, almost certainly, will have sorted out breakfast and gone through her emails. And if it’s the weekend she may, at 44, just do a fell run over Askham in the Lake District – 12 miles door to door.

She’s managing director of Traybakes Ltd, a company in Penrith she created, and which is celebrating 25 years in business with two new lines, a rebrand and business growing in France

and Norway - and Finland soon perhaps, too.

All produce, note, is handmade to traditional recipes and traditional baking. “We don’t employ commercial bakers,” she says. “All the ladies and men working here learned to bake from their mothers and grandmothers. When I started in the 1990s traditional baking was dying out.

Thank goodness there’s been this massive revival of interest in baking recently. Taste and texture – fundamental. It’s paying dividends.”

The range she and her 19-strong workforce produce daily includes traditional favourites such as all butter flapjacks, Belgian chocolate biscuit tiffin and caramel shortcake, complemented

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with contemporaries like honeycomb crunch, luxury caramel and cranberry butter flapjacks.

Has she got your juices going yet? Traybakes has now been growing at a rate of 25-30% year on year for a few years, and an £800,000 turnover seems within reach. In the UK her traybakes are sold mainly through wholesale partners and small independents, but also through Waitrose and visitor destinations run by the National Trust and National Heritage. Her entry to exporting has been under way for two years, tempered though by need to meet rising demand from the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Initiative to sell beyond has been propelled by Justine having signed up to UKTI’s Passport to Export. “I can’t praise that too highly – a great resource,” she

Success on the run

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ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

says. Enquiries come mainly through trade shows and the internet and are passed to a UKTI trade advisor, who then makes necessary contacts in the countries concerned. That’s invaluable to us.”

The cakes, being robust, travel well and easily, and only require ambient storage, eliminating need of fridges and freezers.

“I never envisaged the success we’re enjoying,” Justine says. “My desire to make cakes was purely because I loved baking. In 1990 you couldn’t easily buy a decent handbaked cake.

Everything was mass produced.”

She was 19, working for the Alliance and Leicester Building Society in central Newcastle and, from cashier, had just moved on to mortgage work. “I was taking cakes to work for the girls to enjoy and they said ‘have you thought of doing this for a living?’ I loved my job but adored baking. So I started Border Homebake, never questioning it might fail. Youthful enthusiasm has a lot to answer for.”

But Justine was working with more than enthusiasm; she had built a bank of knowledge years before, investing the wisdom of three women whose skills she’s passionate about keeping alive. Her grandmother, who was from the South but moved to Whitley Bay and Wylam, was a fine baker. “Cleanliness was most important with her,” Justine remembers. “She was just a home baker but she was great to learn about food production from. She was keen to pass on her skills.

“We also had a brilliant neighbour at Winlaton, a Mrs Coulson who died at about 104 or 105.

She was in her 80s when I was a small child. My first memory of her is being stood on a wooden stool so I could reach the bench worktop in her kitchen, and her teaching me to make fairy cakes.

Justine was a scholar at Church High School.She recalls girls being advised during career talks to look towards professions or marry into substance.

But she was also taught there by a “fantastic” domestic science teacher.

“It was very regimented. We had to learn every form of pastry and breadmaking. It was very comprehensive and a great foundation.” When her business got an order to make 25,000 mince pies every year by hand for two customers, the pastry was as Justine’s domestic science teacher had taught it. “People say it’s fantastic. I have adapted it. But the basis is the same.”

So Border Homebake thrived. It was run from

“I heard someone from a university deliver a terribly sophisticated pricing model with an IT programme. It was very elaborate. When he heard how I was doing it he wasn’t very impressed. But actually the figures came out the same.”

ENTREPRENEUR bqlive.co.uk

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“I can still smell the smells from her kitchen - and remember exactly what she taught me.

She was a very special lady, yet for her this was all just commonplace.”

“a beautiful spot”, a converted dairy on a farm beside Hadrian’s Wall, Justine having always felt for hygiene reasons that one should never bake on one’s kitchen table anything bound for consumers. Her baking probably carried, even then, some entrepreneurial spirit instilled by her father Clifford Blake, who’d started up Metal Spinners at Newburn on Tyneside, and had factories around the UK. Justine’s parents also helped initially with a small investment. The biggest cost was bringing the old dairy up to standard. She acquired a mixer from a school that was upgrading its equipment, and while the oven was very old it baked very well. So no bank loan was necessary, the total outlay being no more than a couple of thousand pounds.

“Everything was on a shoestring but we bought the best we could,” she recalls.

The traybakes sold well. “We had good knowledge of Newcastle, and I had a little Fiesta hatchback. So I baked, then drove around knocking on doors and leaving samples with a price list saying I’d give a call next week. I never had to hard sell. It was all word of mouth and business snowballed overnight.

“Our biggest challenge was coping with growth and getting other people trained and on board.

I was baking, recruiting, driving and acting as receptionist. I couldn’t do all the production and all the sales myself. But it was a great way to learn.”

Her area then stretched from Whitley Bay through Newcastle and on to every town and village along the A69, then over Alston and down to the Lake District as far as Kendal. Cafes, delis and sandwich shops all said ‘yes, please’. “I quickly needed to get a van. It was very fast pace growth, and I was being reactive rather than pro-active, pricing on the hoof and trying to be all things to everybody.”

The situation will be familiar to many starting up in business. “But,” says Justine, “My father gave me a great model for pricing early on – a third, a third and a third… a third for ingredients, a third overhead and a third profit. I used that model for years and it worked really well.

“Some 15 years later I heard someone from a

university deliver a terribly sophisticated pricing model with an IT programme. It was very elaborate. When he heard how I was doing it he wasn’t very impressed. But actually the figures came out the same.”

As business grew, relocation from the premises occupied for 12 years became essential.

Hadrian Enterprise Park at Haltwhistle became the new home.

“We reached a point where we needed to move again. But leaving was difficult. Everyone lived and worked there - they were my family members. So for some years moving from Haltwhistle was unthinkable.”

The premises became less and less suitable.

For three years she searched for suitable premises between Haltwhistle and Carlisle. “There were a lot of industrial premises but nothing up to standard for food production, and all very expensive. I thought the only solution was to build something new.

“But I couldn’t get my head around moving the business and having a complete change of team.

Many of the ladies had always lived and worked in the town. They had no aspirations to work elsewhere. I understood that.”

In 2006 she married Steven, a farmer she’d met two years earlier, and moved to the farm at Shap. However, until two years ago, she herself had commuted to Haltwhistle.

She was looking for somewhere with good road connections and, again, where suitable labour would be found. Fortunately for her, a Food Technology Centre had been built to high standards in Penrith. However, the premises stood empty for two years, until the company by then called Traybakes was able to acquire them in 2013. Justine secured a loan from the North East of England Investment Centre and the

Regional Growth Fund, all of which illustrates the confidence that this enterprise enjoys.

Redundancy payments, training of new staff and cost of the move added up to quite a figure.

But again with a small loan from family, a small overdraft from the bank and steady cashflow the transfer was effected.

She found that with the move the firm has got better understanding of its market. It honed the range. “We just do traybakes now. We are much more efficient now.”

Foreign customers appear to look for products that emulate what they’ve seen in Britain. At home Traybakes has a wholesaler in most counties and good national wholesalers work for it. “That’s one reason why we’re growing so quickly.” At home on the farm Steven is usually up daily at 5am to check the stock, but sometimes Justine steps in and at other times gets involved with other farm work, besides bringing up their children India, aged eight, and Jacob, six.

“It is getting easier as the children grow,” Justine agrees. Her production team will have been in place by 8am and she usually by 8.45, when she must dive into procuring ingredients, progressing sales and marketing, and perhaps talking with their designer and packaging suppliers. Usually it’s 6 or 7pm before she can drive back to Shap.

“The day’s never long enough,” she confesses.

Fell running remains her obsession. “We’re so lucky. There are so many iconic fell runs here,” she remarks. “If I get out twice a week I’m doing well. But I live in hope there’ll be more time some time to run further.”

These Cumbrians, native or adopted, are made of sturdy stuff indeed. n www.traybakes.com

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IN ANOTHER LIFE bqlive.co.uk

Strictly, come dancing Paul Bury, managing partner and head of the corporate and commercial department at the Stockton based law firm Endeavour Partnership, is pretty light on his feet One of the original four founding partners of Endeavour Partnership, Paul Bury became managing partner last November. Throughout his 30 years in the legal sector, Paul has practiced on Teesside. He is also chairman of Butterwick Hospice.

That much is probably quite widely known.

Less well known perhaps is that Paul is also an avid cook, a talented opera singer - and an enthusiastic ballroom dancer. BQ asked him to hotfoot it and tell our readers about his latter love…

“I was around 26 when I became interested in ballroom dancing. It’s funny now how fashionable it has become thanks to Strictly Come Dancing, and it is great to see young people taking it up. It is such good exercise and great for relieving stress and tension at the end of the working day. I’ve been dancing for over 30 years and became interested in it with my wife, Barbara, as we often went to balls and were envious of the people who could dance ‘properly’. It’s lovely as it’s something we can do together, away from work, with other friends.

“Dancing is purely a hobby, just for pleasure!

It’s very relaxing and de-stressing so it helps me to manage the pressures of my job in the legal sector, it keeps me sane! I love my job but it is very intense, so it’s great to do something so very different. People are often surprised when they find out what I do!

“But I’d absolutely recommend it to people as a pastime - especially professionals who need to take a break now and then and get some

exercise after sitting at a desk or in meetings for long periods. It’s something really enjoyable that you can do with your partner or to meet other people. These days, I make sure I find time to go dancing every week - usually twice a week, actually, as it certainly keeps one healthy, and I really do miss it when I can’t fit it into my week. I’m always being asked if I watch Strictly Come Dancing - yes of course! I really enjoy it, particularly when the contestants get really good.

Would I appear on it? Yes, maybe, I’d love to!” n

“Paul is also an avid cook, a talented opera singer - and an enthusiastic ballroom dancer”

PROFILE PD Ports

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Attracting young people into logistics Currently many logistics companies across the UK are facing numerous challenges which are affecting the ability of the sector to grow and develop as quickly as it might There is a growing shortage of young people entering into a role in logistics which is proving problematic for the companies wanting to expand and develop. Nationally the sector needs to recruit approximately 450,000 new workers in the next five years (with 1.2m workers needed by 2020), yet the industry is among those to recruit the lowest number of school leavers, second only to agriculture.

The issues facing the industry are being caused due to a lack of awareness surrounding the skills required to carve out a career in logistics, as well as poor insight into the number and variety of roles available. More fundamentally there is an overall gap in understanding what logistics actually is and not just amongst young people but education providers and parents too. This lack of understanding means there aren’t enough young people enthused by a career in logistics. Of the current workforce just 9% are under 25 and 45% are over 45.

“There is an overall gap in understanding what logistics actually is and not just amongst young people but education providers and parents too”

Increased competition for resources and a lack of skills required to meet demands created by existing and emerging technologies has led to recruitment and retention difficulties.

In the Tees Valley more than 8,000 people are currently employed in the logistics industry and this region along with many parts of the UK faces the challenge of raising the profile of logistics as well as accessing fresh talent and finding the time for training. To help tackle these issues, PD Ports’ logistics division, PD Portcentric Logistics, in conjunction with Stockton Riverside College and national charity, Career Ready, has launched a new Logistics Academy on Teesside. Supported by NETA Training, the programme follows the successful implementation of a similar concept in Liverpool led

by Think Logistics.

The aim is to collaborate with logistics providers, local hauliers and other like-minded businesses to deliver engaging and inspiring opportunities for young people that will deliver real value for everyone involved; the vision is to align the requirements of industry with the national curriculum.

PD Portcentric Logistics’ director, Jim French, who is also national chairman of the Road Haulage Association, said: “I’ve talked to young people of school leaving age and there’s a definite lack of

awareness of what the logistics industry is about.

Similarly, to my mind, there’s a lack of awareness amongst school teachers and parents as well.

“Logistics is a key part of all industries as it is about the movement and storage of products and people.

Its purpose is to add value to a product or person by its location.

“This is a great opportunity to help raise awareness and we are only scratching the surface. There are currently 2.2m people employed in logistics in this country, that is one in 12 of UK workers, yet we face a great difficulty in attracting young people into the industry.”

A SHORTAGE ON OUR ROADS Part of the issue faced by the industry that is made worse due to lack of awareness is the shortage of truck drivers. Rising training and licencing costs have also played a part in amplifying this with less and less young people having the funds to enter this sector. As well not being able to bring any young people in as drivers, businesses are suffering from a lack of licensed drivers available due to the substantial costs involved in obtaining a license and getting suitably qualified.

To address this issue, the Road Haulage Association has put a plan in place to ask government for more financial support to be given to companies that require qualified drivers to fulfil their business needs. During National Lorry Week (26th-31st October) the lorry was celebrated bringing a focus to the sector and the issues faced. RHA members opened their doors to the public to give them an insight into logistics.

For more information call 01642 877000 email enquiries@pdports.co.uk,

The launch of the Logistics Academy (L-R Frank Ramsey - Chief Executive of NETA, Jim French – PD Portcentric Logistics Director and Phil Cook - Stockton Riverside College Principal)

visit our website www.pdports.co.uk or follow us on twitter @pdports

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XY TXCRXYX

PRINCE’S TRUST

bqlive.co.uk

Inspiring young lives The Ruffers build young people’s hopes

The Prince’s Trust has been awarded £75,000 of funding to help young people in the North East set up in business. This donation, from independent grant-making charity County Durham Community Foundation, will support The Prince’s Trust Enterprise programme, which helps disadvantaged and unemployed 18-30 year olds to launch their own businesses. Made possible thanks to foundation donors Jonathan and Jane Ruffer, the substantial funds are being distributed between 2014-2016. They will help young people gain the skills, confidence and motivation to succeed as entrepreneurs. Over the three years, the programme could support 100 young people, helping them discover if selfemployment is right for them, and helping them to set up in business, bringing economic growth to the area. Since its launch in 1983, the Trust’s Enterprise programme has helped 80,000 young people set up in business throughout the UK. Many have gone from joblessness to being their own boss, employing others and providing other new jobs. The youth charity will now launch a new advertising campaign, My Big Idea, across both digital and traditional billboards to engage young people who have never considered starting up in business. Funded by Natwest, the campaign features spoof infomercial-style films based on crazy and completely inconceivable business ideas to raise awareness of the Trust’s work among young people.

“They will help young people gain the skills, confidence and motivation to succeed as entrepreneurs.”

Sean Pearson (Prince’s Trust job ambassador), Rachael Ronchetti (head of programmes at the Trust) and Nigel McMinn (managing director of Lookers)

Supercar, super day Automotive retailer Lookers plc has presented a cheque for £17,500 to The Prince’s Trust following a Supercar driving event. After two days of adrenaline fuelled activities, a charity auction raised additional funds. Evening entertainment included as guest speakers the former Stig from BBC Top Gear, Ben Collins and LeMans Sports car star Johnny Mowlem, who also took guests riding round the circuit at race pace.

The event was held in memory of leading businessman John Wall, who was also a significant chairman of the Trust’s development committee in the North East. Wall, who died in June 2014 had chaired Newcastle based green transport company Proton Power Systems, and was a lifelong charity supporter.

Lookers’ managing director Nigel McMinn presented the Trust with a cheque. Rachael Ronchetti, head of programmes at the Trust, said the generosity shown by Lookers and its many customers would go far in improving opportunities for young people.

Great North runners In this year’s Great North Run 30 runners among the thousands completed the 13.1 mile course on the Trust’s behalf. Roy Sandbach, chairman of the Trust’s North East leadership group, was among the runners who helped raise over £10,000 for the charity. The fundraising endeavours will make a real difference, and sponsorship raised will go towards programmes helping disadvantaged young people in the North East.

To donate to The Prince’s Trust or for further information visist www.princes-trust.org.uk, or call us on 0845 177 0099

IP 10 0 in association with

THE IP100 - RECOGNISING THE VALUE OF IP IN YOUR BUSINESS BQ Magazine is delighted to announce the launch of the Intellectual Property (“IP”) League Table and the IP100, compiled in association with Metis Partners, an award-winning IP solutions firm The IP League Table will profile and rank innovative companies within the UK’s private sector, highlighting those businesses which have significantly invested in their IP in the form of IP creation, IP management policies, R&D activities and IP commercialisation. The top-scoring companies will be published in the IP100, an annual ranking of companies that are considered to be the most effective at commercialising their IP assets. The ranking process involves an assessment of IP-specific data linked to the following IP asset classes: brands, software, patents, trade secrets and critical databases. A proprietary scorecard will be applied to calculate an IP score, and the IP100 team will rank companies based on the results.

The IP League Table will give companies the platform to get recognition for the value of their IP, whether using IP to: • Boost the exit valuation of a business • Improve access to new markets • Protect existing market share • Create new barriers to entry IP also has the ability to play an important role in transforming funding options available to businesses. The IP League Table will enable companies to showcase their investment in intellectual property and potentially leverage the associated value to raise finance and restructure debt.The IP League Table is open to all UK companies and is FREE TO ENTER.

ENTER THE IP100 NOW The IP100 is open to all UK companies to enter and details about the process as well as the information

Enter now at www.bqlive.co.uk/IP100

required can be found at www.bqlive.co.uk/IP100

MEDIA BRIEFS

Second take on what they tell us Parochial means prosperity With controversy entwining the futures of the BBC and local newspapers it’s good to learn a second County Durham local paper is in fine fettle. Hard behind financial confidence invested in the Teesdale Mercury (as reported in the spring BQ), Newton House where the 17,000 circulation Newton News for residents of Newton Aycliffe is published, has secured a £130,000 funding package. Added to its own £750,000 investment into relocation and expansion, that means four jobs created and 13 safeguarded. The funding, through unsecured loan from UK Steel Enterprise, a grant through the Regional Growth Fund and support from HSBC bank, has taken the firm into new premises at Aycliffe Business Park.

Syd Howarth, who started the weekly newspaper and commercial printing business in 1963 and remains involved, considers his family owned newspaper was the UK’s first local freesheet. With business booming in the town – think Hitachi and Ebac for example – it looks as if the Newton News will hold its own.

Oh, and in Barnard Castle it’s wellies-on time for editor Trevor Brookes at the Teesdale Mercury as he launches now a new monthly farming supplement.

Seaside voices Power to the people at Redcar too, where community radio station Zetland FM now broadcasts from Redcar Beacon. Chairman Jeremy Gartland was born in Redcar, raised in Skelton, and that’s the catchment area.

A bit of competition on 105FM for BBC’s Radio Tees won’t do any harm!

That’s the way In praise of the BBC, though, let us congratulate editor Jacqui Hodgson, presenter Chris Jackson and their team on BBC1’s Inside Out, for their excellent exposé of the American company that has abandoned Newcastle and left a tiny and hapless North East marine security force to languish in an Indian jail, apparently without justification.

Gemma, with a wedding photo of her parents, has an idea to help other couples laying plans

From the heart

BIZQUIZ

Good publishing comes from the heart.

That’s why I commend event planner Gemma Jay, whose Yellow Pages styled wedding handbook lists every kind of business that couples might need to consider ahead of their big day. Gemma, from Sunderland, has dedicated her Wedding Handbook Event Planner to her parents Malcolm and Beverley Hagan, of South Hylton, who died in a motor-cycle accident in France two years ago. “Mum and Dad were childhood sweethearts, very much in love, and were married 34 years,” she says. Although online directories are available, a hard-backed quality product is something couples can hold as part of their wedding memories, Gemma feels.

This first edition features businesses in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, and Gemma aims to publish future editions for each part of the UK. www.weddinghandbook.co.uk

1 Which North East business boss was the first and only non-American to fly the F22 Raptor Stealth Fighter with the United States Air Force?

2 John Fallon, chief executive of Pearson plc, which is selling FT Group including the Financial Times to Nikkei, used to be a press officer for a North East local authority. Which one?

3 Under the Water Act 2014, businesses will be allowed soon to choose their water supplier in the same way as they can choose other utility providers. But when will this option be introduced?

4 Which North East town in 1845 made more plate glass than anywhere else in England?

5 Three North East firms have publicly listed their shares during the past year.

Which are they?

The Scrutator

Bizquiz answers: 1 Dan Robinson, chairman of Gus Robinson Developments in Hartlepool. 2 Gateshead.

3 April 2017. 4 South Shields. 5 Virgin Money Holdings last November, Quantum Pharma last December, and ScS last January.

BIT OF A CHAT

Frank Tock’s examining the news behind the headlines To the rescue It’s a crying shame (literally) that our region’s magnificent steelworks at Redcar is to fold, the official receiver having failed to find a buyer. That should not cloud the fact that more than two in five insolvent companies across the entire North of England are being rescued with expertise from the region’s insolvency professionals. More than 90,000 jobs are saved as a result. The insolvency trade body R3 reports that the 41% is in line with national average. Its report put out says figures don’t include firms that took advice from insolvency practitioners, then managed to refocus their business without entering a formal insolvency procedure. So the success rate may be even higher.

There are about 25 insolvency practitioners in the North East out of around 1,750 in the UK, and regional chairman Allan Kelly, a restructuring partner with Baker Tilly North East, reminds us: “The sooner insolvency practitioners’ advice is sought, the greater the chance of business and job rescue. Our members witness first-hand the human cost of business failure and make every effort to protect jobs where possible.”

It’s a different picture from the caricature of ogre sometimes projected in the heat of distressing moments.

Sanity in a spin I think even any exiled Scot enjoying the security of a job at Newton Aycliffe with manufacturer Ebac would feel some folk back home are going barmy. Ebac, we know, is reviving washing machine manufacturing in Britain after many years of foreign-only options. But the Scots’ government has published a consultative document suggesting a total ban on washing machines over the border, with pay per wash at launderettes instead. Many years ago working class Scots did their clothes washing at the “steamie” – communal wash houses alongside the urban tenements, or dedicated facilities at public baths. But at least use of the backyard boilers and drying yards was free. Fortunately many other Scots are dismissing the proposal (energy saving but not fuel saving) as another batty idea from the Scotnat rulers. They suggest,

Hard at work: Some members of the clean-up team help to harvest willow branches

Nature’s way The North East’s newest bridge isn’t even built yet but already it’s improving communication.

The team behind the New Wear Crossing in Sunderland got to know each other better while dirtying hands in a clean-up programme further along the river.

Volunteers – among them staff from the city council, construction consortium FVB JV, Faithful+Gould, Atkins Ltd and other partners, spent a day improving the habitat for fish and wildlife at Rainton Burn, near Houghton-le-Spring. The team, led by Steve Hudson of the Wear Rivers Trust, harvested down lengths of willow growing nearby and used it to create a sustainable natural barrier on the banks. This will provide a secure and rich habitat for wildlife, including kingfishers, otters, fish and invertebrates. The team also removed litter and blockages, reducing risk of pollution and flooding. David Abdy, project director of the crossing project for the council, felt it a great opportunity for involvement, and for using engineering experience on an additional, albeit less costly, project. The new bridge, after years on the wish list, is due to open in the city centre (between Wessington Way in Castletown and European Way in Pallion) in 2018 at a cost of £100m. I gather the riverbank task will be the first of many delivered to improve creature comforts through the Lumley Burn Catchment, especially around Hetton-le-Hole, Rainton, Fencehouses and Shiney Row.

recalling some previous proposals, it would be another inching towards a nanny state. Ebac’s enterprising managing director Pamela Petty, who’s leading the drive to restore even more white goods manufacturing to Britain - and specifically County Durham - will surely keep a close watch on such possible impediments to sales. It would be funny if it wasn’t commercially harmful.

“Fortunately many other Scots are dismissing the proposal (energy saving but not fuel saving) as another batty idea from the Scotnat rulers.”

WELCOMES YOU THIS CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR EAT...

DRINK…

Serving festive lunches throughout December, Hawthorns brasserie have designed a simple, attractive menu to appeal to all tastes. There is a big nod to the traditional but with a cheeky twist.

The go-to destination this Christmas, The GIN Bar offers a vast selection of gin and tonics, martinis, cocktails, locally brewed real ales and wines. Effortlessly cool and quite different to anything else in the city.

Crowne Plaza Newcastle – Stephenson Quarter, Hawthorn Square, Forth Street, Newcastle, NE1 3SA Tel: +44 (0)2843 053 147 Email: nclsq.meetings@ihg.com

WWW.CROWNEPLAZAEVENTS.CO.UK

BE MERRY… NEW YEAR’S EVE GALA BALL Ring in the New Year with friends and family at the Crowne Plaza’s black tie Gala Ball, a night set to become a favourite in Newcastle’s event calendar.

– Champagne Cocktail on Arrival – “Taste of Northumberland” 5 Course Gourmet Menu – Live Entertainment and Disco 7pm – 2am | £90 per person. Add an overnight stay for only £99 Bed & Brunch per couple.

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improve your driving

TheNorth East’s nEWEST Range now open

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GW GOLF

TheNorth East’s nEWEST Range now ope

George Washington Golf Club 0191 417 8346 gsd@georgewashington.co.uk • www.georgewashington.co.uk • NE37 1PH UK

George Washington Golf Club 0191 417 8346

• www.georgewashington.co.uk • NE37 1PH UK STAY gsd@georgewashington.co.uk WARM THIS WINTER IN OUR 16 HEATED BAYS

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EVENTS

bqlive.co.uk

BQ’s business diary helps you forward plan

NOVEMBER 09

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Join BQ and Metis Partners for the next IP100 Club meeting where you can find out more about the IP100 and how SME’s are maximising the use of their Intellectual Property.

Location: Newcastle Central Library from 4.30pm on Monday 9th Nov 2015. Free to attend. Register at www.bqlive.co.uk/events/bq-events/ Company pensions, auto enrolment seminar with the Pensions Regulator, Tait Walker and Ward Hadaway, Newcastle racecourse (8.30am). Claire.blake@tait.walker.co.uk 0191 285 0321.

Export Processes, Compliance and Documentation, NECC workshop, Durham CCC, Chester le Street (9am) North East Together: Leaders’ Network for Social Change – Leadership, with James Carnford (Norwich Business School) Newcastle Business School (5:30pm) bsevents@ncl.ac.uk North East Business Executive of the Year Awards, Marriott Gosforth Park (6.15pm) NECC 200, Durham and Wearside Anniversary Lunch, Sunderland Marriott Hotel (11.30am) CECA Annual Awards Dinner, Marriott Gosforth Park (7pm) NorSCA Teesside Society Annual Dinner, Thistle Hotel, Middlesbrough (6.45pm) North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, Crowne Plaza, Newcastle (6.30pm). Book online, NECC Tales from the Courtroom, CECA (NE) / Watson Burton presentation, Durham CCC, Chester le Street (8am). 0191 228 0900 CBI Regional Council, SMD Wallsend (8.15am) NECC Tees Valley 200th Anniversary Lunch, Rockliffe Park Hotel, Darlington (11.30am) North East Contact Centre Awards and dinner, Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham

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North East Business Executive of the Year Awards, tbc HR Knowledge Update on Legislation, NECC/Croner seminar, DCCC, Chester le Street (9.30am) Pensions, You Can Have It All, NorSCA briefing on how it works in practice (Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle 8am) NECC Visit behind the Scenes, Caterpillar, Birtley Space Conference and Trade Show, organised by the North East Satellite Applications Catapult and Knowledge Transfer Network, Gosforth Park Marriott Hotel. www. satelliteapplicationsnortheast.co.uk Make Your Mark, Aycliffe Business Awards, Excel Centre, Newton Aycliffe

DECEMBER 03 03 03 08

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CBI NE Teesside Dinner vtbc NOF Energy Annual Dinner, Wynyard Hall Hotel Customs Compliance, Processes and Documentation, NECC workshop, Durham CCC, Chester le Street (9am).

Book online NorSCA Business Conference and Economic Review Breakfast with the Bank of England. Speakers: Mauricio Armellini (Bank of England’s North East agent) and Keith Proudfoot, ICAEW regional director Getting outside of the Box, North Tyneside Business Forum event, Town Hall Chamber, Wallsend (8am) Please check beforehand with contacts given, or on appropriate website, that an event is not members only, and that the arrangements stated have not changed.

Events organisers are also asked to notify us at the above e-mail address of any changes or cancellations as soon as they are known.

BQ’s business diary helps you forward plan and helps event organisers to avoid clashing dates. To add your event to the list send details to b.g.nicholls@btinternet.com.

The diary is updated daily online at www.nebusinessguide.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.

KEY: Acas, Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service. CIM, Chartered Institute of Marketing. CECA (NE), Civil Engineering Contractors Association (North-East). EF, Entrepreneurs’ Forum.

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. NCBF, Northern Counties Building Federation. NEA2F, North East Access to Finance. NECC, North-East Chamber of Commerce. Nepic, The North East of England Process Industry Cluster. NorSCA, Northern Society of Chartered Accountants. FSB, Federation of Small Business. Tba, to be arranged. Tbc, to be confirmed. Tbf, to be finalised. Vtbc, venue to be confirmed

The diary is updated daily online at bqlive.co.uk

FENWICKS