Enterprising Sunderland

SPECIAL REPORT: ENTERPRISING SUNDERLAND

enterprise champion Supporting business success in all its forms a lucrative game City’s rise as a world class industry hub on peter’s path Chance to follow the course of a TV dragon

Sunderland...

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In the last two years Sunderland City Council’s award-winning Business Investment Team has attracted 140 private-sector investment projects, creating more than 4,000 jobs.

Located at Sunderland Software Centre, Tavistock Place, the team is the driving force behind Sunderland’s success in attracting and nurturing global companies, local businesses and innovative start ups.

Whether you are looking to set up or expand your business in Sunderland, contact the Business Investment Team for the latest information on how it can help your business on 0191 305 1169 or email info@makeitsunderland.com www.makeitsunderland.com

CONTENTS

CONTACTS

04 NEWS

room501 ltd Christopher March Managing Director e: chris@room501.co.uk Bryan Hoare Director e: bryan@room501.co.uk

The latest stories from some of Sunderland’s most enterprising firms

14 overview

EditorIAL Peter Jackson e: p.jackson77@btinternet.com Andrew Mernin e: andrewm@room501.co.uk

The powerful partnership that has made Sunderland best for business

18 Five star team Gamble pays off for entrepreneurs who fought off redundancy threat

24 enterprise champions The Sunderland group supporting enterprise in all its forms

30 a lucrative game Inside the world of Sunderland’s world class games makers

38 mum’s the word How two young mothers built their own successful business empire

44 heading stateside Strengthening the ties between Wearside and Washington DC

48 on peter’s path Chance to emulate a TV dragon

playing a lucrative game

30 ENTERPRISING SUNDERLAND

SPECIAL REPORT:

ENTERPRISING SUNDERLAND

WELCOME

Economic hard times have brought home some harsh realities and, in the UK, the realisation that a healthy economy cannot be based on a service sector alone.

As the Government seeks to rebalance the economy, manufacturing is once more seen as a key component, along with the ability to sell manufactured products abroad.

This all plays to Sunderland’s strengths.

It is a city with a long and proud tradition of quality manufacturing and – even in the UK’s only region with a positive balance of trade – it stands out for the volume of its goods and services sold abroad.

The city hosts not only traditional manufacturers, particularly in offshore and engineering, but it is also blazing a trail in sustainable industries where the greatest opportunities for growth and high value jobs lie, such as in electronic vehicle production and the low carbon and digital economies.

These do not represent a break with Sunderland’s industrial past but rather build upon it as new industries are able to take advantage of the same hard-working and highly skilled workforce and entrepreneurial spirit that made the city an economic powerhouse in years gone by.

In this edition of BQ2, we provide just a sample of the vibrancy and variety of Sunderland’s economy today, of the investment opportunities that are here and the extensive and deep support network that is available.

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Design & production room501 e: studio@room501.co.uk Photography Chris Auld e: chris@chrisauldphotography.com sales Heather Spacey Senior Sales Executive e: heather@room501.co.uk Richard Binney Senior Sales Executive e: richard@room501.co.uk or call 0191 426 6300

room501 Publishing Ltd, Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, SR7 7TT www.room501.co.uk room501 was formed from a partnership of directors who, combined, have many years of experience in contract publishing, print, marketing, sales and advertising and distribution. We are a passionate, dedicated company that strives to help you to meet your overall business needs and requirements.

All contents copyright © 2013 room501 Ltd. All rights reserved.

While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, howsoever caused. No liability can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork or advertising materials while in transmission or with the publisher or their agents. All information is correct at time of going to print, April 2013. room501 Publishing Ltd is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

BQ Magazine is published quarterly by room501 Ltd.

SPECIAL REPORT | SPRING 13

NEWS

SPRING 13

Brims goes upmarket, Fastflow gets £30m deal, tech giant strides into Sunderland hub, Fenix plots job creation, castle vision moves a step closer, and HR group marches on at the double

>> New home A Tees Valley shipping and transport company has set up a permanent base at Port of Sunderland.

Since LV Shipping, part of the Dutch owned LV Group based in Middlesbrough, opened its new office in the port several of its vessels have docked there.

These include the Maersk Responder, which was at the port for six weeks awaiting a charter for Maersk Supply Service; Team Oman, a vessel that was carrying out spooling operations after a contract completion at Sheringham Shoal Wind Farm for Visser Smit Marine Contracting; Peak Bergen, a vessel importing steel plate from Rotterdam for TAG Teesside; Sea Hawk, carrying cable reels from Norway for Reef Subsea and Irafoss, an LV supervised vessel loading reels.

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council and chair of the Port of Sunderland board, said that the port is delighted to have been able to forge such strong links with the business, a partnership that he believes will deliver significant mutual benefits for the two organisations.

He said: “We have believed for a long time that Port of Sunderland has a special and quite unique offer and to have the commitment of a company like LV Shipping really is vindication of that.

“We’re delighted to be working with LV Shipping, and it is great to have their support in putting Sunderland on the radar of vessel owners here in the UK and beyond. Port of Sunderland is a really progressive place, and we believe that we have the potential to be

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a leading force in the offshore renewable energy sector. Excellent partnerships with businesses like LV Shipping are a fantastic way of showcasing all that we have to offer here.”

Gordon Allan, ships agent at LV Shipping and principal agent at the Sunderland office, said: “Having started working with the port in 2011, it is a relationship that has gone from strength to strength in a relatively short period of time, so much so that this time last year, we made a commitment to the port by setting up an office there.

“Our permanent presence at the port reflects the strength of our relationship. We have worked on a range of different projects with the team there, from major mobilisation projects, to freight and cargo handling.

“The location of the port is particularly attractive to us. It is ideally located for projects out in the North Sea and offers something really special in terms of its accessibility. Transit into the port is so fast. Typically, it takes only 10 or 15 minutes to go from wide open sea to the port’s berths, so the ease and speed of access is fantastic. It just makes it so easy for us to choose to work with them.”

>> Recruitment expert steps out on his own A Wearside entrepreneur has launched his own business after gaining more than 10 years of experience in recruitment.

Anthony Kirtley, from Ashbrooke, left long term employment to become his own boss and has moved into office space in the North East Business and Innovation Centre, BIC. AK Teaching supplies teaching staff to schools requiring substitutes.

Kirtley said: “There is a real need to marry up the needs of the local schools network with the high number of qualified teaching staff that are available across the region.

Many qualified teachers are struggling to find full time work and that is the reason

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I decided to start my own business and provide them with opportunities to get into schools to use their skills effectively and fill the ongoing need for supply and contract teachers.

“AK Teaching fills a real gap in the market that exists in the region by offering opportunities that reach as far north as Newcastle and as far south as Teesside, through the relationships we have developed with schools. It means that we can very quickly get teachers into jobs across the entire region.

“I had heard about the reputation of the BIC and after viewing space it quickly became clear that it was the right place for my business to grow.”

David Howell, director of operations at the BIC, said: “The BIC welcomes all entrepreneurs and we have invested a huge amount of resource in assuring that all of our tenants are catered for. I am delighted that Anthony felt the BIC and our facilities are the right place for his business and I look forward to watching his business grow over the coming months and years.”

>> Brims moves into upmarket housing North East building company Brims Construction has launched a new house -building division.

The Sunderland-based company has unveiled the Brims Homes brand and website as part of its diversification into a wider range of construction projects.

Brims Homes expects to shortly get the go-ahead for new executive housing developments in Northumberland and on the Northumberland coast at Beadnell.

Brims director Richard Wood said: “The housing market offers the opportunity to further grow and develop the Brims brand.

“We have performed well, during what has been a tricky few years for the construction

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SPRING 13

NEWS

>> Café celebrates new round of investment

Kam Chera, of Café Amore and Mandy Brown, of Home Interiors

industry, and believe our heritage, pedigree and recent track-record will help us develop a presence in the market for high quality new builds and conversions.”

Brims Construction, which was founded in 1882, has been responsible for buildings such as the Co-operative Building on Newcastle Quayside which is now the home of the Malmaison Hotel.

It recently began work on a £3m revamp of Pearl Assurance House in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, after its £6m redevelopment of the Toffee Factory in Newcastle received a number of awards in 2012.

In the last few years it has carried out a range of bespoke residential developments and is now aiming to capture a larger slice of this high-value market.

A £2.5m conversion project saw Brims transform the former Gateshead Railway Club Bridge into 25 luxury apartments, and it has also developed some apartments at Keel House, on Newcastle Quayside.

It has built a number of bespoke luxury homes in Darras Hall and Washington and undertook a successful £250,000 redevelopment of the listed Old School House in Dalton, Northumberland.

This was carried out for Lt Gen Robin Brims, who led the British Army into Iraq in 2003, and is a member of the original Brims family who founded the company.

ENTERPRISING SUNDERLAND

A new café opening in Home Interiors’ Sunderland city centre store has marked the completion of a £100,000 investment. Michael O’Connor Furniture Group has given its store in Holmeside, Sunderland, a major £50,000 makeover. This has led to three extra sales staff being taken on bringing the total workforce to eight. In addition, £55,000 has been spent creating a 30-seat licensed café, which is being operated by Wearside restaurant group, Amore. Rob Stevens, Michael O’Connor Furniture Group joint managing director, said: “The opening of Café Amore takes the investment in our Home Interiors store to more than £100,000. As well as creating employment, the store’s modernisation and the opening of a café there will help widen Sunderland’s appeal to visitors and shoppers.

“Both businesses are committed to the Wearside area and we are proud to be making a significant contribution to the success and vibrancy of Sunderland city centre.”

Kam Chera, from Amore Restaurant group, said: “This is an exciting project for us and we’re delighted that our two brands will be joined together with the opening of Café Amore in the Home Interiors premises. We share the same ethos for our businesses and complement each others’ vision for the future.” The new-look store, which was previously called Michael O’Connor, was renamed Home Interiors when it reopened in December to reflect its bigger product range.

The aim of the store’s transformation has been to showcase furniture and accessories.

The company’s revenues have recently held up at around £18m a year, despite the tough economic climate and the well-documented troubles of the construction sector.

>> Fastflow gets £30m two-year deal Utility infrastructure services provider Fastflow has secured a two-year, £30m extension of its framework contract with utilities giant Northumbrian Water Ltd (NWL), securing 200 jobs.

The work carried out by the Pipeline Services division of Washington headquartered Fastflow Group, under the extended contract, includes areas such as mains rehabilitation and renewal, repairs and maintenance, new connections, metering reinstatement and incident support.

“We are delighted to have secured a further two years of work with Northumbrian Water,” said chief executive Neil Armstrong.

“This contract extension gives the business a much higher valued future order book and continuity of workload, which is extremely important to us in these challenging economic times. Fastflow has worked directly for Northumbrian Water for more than 20 years now and we are very pleased to continue that strong working relationship,” he added.

Northumbrian Water operations director Graham Neave said: “Fastflow has continued

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to win work with Northumbrian Water on the back of competitive pricing and reliable delivery. Our long partnership continues to bring additional benefits through innovation and Fastflow’s ability to respond quickly to peaks in workload.”

Short cycle works are currently largely focused on meter installation through the peak spring period – a service for which Fastflow helped NWL to achieve its best ever results in 2012/13.

Long cycle works include plans to work on 73km of pipeline in 2013/4, including 25km of iron compliance works.

In addition phase two of the railway bridge diversion works in Thompson Street Darlington, being carried out in conjunction with Birse Rail, is scheduled for completion and a diversion scheme for Sunderland City Council at St. Mary’s Boulevard is also planned.

Originally established by Northumbrian Water in 1990, the business was then acquired by Neil Armstrong in July 2005 and has now also diversified into the gas sector.

Fastflow Energy Services, based at Warrington, is an approved partner to the National Grid for gas diversion and installation works, carrying out projects costing up to £5m each throughout the UK. This year the combined turnover of Fastflow’s pipeline and energy divisions is expected to exceed £30m.

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NEWS

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>> Tech giant on Sunderland site Sunderland’s new software hub has signed a contract that will see it supported by leading business and technology services company IBM. The city centre, multi-million pound Sunderland Software Centre has signed a new contract with IBM that will see it act as the building’s managed service provider, MSP, delivering support to its tenants and providing equipment to the flagship site.

As well as equipping the building with the latest IT and AV equipment, the contract also includes an events programme delivered to tenants by IBM. Businesses based in the centre will be able to attend events designed to accelerate their growth and help them to make links with organisations that can help them access funding and overseas markets.

The events will be themed around technology for healthcare, automotive and offshore industries, in line with sectors that Sunderland City Council is supporting as part of its economic growth strategy. Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said that the contract further strengthens a partnership that has already seen Sunderland become the first place in Europe to commit to delivering a city-wide cloud computing environment. He added: “We’re delighted to have IBM on board as our MSP at Sunderland Software Centre.

“The expertise and equity that comes with having a provider of their stature on board is fantastic, and we believe it makes the centre an even more attractive proposition for

>> Fenix plans job creation this year Independent lettings agency Fenix Property is planning to create 18 jobs this year, taking total staff numbers to 31.

Founded in 2009 by managing director Keri McMullen and husband Steve, the business has nearly doubled in four years. Some 70% of Washington-based Fenix properties are outside of a 5km radius. The company works in partnership with Team Wearside on an apprentice scheme for 16-24 year olds to

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software and technology businesses looking for a place to do business.

“We recognised some time ago that the software sector was one that we could grow in Sunderland, and the work we have done as a council since has been specifically about creating the right environment for software and technology businesses to thrive.

“The new software centre is a great addition to the commercial property landscape in the city, but the added expertise that IBM brings to the table will do a lot to ensure that people in this sector see that Sunderland is serious about software.”

The Sunderland Software Centre is now in its final stage of fit-out, and as well as having tenants already on board, the council is in discussions with a number of software and technology businesses about making it their

provide experience to work towards attaining NVQ Levels 1 to 3. Apprentices are assessed by Team Wearside in two hour sessions every two weeks. Keri McMullen said: “Fenix believes that training is key to a happy and highperforming workforce, exceptionally satisfied customers and sustained business growth. A mentoring system supports all new employees.

In 2011, Fenix was awarded Employer of the Year by Team Wearside, an accreditation which justifies our methods, and the confidence to continue our growth.”

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permanent business base.

Coun Watson added: “We are already seeing a great deal of interest in what we have to offer and the deal we have struck with IBM, and the support they will deliver as part of this arrangement will enable Sunderland to showcase its capability on a national and international stage.” Nigel Milton, IBM UK executive for Smarter Cities, said: “IBM believes that new relationships between cities, universities, business incubators and the private sector are crucial to the ability of cities and communities to flourish economically and socially. “To this end, the Sunderland Software Centre will not only offer a high performing and flexible technological infrastructure but more importantly, a menu of business support functions designed specifically to attract and retain software companies.”

>> Taking on rogue traders Sunderland based Checked and Vetted is tackling rogue traders via a new trade referral business and plans to expand across the region. Owners Millie Warham and Christine York carry out checks on firms and tradespeople who want to become members, allowing them to be listed on the Checked and Vetted website. It now has more than 500 traders who have been recommended by customers, and plans to open satellite offices in Darlington and Newcastle.

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>> Castle vision moves a step closer A Sunderland City Council backed community bid to make historic Hylton Castle a focus for a wide range of education and cultural activities has taken a major step forward.

The Heritage Lottery Fund, HLF, has awarded £153,100 towards the first stage of a bid to re-develop one of Sunderland’s oldest buildings into a heritage led learning and educational resources centre.

The funding, which is a stage one development grant, allows Sunderland City Council to work with the Friends of Hylton Castle and Dene to develop proposals which include creating educational and heritage led programmes on-site.

When complete these will form the basis for the second round, final bid for £2.9m from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Portfolio holder for public health, wellness and culture, Councillor John Kelly said: “This grant is fantastic news, and helps bring us another step closer to our vision for Hylton Castle as a centre for the community, a major visitor attraction and an asset for the city.

“The city council will also contribute to the funding of the project and work with our partners including English Heritage to put the foundations in place for the second stage of the bid, which is anticipated to go forward in 2014.

“The Friends of Hylton Castle have been working for the last 20 years to bring the castle back into use, not just for the local community but for the city and its visitors, and hopefully with our support and future HLF funding we can achieve that aim together.”

He added: “Internally there are plans to use all three floors to provide a learning and educational area, exhibition space and space for meetings and conferences, while the grounds space will be developed to stage local and city-wide events.

“This funding will not only help bring this historic building back into community use, but also ensure that it is appropriately conserved and enhanced for future generations to enjoy.”

ENTERPRISING SUNDERLAND

NEWS

>> Council steps up business support Local businesses are to be given more opportunities and support to win public sector contracts following a series of new support measures unveiled by Sunderland City Council.

Following a wide ranging review of its procurement policies, the local authority has drawn up a new supplier charter, in which it commits to helping more local and small businesses to win council work in Sunderland.

The charter – which is backed by the North East Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Small Businesses - stems from a procurement review by Sunderland City Council, in which it appointed external experts to work with local businesses to analyse its procurement policies.

Given the economic climate, Sunderland City Council has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting local business and a number of new initiatives have now been approved - among them are steps that include: • More than doubling the limit for contracts which go through the council’s Buy Sunderland First scheme from £75,000 to £173,000.

• Simplifying the pre qualification questionnaire, PQQ, and documentation process to enable it to be more accessible to small and medium sized enterprises, SMEs. • Looking to divide larger contracts into smaller lots, so that smaller firms feel able to bid.

• Encouraging tendering firms to work with the council to continually assess the procurement process, and give feedback on their experiences.

The new policies have been approved by Sunderland City Council’s cabinet.

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “We believe this new supplier charter will be of great benefit to local businesses, and will help them to access more opportunities for public sector work in Sunderland than ever before.

“I am very proud of the outstanding business community we have in Sunderland, and the city council will continually look at new ways we can offer additional support.”

Ted Salmon, FSB North East regional chairman, said: “The FSB in the North East is a big supporter of the proactive work undertaken by Sunderland City Council to help small and micro businesses win more business with the council.

“It is great to see the city council taking this one step further and agreeing new ways to help more small and micro businesses potentially win contracts with the council.

“By listening to the feedback from local businesses and acting in such a positive way the new charter will be warmly welcomed by local firms across Sunderland.

“We will be working with our members and the city council to ensure that these positive steps can be translated into more business being won by small and micro businesses.”

>> Training company moves in ahead of apprentices drive A fast-growing training provider has opened a new IT centre and head office in Sunderland as part of a six-figure expansion.

Resources North East (RENE) has moved into a new 4,000 sq ft facility on Sunderland Enterprise Park which will be a base for IT apprentices and serve as a head office for the group, which has also announced the opening of a new construction skills training centre in Jarrow. RENE was founded by Viv Warr in 1990 and started out as an IT and software development company. Under the leadership of Tom Doyle - who took over as managing

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director in 2000 - the firm has since increased its services to include training. Last year the company began offering apprenticeships and demand in this new market has driven the acquisition of the new properties.

RENE will now be able to train an additional 200 apprentices each year at its new sites and existing two facilities in North Shields.

Doyle said: “Since we started offering apprenticeships we’ve seen rapid growth in revenue that has allowed us to invest in these higher quality learning environments. In order to further expand we knew we required sites that are easily accessible to learners using public transport.”

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NEWS

SPRING 13

>> Orcuma occupies Sunderland Software Centre A bespoke software company, specialising in customer management software has joined the Sunderland Software Centre with plans to open up North American markets and take on new staff.

Paul Mitchell, co-founder of Orcuma, said: “We searched the North East for a suitable location in which our business can grow and it soon became apparent how plugged in to software Sunderland is.

The whole ethos and impression of the Sunderland Software Centre was exactly what we were looking for and it offered the most flexibility in terms of being able to upscale into additional offices when business growth requires it.”

After starting the business in August 2011 Mitchell and co-founder Richard Whittaker are now setting their sights internationally, in particular on the US market.

Growth plans will see the company recruit up to two additional full time staff members by the end of 2013.

Mitchell added: “Orcuma also provides its own customer relationship management and case management software. America is a huge market for this type of software and it’s a great opportunity to take our bespoke software skills further afield and showcase what we have to offer here in Sunderland.”

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland

City Council, said that the growth the city had seen in the software sector to date was an encouraging sign that the work of the council and partners was delivering the right results.

He said: “As a council, we spotted an opportunity some time ago to tap into the growing technology market and make that a staple part of the Sunderland economy.

We had a vision to create one of the most innovative technology clusters in the country, attracting big business and ambitious entrepreneurs to locate here.

“It’s great to see companies such as Orcuma choosing the software centre as a place to build their foundation.

“The centre is ideally suited to progressive technology businesses that are looking for a cutting edge place from which to do business.

We’re delighted to have Orcuma join the businesses already based at the centre.”

Orcuma joins a number of businesses that are now based at the new centre, including Convergent Knowledge, a company specialising in the development and provision of platform-as-a-service business intelligence systems on a national scale.

>> HR group marches on at the double A North East HR company has doubled its office space and moved to Sunderland to accommodate its growing business.

Previously based in South Shields, Professional People Management, PPM, has moved into 300sq ft of innovative and accessible office space at the BIC. The company, which provides businesses with people management solutions, was set up in 2008

by Maureen Lindberg and Monique Ewart. Both accepted redundancy from their previous employer, Northern Rock, and took matters into their own hands by starting their own business.

Ewart said: “We are looking to expand our team of three and therefore required a new office to accommodate our growth. After viewing a selection of office space we quickly realised we wanted our business to be based at the BIC. “We work with over 150 businesses covering a 50-mile radius of the North East and many of our clients are in Sunderland.

“Not to mention it’s a great location with a positive atmosphere.”

Since starting the business, PPM has won Most Promising New Business at the South Tyneside Enterprise Partnership Awards 2010 and Young Business of the Year at the Sunderland Echo Portfolio Awards 2010.

As well as working with individual clients, PPM also delivers seminars throughout the region.

Lindberg said: “Many people assume that in this current climate we focus on redundancies, but that is simply not the case, we help many businesses to develop and grow from a wide range of sectors. We also have a number of clients who we have worked with from day one, if the business employs people then we are here to support them. The seminars have proved to be really popular and our aim is to give a very much business focused HR service and this is what makes us unique and stand out from the crowd.”

SPECIAL REPORT | spring 13

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ENTERPRISING SUNDERLAND

July 18th is BID ballot day Make it historic by voting “yes” to putting new heart into Sunderland.

Businesses in Sunderland City Centre will soon have the opportunity to vote for a Business Improvement District (BID) to revitalise the heart of the City.

This is a real opportunity to bring positive, business-led change to the City Centre. Following a “yes” vote around £3 million will be available to invest over five years to make the heart of the City a brighter, safer, cleaner, busier, more eventful place for people to work, shop and enjoy themselves.

Ballot papers will be issued ON June 20th, 2013. They’ll be sent to each person entitled to a vote in respect of each property with a rateable value of £15,000 or over within the Sunderland BID area.

To find out more, why not come and talk to the BID team? The team will be available to talk to you, answer your questions, and listen to what you think between 1pm and 2pm at Sunderland Software Centre, Tavistock Place, Sunderland SR1 1PB on:

Wednesday May 22nd

Wednesday June 12th

Wednesday July 3rd

For more information on the BID proposals visit www.bidsunderland.co.uk twitter.com/BIDSunderland @BIDSunderland

Be certain to vote

www.facebook.com/pages/BID-Sunderland/165637363587351 BID Sunderland

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SPRING 13

>> BIC tunes into programme (l to r) Jeremy Middleton with Gavin Cordwell-Smith, from Hellens Group

>> Fund helps to transform brownfield site A £1.2m scheme to transform a Washington brownfield site into a thriving business park, creating 112 jobs, has been revived after securing a cash injection from the Growing Places Fund. Teal Farm Park initially secured planning consent in 2007, and the first phase of the project was completed shortly afterwards. However, due to the recession, further development of the site had to be shelved. Now, the speculative development is set to be completed after its developer, land and property regeneration specialist Hellens Group, won £200,000 backing from the multi-million pound Growing Places Fund, managed by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership. Teal Farm Park, which is being developed on derelict former industrial land in Washington, has already created 124 jobs through its first phase, and a further 112 are expected to be created once the scheme completes. Once finished, there will be two terraces of industrial units on the site, and construction of the second terrace is expected to begin in June.

Washington-based Hellens Group turned to the Government’s Growing Places Fund after being refused funding by banks to complete the project, despite fully letting the first phase of Teal Farm Park within two years. The Growing Places Fund, managed by the North East LEP offers loans to kick start the growth of infrastructure, housing and economic development schemes which have stalled in the economic climate. The evergreen fund reinvests loans to help further projects.

Gavin Cordwell-Smith, chief executive of the Hellens Group, said: “Teal Farm Park will be a very important site for Washington, and is one of the first speculative industrial developments in the whole of the North East since the credit crunch. It will be significant in terms of attracting new businesses to the town, and also for the employment and investment that accompanies that.

“We are very grateful to the Growing Places Fund and the North East LEP for making it possible for us to go ahead with the second phase. Despite successfully constructing and letting the first phase, the banks refused to give us any funding, meaning that, being an SME ourselves, we were unable to complete the project. Now, we look forward to the completion of the site, and the benefits to Washington and the region that will bring.”

>> Glass centre boost Sunderland’s National Glass Centre has been given a £200,000 boost to its redevelopment programme. The building is currently undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment and has received £100,000 from the Sir James Knott Trust charity. The centre is a recipient of Arts Council England’s Catalyst match funding programme which

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aims to incentivise private giving to the arts.

It has matched the award and create a new fund of £100,000 for additional arts activities in Sunderland and the North East delivered alongside its partner gallery, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art. The Sir James Knott Trust is a North East-based charity, supporting community projects in Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham.

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Sunderland’s North East Business and Innovation Centre, BIC, has joined a business development programme designed to set established businesses on the path for future growth and success.

Focusing on effective business growth strategies and selling skills, the Interim Sales Director Programme, ISD, has been launched by the BIC in conjunction with David Anderson and DigitalCity Business in the Tees Valley.

The programme gives companies access to a sales and marketing specialist to help develop their business development strategies as well as grow their skills and knowledge.

Anderson spent more than 12 years as a sales and marketing director before working for himself as an independent consultant.

He said: “Being involved for the past three years in the development and delivery of the programme for DigitalCity we are thrilled to be able to expand what we are doing with the BIC and offer businesses all over the North East the chance to develop.

“The BIC and DigitalCity are innovative and open-minded organisations that support realworld initiatives like this. Many organisations have benefited from our involvement. It is fantastic that we are expanding this proven process to a wider catchment.

“We are looking for established companies which want to move up to the next level and have the potential to grow but are a bit unsure on how to take that next step. It’s important to point out that this programme is open to all businesses in the North East, without sector specific limitations, that are ultimately looking for high growth.’’

Once initial contact has been made, the programme goes through a review of the company’s capabilities with the help of guided questioning to determine the areas where help can most effectively be provided. If it is felt that the partnership will be effective, a plan is drawn up detailing outcomes, tasks and timescales involved.

Anderson added: “We are all on the journey together. The BIC, DigitalCity and myself are actively involved in helping that company grow. This is more than just a set of courses or consultancy, but something that becomes part of the company.”

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it was just me and Chris, but since then, it’s grown massively – it’s certainly surpassed all our expectations and targets.

“We are now taking on five new people and moving to a much bigger unit to keep pace with demand. Our workload and order book keep increasing all the time, which is a great position to be in.

“We’re very grateful to Sunderland City Council for the help we’ve received from them. It is very valuable knowing you’ve got support there when you’re new to running your own business and are growing so quickly too.”

(l to r) Councillor Harry Trueman with Neil Hood and Chris Taylor

>> Metal firm expands A Sunderland based metalwork company whose work has featured on prime time TV and in projects throughout the UK is on track to double in size after two years of sustained growth.

TaylorHood Metalworks, which makes architectural metal designs such as sculptures, staircases and canopies, is adding five new members of staff to its workforce to help keep pace with demand for its bespoke work.

The company is also relocating to bigger premises within the Pattinson Industrial Estate in Washington, expanding its floorspace from 3,000sq ft to 6,000sq ft.

Since setting up in December 2010, the business has grown consistently, and it recently provided all the metalwork for BBC1 drama The Paradise, which was filmed at nearby Lambton Castle.

It has also worked on a range of projects in commercial buildings and private residences around the country.

Past commissions have included work at St Cuthbert’s Hospice in Durham, Trinity College in Stockton-upon-Tees, and the Chaophraya restaurant in Edinburgh.

TaylorHood Metalworks was established by Chris Taylor and Neil Hood, who have almost two decades’ experience of working in the metalwork industry.

They have been supported in their expansion and growth by Sunderland City Council.

Neil Hood said: “For the first six months,

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Councillor Harry Trueman, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “TaylorHood Metalworks is a great example of a business which came to being when its founders decided to try their hand at entrepreneurship.

They are now running a rapidly-growing and successful metalwork company, and are playing an important role in helping to boost Sunderland’s economy by creating jobs for local people.

“We are very pleased to have been able to help Neil and Chris with the expansion of their business, and wish them every success as they continue to grow.”

>> Manchester bosses back Sunderland expansion A manufacturer is looking at further expansion at its Sunderland (l to r) Michael Binnie of operation after revealing the rapidlyWelding Engineers with growing base has achieved turnover of Councillor Harry Trueman £1m within three years of opening.

Welding Engineers set up a base in Washington in 2009, but expanded into bigger premises 18 months ago after demand for its range of industrial and security gates and shutters soared from across England and Scotland. And Manchester-based Welding Engineers has revealed the operation - which is primarily a repair and service centre, but also has a manufacturing role - will achieve sales of £1m this year, through servicing clients including the Ministry of Defence, Asda, Inviron and Cofely.

The operation, on Washington’s Parsons Industrial Estate, has seen significant investment from its parent company, and now employs 12 people, a number which is set to rise in the coming months as expansion continues. Welding Engineers, which has an annual turnover of £12m and six regional operations around the UK, has been supported in its move into Washington, and in its ongoing expansion, by Sunderland City Council’s business investment team. Stephen Austin, managing director of Welding Engineers, said the Sunderland operation played an important role in the group. We have grown very quickly, and continue to grow all the time. To achieve a £1m turnover in only three years is great going, and we’re really pleased with how the Washington operation has done.”

>> Tech partnership signed A Sunderland firm offering a pay monthly search engine optimisation software product has signed a partnership with a major UK e-commerce website provider.

4th aspect, based at the Evolve Business Centre in Rainton Bridge, offers software to help website owners improve their rankings in search engine results.

Now, the firm has partnered with Leeds based

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e-commerce website group Shopcreator to offer a pay monthly website and SEO package to help businesses increase online sales. This is the first partnership 4th aspect has made with another company. Earlier tis year the company, which was founded in 2010 by husband and wife team Claire and David Glynn, secured angel investment worth more than £250,000 to help further develop and launch the product nationwide.

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“I’ve learned a lot about business.

My ambition is to set up my own” Nadia Caney, Business Studies Student

Supporting enterprise in our region To find out more about our work in this area call 0191 511 6000 or visit sunderlandcollege.ac.uk

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strength in numbers

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Sunderland is best for business, not least because of the powerful partnership driving entrepreneurship, as Peter Jackson reports Sunderland is open for business, recognising that its future as a city depends on a thriving, entrepreneurial business sector.

It prospered as a powerhouse of the industrial revolution and is now reinventing itself as a centre for new industries, while remaining a major centre for manufacturing.

Sunderland has succeeded in attracting new businesses to relocate to, or invest in, the city and it has encouraged home-grown entrepreneurs to launch and grow their own businesses.

It has done this by providing help and encouragement through a number of organisations working in close partnership.

This is becoming increasingly widely recognised. A recent report produced by research consultancy in conjunction with the Municipal Journal, stated that Sunderland was the best place to do business outside London, ranking it as ‘the best city in England in the environment and infrastructure category’ which covered commercial floor space; connectivity; cost base; quality of life; and growth in commercial and industrial space.

Sunderland City Council offers grants to businesses engaged in manufacturing and certain types of services - typically, those providing a service to other businesses, rather than direct to the public and operating over a large geographical area.

It offers help during start-up and expansion, where this involves capital expenditure and results in the creation of new jobs. Help may also be available towards the cost of implementing a new marketing strategy.

The incentives package is highly competitive and the application process is streamlined. For larger businesses, the city council is also well placed to advise on the availability of central Government incentives, including Regional Growth Fund, and on the scope for taking

We are operating in an increasingly competitive market, so these moves are key to maintaining the city’s edge over other locations

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advantage of Enterprise Zone allowances.

The business investment team at Sunderland City Council has brought more new jobs and capital investment to Sunderland in the last decade than any other city of its size across the UK, attracting 14,500 jobs and £2.5bn of capital investment to the city.

The business investment team is headed by Ian Williams. He says: “We have refocused our priorities around key industry sectors and the city centre.

“We believe that despite the current economic climate thwarting easy or quick solutions, the team’s commitment, enthusiasm and energy will help to boost local businesses in the city centre and across the wider area.

“We are operating in an increasingly competitive market, so these moves are key to maintaining the city’s edge over other locations. The outward-facing roles of the team reflect the needs of end users.

“Our team also includes property specialists, to improve understanding and our ability to respond to developer and investor interest.”

Business support from Sunderland City Council includes advice, aftercare, marketing and promotion, practical support and financial assistance. Many of the business investment team’s key achievements have focused on securing investment in the automotive, manufacturing and financial services sectors.

These include working with companies to bid for Government grants such as regional growth funding.

The team has developed strong international contacts, particularly in the US , Japan and China, which have boosted trade between Sunderland companies and these countries.

The friendship agreement between Sunderland and Washington DC has led to trade missions that have opened opportunities for new contracts, sales and offices in the US for local software and creative businesses (see page 44 for more on this).

The University of Sunderland is not only a major element in Sunderland’s economy in its own right with 1,338 staff, 17,101 students and an annual income of some £130m, it also plays an active role in encouraging entrepreneurship and nurturing business.

As a key contributor to Sunderland’s economy the University has an aim to encourage >>

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its student and graduates to create more business or become self employed. Business development manager Vince Robson says: “In doing this the university is not only helping its own students and graduates to have a more successful future, it is also contributing to a vigorous small business sector in the city with a greater variety of types of business.

“This will result in more highly skilled young people being attracted and retained within the city.’’

The university has embedded enterprise modules into a range of its undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes and has put in place an infrastructure to support the business start-up ambitions of its students and graduates.

For example, the Enterprise Place, at St Peter’s Gate, is a dedicated hatchery facility situated on the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter’s.

In the Enterprise Place students and graduates, from any discipline, can apply for up to one year’s membership which provides them with access to a range of support to help them set up and run their own successful business.

This support extends to: free work space with IT/telephone, support from specialist advisors and mentors, free attendance at sessions designed to develop their business skills and access to competitive funding.

Robson adds: “The Enterprise Place brings together entrepreneurs at all stages of their development who are operating across a range of industries and sectors. Couple the expertise on offer with all of these enterprising brains bouncing ideas off one another and it is the perfect environment to launch a successful business.”

The Enterprise Place prepares in the region of 35 new entrepreneurs each year, many of whom have gone on to run successful enterprises that have gained national accolades and recognition.

The university has ambitious plans to increase the number of new businesses created over the coming years.

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Mediasavvy directors: (l to r) Dan Makaveli and Mark McKenna

Savvy partners win start up award Sunderland-based Media Savvy Training Solutions was the winner of the inaugural Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards for Best New Start Up in Yorkshire and the North East.

Dan Makaveli and his business partner Mark McKenna, who set up Media Savvy in 2010 with help from Sunderland City Council, won through to the first shortlist of 200 companies, then the final nine, before being named the winners at an event in Leeds.

Media Savvy uses its expertise in digital arts and media to promote education, creativity and employability. Makaveli and McKenna are both University of Sunderland graduates who create training techniques in numeracy, literacy and IT for ‘hard-to-reach’ groups such as long-term unemployed young people and recent offenders on probation.

A pilot course they embarked on with a group of offenders has been praised for the ‘astounding’ level of engagement and retention they achieved with the participants.

Media Savvy also carries out customised workshops in photography, digital imaging, visual effects and computer games development. This is the third award for Media Savvy. The company won the Best Graduate Business Award in the Echo Portfolio Awards in 2011 and was runner-up in the Best Social Enterprise in the Blueprint Regional Awards 2011.

Sunderland City Council provided start up assistance, advice and social enterprise support to support Media Savvy from its first day.

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Start up businesses such as Media Savvy are a hugely important part of our city. Talented graduates like Dan and Mark are key to the future economic strength of Sunderland, and I’m delighted that Media Savvy has been recognised for its success, with major new contracts and three business awards in its first 18 months of business.”

Makaveli said: “It’s great to be flying the flag for Sunderland, against some very stiff competition, in the Lloyds TSB Enterprise award. This is going to be a really busy year for us – we’re piloting new courses which we aim to get up and running this year. We’re grateful to the city council, the university and all those who have helped or been supportive to us.” The company is based in the University of Sunderland’s media centre. Media Savvy is working with the Probation Service, Open College Network, youth sector forums, and the North East Refugee service.

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Also located in Sunderland is the North East Business and Innovation Centre, BIC, an enterprise agency and business complex dedicated to supporting the creation of jobs by encouraging the development of new and established businesses.

The BIC encourages SMEs and start-up businesses facilities aimed at giving them a better chance of survival.

It points to research showing that businesses which take advantage of staged support are

more likely to survive.

It is the BIC’s proud boast that 75% of its start-up companies go on to trade past their third year of business.

BIC chief executive Paul McEldon says: “The BIC and the other enterprise agencies across the region provide significant experience in plugging gaps, identifying solutions and harnessing resources, and have been operating for 30 years in different environmental contexts. Our work – enterprise and business

OVERVIEW

support - has a cross sector impact, which underpins the work of those engaged in sector focused activity and contributes significantly to growing a sustainable North East economy.

“Our solutions are therefore focused on developing new markets, investor readiness and improving the survival rates of business, all of which are essential to a future North East economy. With the right support, we believe the North East economy can return to being a net contributor to UK plc.’’ n

Shedding light on a growing market A North East business specialising in commercial lighting controls has joined the BIC’s Innovation Programme to help develop innovative processes.

Durable Technologies was founded seven years ago by husband and wife team Alex and Lorraine Carter to manufacture lighting control products which comply with international standards and also focus on reducing the carbon footprint.

Their customers range from construction companies, academies, warehouses to shopping centres.

In 2005 Alex left full time employment as a product development manager to become his own boss, a decision he has never regretted as his company now exports worldwide to Australia, South Africa, Spain and Germany.

Alex approached the BIC’s Innovation Programme which uses £724,000 of ERDF investment and is part financed by the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007 – 2013, to promote a step change in the region by encouraging North East businesses to explore their innovative potential. He explained: “Here at Durable Technologies we know only too well how important it is to keep innovating to survive in this market. We have changed the business design many times over the years, especially during the recent recession. We found ourselves in a place where our buying costs were rising and at the same time our sales were going down.

“We suddenly had an expensive product and a decrease in customers therefore we revisited our product base.

The end result was a smaller, lighter and more efficient product, the Durable Lighting Control 100. To help reduce costs we moved production from Eastern Europe to Teesside.

“The business has gone from just my wife and I to now having six employees as well as moving into bigger offices for more space. We have joined the Innovation Programme in the hope to further reduce costs and to expand our range of products. We are competing against national household names but we feel confident that it is achievable.” Lilla Preston, innovation project officer, said: “From the very beginning Alex had real clarity in where he wanted his business to go and what the outcome should be.”

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Lilla Preston, Innovation Programme Officer and Alex Carter MD of Durable Technologies)

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five sunderland stars on the rise as entrepreneurs A team of Sunderland entrepreneurs has set up its own business and the gamble has paid off, as Peter Jackson reports

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Things didn’t look too good for five Sunderland men back in 2005 when they faced redundancy.

The pipe bending company they worked for on the Alexandra Business Park, Proclad, was shifting operations to near Edinburgh, leaving its 25 staff with the stark choice of relocation or redundancy.

But five of the 25 – Andy Stewart, Peter Wharton, Phil Graham, Jim Cairns and Mick Last – saw another option and set up their own business, Induction Pipe Bending.

Eight years later the business, located on Washington’s Wear Industrial Estate, has 44 employees – nearly double what Proclad had – and an annual turnover of about £3.3m which has increased by about 20% a year since the company started.

It does induction pipework bending for the offshore, process and power generation industries in the UK and overseas and is one of only three such companies in the UK. Initially things didn’t go so smoothly. At Proclad Jim Cairns had been shop floor manager, Phil Graham was production

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supervisor, Peter Wharton was project engineer, Andy Stewart was head project engineer and Mick Last was in charge of machinery. In the wake of Proclad’s decision they were working to set up on their own, but not as one team.

Jim Cairns recalls: “There were actually two factions – there was a group of two and another group of three and we were working independently of each other, unknown to each other. Eventually we found out about each other and decided it would be easier if we all worked together.’’

They leased the Ropery Works on Hendon Road, rent free for the first six months, but there were still set up costs to buy materials to build the machinery and each of the five had to find £20,000.

“Obviously you had to remortgage your house to get that kind of money at the time,’’ says Cairns.

Were they nervous about that?

“I’ll not say no,’’ admits Cairns, “but we knew we had a bit of a market there because of our knowledge and our contacts in >>

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We pride ourselves on our reputation.

It takes years to build up a good reputation and you can lose in five minutes

the business.’’

It was to prove to be well-founded confidence.

They started business on July 4 – still celebrated every year in the company – and they had work straightaway with an order from a Scottish company. They made a profit in their first year on a turnover of about £600,000. Since then IPS has been able to ride a booming offshore sector.

“We’ve never seen a recession,’’ says Cairns.

“Since 2005 we have had four weeks where we have not been fully utilised and that gave us a chance to do some maintenance on the machinery.’’

They soon outgrew the Ropery Works where they had just 10,000sq ft of space to their current premises where they have some 33,000sq ft. About four years ago they bought their current premises for about £600,000 and spent a similar amount doing them out.

Here pipes are bent to customer specifications to within half a degree of accuracy. Pipes, from 2ins to 30ins are fed through the machinery at speeds of 15mm a minute and heated to temperatures of up to 1,100C. When the temperature is reached the pipe is moved slowly through an induction coil while a bending force is applied by a fixed radius arm arrangement. The factory also has a mechanical testing facility for destructive and non-destructive testing of the strength and integrity of finished pipes. This operates independently of the bending operation and is also available for sub-contracting.

IPS takes apprentices on every year and it currently has five apprentices in various stages of training. It finds it can tap into a rich seam of skilled labour in Sunderland.

“Most of our employees used to work for

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Proclad, we have five people who used to work in the shipyards such as platers and welders who have the necessary skills,’’ says Cairns. He also points out that the company is well placed for communications with ready access to the A19 and A1, the ports and Newcastle International Airport.

They are currently working on a big offshore project for Brazil and they have just started on a replacement subsea gas pipeline for Canada.

IPS is looking forward to more work from an eventual power station renewal programme and it is already doing a lot of refurbishment work for power stations.

IPS’s immediate customers tend to be UK based but much of their work is destined for overseas. Ironically, IPS is winning work from companies which are located on the same industrial estate as Proclad.

Cairns says: “We pride ourselves on our reputation and the quality of our work. It takes years to build up a good reputation and you can lose it in five minutes.’’

The company is in the process of building another bending machine for smaller bore tubes.

It plans to continue to grow.

“Growth has mainly been funded through reinvesting the profits,’’ says Cairns. “We don’t take fantastic salaries out of the business.’’

But no regrets about the decision in 2005?

“No, definitely not. It’s been very hard and we’ve all worked seven days every week since we started.

“It’s only this year that the directors have started to take turns each week to have a weekend off.

“The factory is open all year round apart from over the Christmas period. But no regrets.’’ n

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back to life

One restored building is adding to Sunderland’s restoration skills, as Peter Jackson reports

Lydia’s House, a social enterprise which trains vulnerable and disadvantaged people in creative skills, operates from refurbished workshop space in the historic Eagle Building at Sunderland’s quayside.

The Eagle Building holds workshops for Lydia’s House trainees in all aspects of interior design including furniture restoration, picture framing, curtains and upholstery to generate employment opportunities and the creation of new businesses.

It also offers a bespoke interior design service to customers, which include Liberty’s, Fenwick, Stanhope Castle and country manors.

Catherine Trillo, founder of Lydia’s House, is delighted with the four storey, early Victorian Eagle Building which was fully refurbished last year with nearly £2m of funding from a number of sources.

The Sunderland-based workshops work towards training up to 50 people at any one time in marketable creative skills, and create products to be sold at the Lydia’s House shop in Dean Street, Newcastle.

Trillo said that finding the Eagle Building was a “happy accident”. She says: “We were awarded £200,000 from the Big Lottery to expand the project in 2011, and I was looking at neighbouring buildings when I saw the Eagle Building. We all love the building and the city – it’s a really warm place.

“I’ve been so impressed with the help we’ve received from Sunderland City Council’s

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business investment team since we decided to set up here. They are very open, conscious of the needs in Sunderland and have supported us from our first days setting up here. There’s a real feeling in the city that all sectors are eager to work together to make things happen.”

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Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council says: “This is an inspirational business and an excellent use of a historic city centre building. Lydia’s House is bringing new life to this area of Hendon and in turn, the workshops will create new skills and new

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Lydia’s House: (l to r) Councillor Paul Watson, Councillor Harry Trueman and Catherine Trillo of Lydia’s House

values highly.

She says: “Workplaces affect motivation, and our trainees will thrive in these light, spacious surroundings. As well as teaching them creative skills we are also building life skills to help each person enjoy a stable, fulfilled life.

“Our motto is ’restoring dignity, producing quality’ and we use our workshops to restore life, esteem and purpose to those taking part.

They bring life back to old furniture and create superb upholstery, curtains, cushions, picture frames and accessories which will be loved by their owners.”

Trillo is working to bring nationally recognised qualifications to each of the main workshops.

These are spread over three floors – furniture renovation and restoration on the ground floor, textiles, upholstery and an innovative doll’s house interior design project on the second floor, and picture framing and mirrors on the third floor. n

futures for the trainees. We’re delighted to have been able to support Lydia’s House and wish it well for the future.”

Trillo first established Lydia’s House, helping women escape from alcohol, drugs and depression, in a workshop in Northumberland,

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by using her skills and experience in the antiques industry to help to train the women through workshops.

The move to Sunderland offers the trainees and her nine paid staff and volunteers, a high quality, elegant environment - which Trillo

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Enterprise comes in many different forms and one Sunderland group supports a wide range of businesses. Peter Jackson reports on SES SES, based in Hendon, is a social enterprise company which has been promoting all kinds of enterprise for more than 30 years, emerging from a housing co-operative.

Its aim is to stimulate enterprise activity of all kinds. It works with various partners to help people become self-employed, it supports people to start and grow traditional businesses and it helps groups to start and grow mutuals such as co-operatives, credit unions and other forms of social and community enterprise.

It gives mentoring, advice and guidance, offers consultancy and it has a range of business units to hire and rent in Sunderland and North Tyneside.

It receives no core funding, its income coming from European and local authority contracts but public spending cuts and a tougher economic environment have meant that SES has had to reduce the capacity of its traditional business start services by half.

Director Mark Heskett-Saddington says: “We have had to reduce our capacity and the reach of what we do quite considerably to be

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honest, and we have reduced staff numbers over the last three years from 22 to nine.’’

However, SES helped create 492 traditional businesses, employing 599 people with a combined estimated projected turnover of £9.6m in the last two years.

SES has also revealed in its latest independent social audit report for 2010-2012, that of these business starts, 82% involved people who were previously unemployed and 70% had few, if any, qualifications.

Also around 95% lacked the financial resources or the ability to write a meaningful business plan and needed intensive, one-to-one support to get going.

Of the 492 business starts that SES created during the period, 403 were receiving welfare.

SES estimates that, based on averages, helping these people into self employment had a total annual potential welfare saving of £5.14m.

Cuts in business start-up investment over the last three years have led SES to reduce its traditional business start up service capacity by 70%. Despite this, the team has maintained its

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start-up rate of 35 new businesses per adviser.

In 2011/12 SES still achieved 154 new traditional enterprise start-ups, creating 177 jobs. These businesses achieved combined sales of £2.6m. In addition, SES helped create 45 new social enterprises or mutuals and supported 215 with a combined turnover of £23.3m. These mutuals and social enterprises employed a total of 1,334 people.

In the period 2011 to 2012 businesses advised and supported by SES were achieving survival rates of just over 70% across a year, 18 months and two years. These survival rates compare well to national averages and are particularly impressive bearing in mind that 82% of the people starting these enterprises were jobless prior to start-up.

The report also reveals that boosting enterprise within the Community Voluntary Sector has resulted in SES working directly with CVS groups to create 34.5 new jobs and securing £596,000 of business investment whilst increasing reported turnover of these groups by £1.17m. >>

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supporting enterprise in all its forms

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Investment has been squeezed but we are committed to helping people start their own ventures SPECIAL REPORT | SPRING 13

Heskett-Saddington says: “While talk of the Big Society seems to have gone flat, SES continues to make a vital contribution to the local economy by helping people to secure their own future.

“Investment for our activities has been squeezed but we are committed to helping people start their own ventures whatever their circumstances.”

Businesses it helps range from self-employed

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sole trader plasterers to Sunderland Home Care Associates, a domiciliary care cooperative which delivers care contracts for clients ranging from local authorities to further education colleges and universities. Occupying offices in SES’s Hendon base, it was set up 15 years ago and now employs about 50 people and has an annual turnover of about £5m.

In Hendon SES also runs and owns the Co-operative Business Centre, part funded by

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Lending a helping hand

ERDF. This site is made from recycled shipping containers covering 0.39 hectares of reclaimed brownfield land. After 12 months operation it is fully occupied. Its social enterprise tenants pay low rent which covers the running costs.

Heskett-Saddington says: “It’s good accommodation for those businesses and gets them working together to do joint tenders and build consortia between themselves to try to expand. It seems to be working well.’’ n

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One social enterprise which is located in the Co-operative Business Centre is Fiscus. It was set up in 2005 by SES and South Tyneside Credit Union to help those organisations’ financially excluded clients with benefits advice. In 2005 it had “two and a half’’ staff, which has now grown to nine.

It had to find a new home when its previous premises were closed.

“It just happened that these units were vacant and they were very competitive,’’ says chief executive Anita Heskett-Saddington. “We work with SES and some of the other organisations on the site, so its really a good place for us to be.’’

It gets its funds from a number of different sources, one of the most significant being the Northern Rock Foundation, and also from Sunderland City Council and Big Lottery.

A company limited by guarantee without share capital it has a volunteer board of directors and it offers specialist advice to more than 2,000 clients every year in a number of areas: • Debt • Welfare benefits • Tax credits • Pension credits • In-work benefits • Into Enterprise benefits It differs from other such advice organisations in emphasising income maximisation as a way out of financial difficulties.

“We have always promoted the message that for people of working age, jobs and enterprise is the most obvious route to help them, to basically have more money in their pockets,’’ says Heskett-Saddington.

She adds: “It’s a myth that people aren’t better off in work, we would really challenge that. The majority of our clients are much better off financially when they go into work or into selfemployment.’’

It works with partners such as Gentoo and the BIC to deliver enterprise support. It specialises in helping people understand the finances of making the transition from benefits to enterprise. It holds regular sessions at the BIC. “The majority of our clients come through our joint work with our partners and that’s the main market place for us,’’ says Heskett-Saddington. “We have sessions at the various enterprise offices including SES, the BIC and Gentoo.’’

It performs “Money MoTs’’ for its clients of whom between a fifth and a quarter are on benefits and about half are receiving support to make them better off in work or in self-employment.

When a client looking at self-employment is referred to Fiscus they receive a “Money MoT’’ and a benefits check.

“We would stabilise the existing situation by making sure they are getting all the benefits and tax credits they are entitled to. Then we would give advice on what we call a `better off into enterprise’ projection to give the client who wants to start their own business a good idea of what their finances will look like,’’ says Heskett-Saddington.

“We usually work on the example that you will earn £100 a week self-employed when you start in the first year. Some of the clients predict that they are going to earn a lot more than that but we usually show them projections based on set figures. Our advice team calculate how much they are going to get overall and how much better off they will be once they start self-employment.’’

The team looks at what benefits and credits the newly self-employed might still be entitled to and also other financial support issues. Fiscus has advised clients who have been setting themselves up in a range of businesses, from hairdressers to childminders to IT support.

“In reality, in this country, the majority of businesses are small to medium sized enterprises or not VAT registered and we should not underestimate the impact of those businesses on the local economy,’’ says Heskett-Saddington.

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a business in full throttle

Driving forward: (l to r) Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, Phil Stebbings, plant manager at Interplas NE and Narinder Mahi, managing director of Interplas Coatings

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Another automotive supply company is thriving in Sunderland, as Peter Jackson discovers Interplas Coatings NE, a plastic mouldings coatings company, has grown from one to 30 employees during its first year in Sunderland.

The company, which set up its first factory in the North of England last summer at Pallion industrial Estate, is expanding its 35,000 sq ft premises by a third to accommodate its rapid growth and its success in winning contracts.

Interplas invested £800,000 in the initial factory in Sunderland and is spending another £200,000 on the expansion which includes a new warehouse and a four-cell robotic line.

Despite challenging economic conditions, Interplas NE is already making a month-bymonth profit and is on course for a £1.6m turnover in its first year - ahead of target.

Interplas Coatings was started by Narinder Mahi, Avtar Mahi and Jitender Mahi 22 years ago in the West Midlands. Narinder decided to set up a Sunderland-based factory following a contract win for Landrover Evoque parts from the Sunderland base of International Automotive Components.

Narinder Mahi, managing director of Interplas Coatings, explored sites throughout the region with a number of business support organisations including Sunderland City

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Council’s business investment team. The company opted for factory premises at Pallion Industrial Estate for the North East branch of the company. Phil Stebbings was hired as plant manger to oversee the set up and drive forward operations at the Sunderland plant.

Stebbings says: “When I began it was me and some orange boxes at a derelict site. Within four months there were 14 of us working in a comprehensively fitted out plant with two paint cells in operation, clean room, laboratory and warehouse.

“We have since won contracts for interior parts with Range Rover, and the new Range Rover Sport due to launch this autumn, as well as the interior paint finishes for the Victoria Beckham Evoque edition, which includes a technically complex paint finish in high gloss piano black.

“During the year we have also worked with Honda as a third tier supplier for the company’s new CRV and successfully bid for contracts with companies outside the automotive sector such as Brother Industries, working with them on equipment which produces ID cards.”

The company has recruited more staff to allow a second shift. Each shift paints between 4,000 to 6,000 parts a day.

Stebbings adds: “The support and advice we’ve had from the city council’s business investment team is second to none. Neil Clasper in particular has helped with practical support and advice on financial assistance and premises, both when we were setting up and whilst we’ve been planning for expansion, saving us a great deal of our time.”

Interplas is in discussions with suppliers to Nissan about new business, and is also pursuing niche markets such as Aston Martin.

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“I can see Interplas’ niche market area growing because of our ability to provide high quality technical applications, alongside growth in our mass market contracts through investment in more robotic lines,” says Stebbings.

He insists that a strength of Interplas at Sunderland is its “hard working, ambitious workforce”. Most employees have been retrained, and come from a number of different industries.

He says: “I set out by using a local agency to recruit staff, but was able to offer full time positions for the right people following a tie in period with the agency. We now have a fully trained dedicated team who continue to perform to high standards.”

The company aims to add value to each part it produces, and sends back parts that are substandard. From the outset, Stebbings set out to integrate systems in the plant that would be sustainable throughout its growth.

One of the key systems uses touch screen technology to record “right first time data” live and is able to send triggers to management and team leaders for any deviation from its quality standards.

This enables any problem to be immediately dealt with at source.

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council says: “Interplas’ success since setting up in Sunderland is a great example of how strong the city’s automotive sector is, and how we are attracting suppliers for Jaguar Land Rover and Honda as well as Nissan at Sunderland.

“It is excellent news that the company is expanding so quickly, and we are delighted to have helped the company get off to a running start and grow.” n

This is a great example of how strong the city’s automotive sector is and how we are attracting suppliers for Jaguar Land Rover and Honda as well as Nissan

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playING a lucrative game One Sunderland gaming company is poised to take advantage of whatever fast changing markets bring, as Peter Jackson discovers

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Computer gaming has been a strength of the North East for several years and Sunderland has one of the region’s major players in Pitbull Studio.

The Rainton Bridge based company, founded in 2009, develops games, mobile apps and also provides outsourced art and code solutions to the entertainment and media industries. It employs 31 people and has an annual turnover of about £1.5m.

In the last year it has doubled in size and hopes to get its head count up to 45 by the end of this year.

Managing director Robert Troughton says: “Things are going really well, we are expanding fast at the moment and we have got some really good clients.’’

A major client is US giant Epic Games which makes the Gears of War and Infinity Blade series and makes Unreal Engine technology used in many leading video games.

Pitbull makes some smaller digital games but larger console games take 300 to 500 people to work on them.

“The market is a little bit scary for a lot of traditional game developers at the moment,’’ says Troughton. >>

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The market is a little bit scary for a lot of traditional games developers at the moment...Nobody knows exactly where the market is going because of all the new platforms

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CASE STUDY “Nobody knows exactly where the market is going because you have got all the new platforms such as tablets and phones and so on and then you’ve got new technologies coming out like Cloud Gaming and then the more traditional performances such as PCs and consoles.

“Nobody knows particularly where it’s going.

But for ourselves working with Epic and the games we are working on hit all of those platforms so if any one of them doesn’t succeed it doesn’t hurt us as much.’’

With the Cloud games, they will be hosted and rented out by a PC that is located elsewhere and Troughton says playing such a game would be similar to watching a TV programme.

“If that takes off, that changes the market completely. What is my X Box console for if all it’s doing is pulling down a picture? For the market that’s very interesting, but it’s very hard to predict.’’

Pitbull Studio is Troughton’s second venture; he set up Pitbull Syndicate in 1996, a racing game specialist he sold to Midway Games in 2006 for more than US$3m.

That disappeared three years later when the US parent filed for bankruptcy.

The problem setting up Pitbull Studio was that while game publishers were interested and acknowledged Troughton’s track record they could not commit to awarding work without a studio up and running and it was a gamble to set up a studio without the work.

Eventually a contract was signed, the studio was set up and more contracts followed.

Troughton also pays tribute to help received from Sunderland City Council.

Pitbull needs experienced and talented people and recruitment is always a key consideration.

“We do need people with a lot of experience along with a very strong mathematics or physics background, but we are coping but it is a fight for staff,’’ says Troughton.

The region’s universities have useful gaming degrees which help with recruitment.

Troughton is a Yorkshireman but, having set up Pitbull Syndicate in Sunderland, the city was an obvious choice for Pitbull Studio.

He says: “We like it here because it gets us out of Newcastle and Gateshead and where most of the other developers are based. It’s a good

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We like it here because it gets us out of Newcastle and Gateshead where most of the other developers are based

location, it’s very easy to get to for everybody.

We get people who travel from the airport and from Middlesbrough and for everybody it’s round about half an hour to get to the office.

Most of our people prefer not to work in the city centres because of the traffic, nobody wants to sit in a car for two hours a day.

“We find we can recruit people who are just fed up of commuting to work.

“Our people will come in at say 8.30am and they find they can do it in half an hour.’’

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Pitbull is a big champion of homeworking, to the extent that one of its employees works in Poland and another in Germany.

A total of nine employees work from home, including staff based in Stockton, Guildford and Sheffield.

“We allow working from home because of the way we are structured it’s very easy for us to do that,’’ says Troughton.

“There are advantages in overheads but also in recruitment, it’s a lot easier to pick people up.

We go for people with experience and that usually means that they have families and are sometimes reluctant to relocate to the North East.’’

He got into gaming about 20 years ago, by fluke having been interested in a career in banking.

“But I guess my CV wasn’t falling on the right ears. An opportunity came up to work in games. As a teenager I’d always dabbled with games and so it was natural for me to fall into this,’’ he says.

He still likes games but the demands of running a business don’t leave him the time to play.

There is a serious side to gaming.

He is particularly proud of Pitbull’s role in developing a game for the NHS called Circus Challenge, which won the NHS Innovation of the Year Award.

The game was designed for children with a condition called hemiplegic cerebral palsy and for elderly stroke sufferers. Both conditions are characterised by restricted mobility in one half of the body.

Circus Challenge is a series of motion controlled games designed to slowly get the player using a disabled arm more and gain more control over it.

He says the game has saved the NHS tens of millions of pounds.

The hardware cost about £100 and saved children frequent trips to the therapist. The game had the added advantage of retaining the child’s interest. “It was proven that it could help a lot,’’ says Troughton proudly.

Troughton is one of seven shareholders in the company. Pitbull Syndicate was sold to Midway, so, I ask him, would they sell Pitbull Studio? “We have no plans to at the moment, no,’’ he says. n

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the power of two

In less than two years a Sunderland company has soared ahead in spectacular style, with order books and current work worth more than £500,000. Peter Jackson meets the duo behind it to find out more Simon Tuckwell and Steven Henderson set up glassHUS in 2009 at Regus, Doxford Park.

Within four months they had four employees and major contracts across the UK. glassHUS, a design, manufacture and installer of architectural aluminium structures and facades, began life during a severe economic downturn with a £10,000 personal loan.

Managing director Simon Tuckwell says: “The decision we took in 2009 was daunting but we knew it was right within two weeks of setting up. It helped that we knew our client base, and soon after starting up we sent out 400 sets of high quality marketing packs to key targets. A year later I’m still getting phone calls from people who kept the packs for reference when they needed the work.

The initial outlay for good quality material has proved to be much more effective than throwaway fliers.”

After six months, the directors decided it was time to find their own premises, so they contacted Sunderland City Council.

Tuckwell says: “They were great. We’re local lads so we wanted to be in the city centre, and we were shown round The Place. Once we’d seen it we were keen to get in.

“The city council also helped us with marketing and with relocation funding.

Without that assistance we’d have been stuck because we were in effect starting from scratch. We needed furniture throughout – all we had were our PCs. “We were up and running at The Place within a month. Once in, we could employ another five staff.

“The council’s business investment team was incredibly helpful throughout the move.” glassHUS’s first major contract was for Woolwich Civic Offices outside London. The company carried out a comprehensive contract including detailed design and procurement

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for the whole project. This included a glass atrium main entrance screen, a bespoke glass climate wall facade, all curtain walling and full manufacture details.

“We were brand new as a company, but we did an excellent job for Woolwich and we were done and dusted within six months,’’ says Tuckwell. “It was a great way to start, and we’ve focused on maintaining top quality and improving standards as we’ve grown.” glassHUS was soon attracting contracts from clients across the UK – mainly London, Birmingham and Leeds, and in Abu Dhabi.

Tuckwell says: “For all we’re based in the North East we can and do work anywhere. The Abu Dhabi and Dubai contracts are opening

Silksworth, Sunderland.

“When we first set up the businesses, these projects would have been pipe dreams.

“We have also carried out some bespoke grand design domestic projects, which have turned out to be resounding successes and a catalyst for similar work. We’re all absolutely committed to long-term success and we’ll keep pushing forward across the world from our base in Sunderland.”

He adds: “I knew from my experience in the industry just what kind of service I was after and what I had been presented with in the past – and there was a big gap between the two.

“From our first day we set out to present

For all we’re based in the North East, we can and do work anywhere...We never expected to develop so quickly in such a short space of time international opportunities for us.

“We considered setting up an office in Manila because of the design expertise there but decided against it because we’d lose the commitment to service and focused drive we have in Sunderland.” glassHUS has continued to grow in difficult times. “We never expected to develop so quickly in such a short time,’’ says Tuckwell.

“It comes down to providing our clients with a service and a product that surpasses others in our sector. We simply won’t accept second best. We have been involved in local projects, such as the extension to the Monkwearmouth Railway Museum and more recently the ongoing façade works at the Sainsbury’s store in

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ourselves professionally, as firms that provide the highest quality service anywhere in the world.”

Councillor Bryan Charlton, portfolio holder for prosperous city at Sunderland City Council, says: “glassHUS proves that in Sunderland there are opportunities to be taken and that people with ideas and determination can make it.

“The business investment team at the city council has brought more new jobs and capital investment to Sunderland in the last decade than any other city of its size across the UK. Over the past 10 years, it has attracted 14,500 jobs and £2.5bn of capital investment to the city.” n

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Mums on a mission

Two Sunderland mothers have ambitious plans for their fledgling internet business which is proving a hit with fellow parents, reports Peter Jackson Sunderland Parents was set up by friends, Laura Middleton and Kelly Belmont after they became frustrated taking their children to events only to find them postponed or cancelled. So, they decided to set up an informative website advising others on updated information on what’s happening around the region.

It has proved such a hit they have now started a sister site Newcastle Parents and are planning a site for Durham and then to take it nationwide.

Middleton says: “We think that every city in the UK should have one. The question is whether we would want to do that as a franchise and roll it out or whether we would think about building it up to a point where we

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could sell it. We need to weigh up the options and decide what would be best.’’

The Sunderland site is attracting about 300 unique visitors every day with about 200 for the Newcastle site. They soon anticipate having to take on staff.

The business was born out of frustration.

Middleton explains: “We were always the ones who would turn up to an event which was just finishing or had been postponed so that’s where the idea came from, we originally started the website because it was information that we, as parents, wanted to know ourselves. Although it is not just for parents it is used by grandparents, aunties and uncles, godparents and basically anyone who wants to enjoy what the North East has to offer.

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Together they visited The North East Business and Innovation Centre, BIC, and Debbie Simpson was appointed as their business adviser. The project is being part financed by the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13, securing £1.07m of ERDF investment.

Working in a consortium led by North East Enterprise Agencies, local enterprise and development agencies in the North East have matched this ERDF investment with £1.07m of their own funds.

Since starting the business they have been supported by Sunderland City Council.

Middleton adds: “We visited the BIC and we discussed with Debbie the different options and how we could make our idea into a >>

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CASE STUDY viable business. Debbie was great and she really got behind our idea and continues to support us. We launched Sunderland Parents in October last year and have never looked back since.”

Their following was largely built up through social media. They set up a Facebook page which was followed by friends and family.

“It just grew from there and we have 1,500 followers on Facebook and the same on Twitter,’’ says Middleton. “A lot of it is word of mouth, people recommending the site to others. We have also had fliers and distributed promotional material and made lots of contacts with local businesses.’’

They send out a newsletter every week to their 500 subscribers and local businesses sponsor each newsletter.

“It’s just so targeted for them,’ explains Middleton. “It tends to be toddler music groups or people doing pregnancy classes and pre-natal classes or classes for children.

Apart from being full-time mums and running a fast growing business they also both hold down part-time jobs, Middleton working for online gambling business Tombola and Belmont for the Big Lottery Fund. Both have two children and Middleton is currently expecting a third.

“There’s a lot of evening and weekend working,’’ says Middleton. “We’d love to do it full time now and the only reason we don’t is just because of financial commitments. We are hoping to do that as soon as possible. We are going to continue to build up the following as much as possible.

“We would like to have our newsletter sent out to every parent living in Sunderland. It’s just a matter of getting our name out there and building up the brand more.’’

As part of the brand building they are planning a family event for the summer.

Belmont says: “Sunderland City Council has been very supportive along the way and although many organisations have well developed event sites we are unique in that we look at the information differently. We, as parents, need to know about parking, is it free, do you need money for rides, will there be food and drink? All of these factors are taken into consideration when advertising events on our website which makes

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CASE STUDY We think every city in the UK should have one. The question is whether we would think about building it up to a point where we sell it

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Sunderland Parents stand out from the crowd.

“We want to be confident that what we are telling people is valuable information. For all the events are not ours, we have become a trusted voice.

“The fact that the website has spread through word of mouth alone makes us incredibly proud and during half term we were receiving over 1,000 unique visitors to the site. We are unbelievably busy but luckily we live just around the corner from each other and most nights can be found together making plans, thinking of new ideas and contacting people.”

Councillor John Kelly, portfolio holder for safer city and culture at Sunderland City Council says: “Sunderland is well known for its events so we welcome anything that helps to promote some of the fantastic events the city has to offer. The Sunderland Parents site supplements established sites like our own Sunderland Live website and it all adds to an increased offer for the city.”

It has been the first venture into setting up a business for the two mums and they have loved every minute of it.

“It has been a lot of hard work but it’s really exciting and we would just not be able to stop doing it. At the moment there’s no financial reward for us, it’s sheer passion and determination that pushes us forward. It’s crucial that you are really passionate about what you do to be able to create your own business,’’ says Middleton and adds, with a laugh, “having a supportive husband helps.’’ n

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beer that travels well A premium beer brewed in Sunderland and previously only available in the North East can now be enjoyed around the UK, as Peter Jackson reports Maxim Brewery in Sunderland is tasting national success with an orderfrom restaurant and pub company, Mitchell and Butler, to supply its pubs across the country.

The order means that cask conditioned Double Maxim, first brewed in 1901, will be available in pubs outside the North of England for the first time.

It is the latest success for the brewery which set up at Rainton Bridge four years ago with help from Sunderland City Council, to carry on the legacy of brewing in Sunderland.

Maxim Brewery managing director Mark Anderson, former financial director of Vaux Brewery, has led the company’s steady expansion to be one of the largest independent brewers in the North East.

Following the closure of Vaux and Wards breweries in 1999 the company acquired the Double Maxim, Samson, Lambtons and Wards beer brands and recipes and, with the flexible brewing facilities, has built a reputation for creating new and special brews which have been snapped up by several companies including Wetherspoons.

Mark Anderson believes that Maxim Brewery owes a great deal to the active, commercially astute assistance of Sunderland City Council’s business investment team.

He said: “We looked far and wide for buildings which could take the complex

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Maxim: (l to r) Maxim MD Mark Anderson and Councillor Harry Trueman, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council requirements of a brewery. The City Council not only found us a perfect building, but gave us great advice, and took the time to understand exactly what we needed.

“The Council’s business investment team has kept up its relationship with us as we’ve grown, and they are always supportive.

“We’re delighted that, with their practical help, we’ve been able to bring back some of the North East’s best known beers at our Sunderland brewery. We’re a thriving small business and we feel part of the city, which is important to us.”

Maxim Brewery is now supplying supermarkets as well as pubs and restaurants with its popular range of beers which include new labels Swedish Blonde and Maximus.

It is currently selling 400,000 bottles of beer a year and its aim is to double that over the next couple of years.

Maxim’s cask ale sales are also increasing which is giving the company the chance to

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introduce new brands to real ale pubs.

It is the only small UK brewery to send canned beer - Double Maxim - to China. Because Maxim can produce small introductory orders quickly and flexibly it is able to enter markets which are more difficult for larger breweries to incorporate. It also means that celebration brews such as its Stiff Tackle for the Rugby World Cup tour can be produced quickly and enjoyed at leisure by fans of participating rugby clubs and local cask ale pubs.

Tom Hurst, chief investment officer for Sunderland City Council said: “Maxim Brewery is a fantastic success story. It has grown steadily and strongly, with a strong vision for its future. Sunderland has a long, proud history of brewing in the city. Maxim’s talented brewers are ensuring that long-established brands such as Double Maxim, Lambtons and Samson are as popular as ever, and that excellent new brands extend the market and the interest in Maxim’s products.” n

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A group of Sunderland’s software companies and glass and ceramic artists have boosted their chances of doing business with America following a successful joint trade mission to Washington DC. The Sunderland delegates included software companies the Test Factory, Surreal and 5G Technologies. Creative sector companies were Criss Chaney, Robyn Townsend, Margareth Troli, Roger Tye, Phil Vickery, (all glassmakers) and Philippa Whiteside (ceramics).

There are a million jobs in the UK from American companies and $US1 trillion of trade between the two countries. The trade mission was organised by Sunderland City Council and Sunderland Software City with support from UK Trade and Investment. Sunderland is the only non-capital city to have a friendship

agreement with Washington DC. The visit included meetings with the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Washington and major US law firm Wilmerhale, which explained how to set up companies, how to pitch for federal contracts and how to do business in the US. The software companies also met a number of technology companies based in Washington DC to get firsthand knowledge from their experience and key economic development partners in the city.

The glass and ceramic companies and artists from the University of Sunderland and National Glass Centre took across examples of their work to display at the International Glass and Clay 2013 exhibition, which attracted private collectors and critics from all parts of the US.

Two of the artists’ works were snapped up by visitors over the opening weekend with further sales during the joint three-week long exhibition with Washington DC. Furthermore, two of the creative businesses were offered residencies, and two were offered possible internships at the Washington Glass School. The exhibition also included the work of artists based at the University of Sunderland and National Glass Centre, leading to new co-operation opportunities for the university’s glass and ceramics programmes.

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council said: “It speaks volumes that Sunderland was able to send such a strong contingent of software and creative sector companies and artists to America, each of which has chosen Sunderland as its base. >>

american dreams become a reality Sunderland is strengthening its transatlantic ties following a recent visit stateside, as Peter Jackson discovers

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“The relationships we’ve built with Washington DC’s government and business sectors help us open doors for our talented people. The opportunities we organised during this mission will, I am sure, lead to new commercial opportunities for the city’s software and creative sectors.”

All members of the trade delegation believed the chance to talk face-to-face with high profile American businesspeople in their sector, and find out more about how best to do business in the US could make a significant difference to their future success.

Philip Barton, deputy head of mission at Washington DC, met the Sunderland companies. He said: “It’s uplifting to meet ambitious, talented software and creative companies from Sunderland, a city with which Washington DC has forged strong links. The city’s determination to pursue commercial opportunities is exactly what’s needed to boost business at this time.”

Trade mission member companies recognised the long-term value offered through the packed programme of events.

Kevin Beales, chief executive of The Test Factory said: “The calibre of the people we met was excellent.

“The Test Factory now has 50% of its business with the US, including clients such as Microsoft. We’ve opened a Chicago office and are looking to expand our global customer base across the US, as well as other areas such as Asia.

“The City Council team has a great reputation and through their connections we got to meet and talk through ideas with senior, well connected people. Being able to sit down opposite leading names in our sector in Washington and explain our business to them is an invaluable opportunity, and one which we are following up on now.”

Philippa Whiteside, who runs a ceramics business in Sunderland, said: “We found out so much during this week, and came back buzzing with ideas.

“The chance to exhibit at International Glass and Clay in Washington and meet private collectors, galleries and fellow creative businesses was amazing – it’s an experience that will really help us develop our work and business.

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We’ve all learned a huge amount from this mission... it created real opportunities for us, including sales and residencies

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“We’ve all learned a huge amount from being part of this mission and it’s exciting that within days it had already created real opportunities for some of us, including sales, and residencies.”

The University of Sunderland is keen to develop exchanges and residencies between its glass and ceramic undergraduate and postgraduate students and America.

The University facilities at the National Glass Centre would complement Washington DC’s reputation as a hub of private art collectors and the city’s US-wide contacts.

Councillor Watson said: “The United States is a key market for our software technology and creative firms.

“We worked hard to put in place an energetic, high quality programme which introduced our companies to senior executives, possible future partners and key decision makers.”

The trade mission builds on the success of Sunderland’s historical connection and formal friendship agreement with Washington DC which has created collaborations in economic development and education to improve the lives of residents in both cities.

The agreement was renewed in 2012. n

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following in peter’s footsteps Budding Sunderland business people can gain formal qualifications in enterprise thanks to a new college course in the city, as Peter Jackson reports Josh Colarossi is just one of seven fledgling entrepreneurs being taught the business skills of TV dragon Peter Jones at Sunderland College. Josh, 18, from Horden, County Durham, will then go on to University of Sunderland to read Business and Management with a sound grounding in business skills and entrepreneurship.

Before going to the college, Josh did an apprenticeship in finance at East Durham College in Peterlee.

He says: “Really I wanted to go to university and when my apprenticeship was over after a year I decided to go back to college to get the UCAS points to go to university. I originally signed up just to do the BTech Business, but then I was given a leaflet about this course and I decided that that’s what I wanted to do.’’

The course that attracted Josh had just been introduced at Sunderland College, which last

year was granted ‘hub’ status by the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy and it introduced new qualifications designed by the Dragon’s Den star which focus on enterprise and entrepreneurship.

It is one of only 35 centres across the country to offer BTECs in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in partnership with Edexcel at levels two and three, with the level three award equivalent to two A-Levels.

The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy was set up to train and motivate young people, unleash their entrepreneurial talent and create opportunities for them to realise their potential.

It is building a nationwide network of colleges and providers, like Sunderland College, to transform attitudes to entrepreneurship and enterprise education.

The Enterprise Academies’ approach, focuses on learning by doing and supports and >>

It’s not just about setting up their own business, but wanting to work as an intrapreneur as much as an entrepreneur

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encourages students to realise their ambitions and to turn their own business dreams into reality. The course structure is business-led and involves partnerships with a range of companies and entrepreneurs providing leadership and hands-on business experience.

The courses prepare students for an entrepreneurial career, whether they plan to set up their own business or to work in an entrepreneurial workplace, helping an established business to grow.

Andrea Chalk is curriculum leader for business and law and business enterprise manager for the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy at the college.

She says: “We traditionally offered the two-year Level 3 BTech in the extended diploma and what we wanted to offer was something for students who didn’t necessarily want to go to university or didn’t necessarily want to do two years of continuous study.’’

The college also felt that there was an untapped niche market of enterprising students who could be self-employed or make valuable employees.

“It’s not just about setting up their own business but wanting to work as an intrapreneur as much as an entrepreneur,’’ says Chalk. Several of this year’s students, like Josh, are going to university and others have transferred from other subjects.’’

Chalk says: “One of my students did music but he wanted to do events management so to get to university to study a business degree to help him become an events manager this was a good cross over course for him. He didn’t have any business background whatsoever, he studied music.’’

The course includes a four-week work placement and work in a personal and professional development, PPD, group.

In the PPD group the students have to choose a social enterprise on whose behalf they will work.

This year both groups chose the same social enterprise, the Joe Wallace Breath of Life Foundation, part of the British Lung Foundation. Throughout the year they have been fundraising on its behalf.

The curriculum, which is provided by the Peter Jones Academy, includes the writing of business plans, financial planning, market

SPECIAL REPORT | SPRING 13

It gives them so much they can use, either in the workplace or to become more competitive in the market place

research, leadership and teamwork, international business, how to operate and monitor a business, social enterprise and branding. The students had visiting speakers such as Apprentice star Katie Hopkins and Chris Rea. Josh said: “It was good to hear from real business people and find out about their

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views.’’ The four-week placement involves working on a project which adds value to the host organisation. Josh, who did his placement with the Marriott Hotel HR department, rewrote the induction pack.

He so impressed the Marriott that he has been offered part-time work there while he does his degree and it has said he will be a contender for a graduate job after university.

Josh has no regrets about his choice of course.

“It’s really, really good,’’ he says. “I really enjoyed the placement and the parts around starting a business and creating business ideas.

Starting a business is not something I would have considered before starting the course but it has changed my view.

“I would definitely recommend the course to anybody else.”

The course has certainly been a success and Sunderland College is hoping to double numbers next year.

“We’ve not had a programme like this before,’’ says Chalk.

“I really appreciate the support of the host organisations who have taken on board the students for four weeks which is a big undertaking. We found that for those students who did want to go to university, when we were looking at their UCAS applications, they had so much to include to set them apart from other students because they had done so much on the course. Had this course been around when I was at school I would have been really interested in it.

“There are very few students between the ages of 16 and 18 who get the opportunities and exposure that they have had on this course to all the guest speakers, to the trips, to the work placement, to raising money as well coming out with the equivalent of two A-Levels in one year.

“It gives them so much that they can then use, either in the workplace to help them with a job to become more competitive in the market place, or, if they want to go on to university, it really does set them apart from other students of their age.’’

Sunderland College has over 9,000 students studying at its four sixth forms and two vocational centres based at five campuses across Sunderland.

The college also employs around 800 staff. n

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