Invest in Tees Valley

SPECIAL REPORT: invest in tees valley bright outlook Why optimism is rising across Tees Valley game changer Redressing the balance in a male dominated sector Pixel power Drive to cultivate new digital success stories

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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 the Tees Valley business community

14 Overview

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

An in-depth look at the pipeline of investments planned in Tees Valley

20 optimism rising Tees Valley Unlimited’s Stephen Catchpole on his hopes for the future

26 balancing act How a male dominated sector is rapidly changing in Tees Valley

34 changing times The port group’s battle to stay ahead of the competition

38 digital growth Cultivating new business successes in one of Teesside’s hottest sectors

44 car parts revival ElringKlinger’s rapid emergence from economic turbulence

46 a point proven Inside a Tees Valley business hub that’s leading by example

cultivating new digital successes

38 INVEST IN TEES VALLEY

SPECIAL REPORT:

invest in tees valley

WELCOME

Tees Valley contributes over £10bn to the national economy each year and is home to 30% of the UK’s processing industries, as well as being a recognised hub for offshore and renewable energy and a fast growing digital cluster. It’s also an area that is well and truly open for investment.

Built on a rich industrial heritage, it now has the skills, infrastructure and experience to lead the growth and development of these sectors and create new career opportunities for the region’s brightest young talent. With a strong supply chain and asset base, the area is committed to seeing further business growth through a thriving enterprise zone backed by numerous Regional Growth Fund projects and programmes, all of which will make a significant impact on the future economic growth of Tees Valley.

In this issue we speak to some of the key business leaders and decision makers at the heart of Tees Valley’s economy to uncover the challenges, opportunities and trends that are impacting on business growth in the area.

And, as you’ll see from our special report, there are plenty of reasons why an increasing number of businesses and investors are backing Tees Valley as a place in which to thrive.

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, June 2013. room501 Publishing Ltd is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

in association with

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BQ Magazine is published quarterly by room501 Ltd.

SPECIAL REPORT | summer 13

NEWS

SUMMER 13

Why Frank has a spring in his step, calming influence for Azione, TTE provides a pathway to a brighter future, media man joins the society, Google grant boosts university, and Greentyre rolls on >> New name at Rowlands

(L-R) John Davison and Jamie Allinson

>> Network expands An IT solutions company has expanded into a new, larger headquarters so it can fulfil its plans for growth.

Since being established by former Fujitsu IT technicians John Davison and Jamie Allinson three years ago, AD Network Solutions had already taken more space at its previous premises in Stockton.

The business has now taken the ground floor of a building at River Court, on Middlesbrough’s Riverside Park, signing a sixyear lease with the landlord, Richmond-based Landteam, through letting agent Dodds Brown.

Specialising in next generation wireless solutions, cloud computing services and IT security, the company’s customer base includes a variety of organisations spanning solicitors, retail and manufacturing businesses.

Davison said: “We very quickly grew out of our original premises and needed extra space to accommodate our expanding team and a rapidly increasing client base.

“Riverside Park is perfect for us. It provides a Teesside base, which was our preferred choice, with good access to anywhere in the region and we have the opportunity to take more space as and when we need it.”

Nick Appleyard, of Landteam, said: “We’re delighted to be able to support John and Jamie’s plans to grow the business. They have a number of customers in the Tees Valley and beyond so River Court is the ideal location because the road links are so good to all parts of the region.”

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Rowlands Accountants is strengthening its restructuring and insolvency services with the appointment of a new partner, Andrew Little.

Chartered accountant and insolvency specialist Andrew joined Rowlands Accountants as an associate at the end of last year. He previously worked for another accountancy practice for seven years and before that acted as director of finance or director of operations for a number of private businesses. Operating mainly from the Yarm and Portobello offices, his role is to consolidate the team’s presence across the Tees Valley region as well as growing the Northern region as part of Rowlands’ wider expansion plans.

Little said: “The team I work with is an extremely strong one and my role is to add a new commercial perspective and develop and accelerate the growth plans put in place before my arrival. This includes consolidating our position locally, pushing our services where we are not quite as well established and utilising my network of business angels, investors and other intermediaries wherever possible.”

Harvey Madden, a partner at Rowlands Accountants, said: “Andrew works alongside me in Yarm and brings a wealth of experience as well as new capabilities.

His ability to seek out additional routes to business recovery complements our existing provision perfectly.”

>> Cluster accredited North East based Nepic has become the UK’s first accredited cluster management team, under a new EU initiative. Nepic, the cluster organisation representing the North East chemical process sector, has been awarded Cluster Excellence Bronze Level Accreditation under the European Cluster Excellence Initiative, ECEI. The EU

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introduced the scheme to provide standards for, and improve the performance of, some 1,500 such organisations with which it has worked across Europe to further industrial and economic development. This process has resulted in a quality assurance scheme, ‘Cluster Management Excellence – striving for cluster excellence’ and Nepic is the first UK cluster organisation to be accredited under the scheme. Dr Stan Higgins, Nepic chief executive said: “We are very proud indeed to become the first UK cluster management team to be accredited under the EU’s Cluster Management Excellence Scheme. I believe this is a quality journey that Nepic can continuously improve its performance in identifying and sharing best practice with our European colleagues. In practical terms it has been interesting to see that the recent project and industrial collaborations that have been announced by the EU have said that the project lead organisations should only be clusters, with this cluster excellence accreditation. This achievement puts Nepic in a really good position to collaborate even further with our colleagues across Europe and bring further best practice and innovative solutions to the process industries in the UK.” Nepic has participated in several EU funded economic development and innovation projects. It is currently delivering three of these projects: the Wiintech project, to showcase the EU chemical Industry around the world; the Locimap project to benchmark industrial parks by recommending the most efficient design for industrial parks of the future; and the Deelocsi project to help supply chain SMEs develop more sustainable and lower carbon businesses.

This puts us in a really good position to collaborate further

INVEST IN TEES VALLEY

SUMMER 13

COMPANY PROFILE

Bonds to finance growth The new £10 million Tees Valley Catalyst Fund is set to help ambitious Tees Valley businesses bid for new contracts with an estimated value of £700 million.

Finance to fund (short-term) performance and warranty bonds of up to £2 million is available from the Fund which is managed by FW Capital.

Joanne Pratt, FW Capital’s Fund Manager in the North East, explains: “Many ambitious companies have the potential to win new contracts, but the financial guarantees often required can be an obstacle. The Tees Valley Catalyst Fund should now help them overcome this and open up new business opportunities.”

Aimed at established small and medium-sized businesses to finance advanced payment, performance and warranty bonds, the Fund

Many established businesses in the Tees Valley have the capacity as well as the technical know-how to win new contracts and now they also have the financial backing they need. Winning larger contracts can boost a growing business’s prospects and help them move up a gear initiated by Tees Valley Unlimited can also help larger companies extend existing bond facilities.

“Many established businesses in the Tees Valley have the capacity as well as the technical knowhow to win new contracts and now they also have the financial backing they need. Winning larger contracts can boost a growing business’s prospects and help them move up a gear,” Pratt continued.

Although the Fund provides short-term finance,

all capital returns will be re-invested to ensure significant contribution to the Tees Valley economy in the long term.

Supported by the

Contact Joanne on 0191 350 6315 or visit www.fwcapital.co.uk/catalystfund

NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Home guard

(L-R) Sally Pickersgill, and Iain Sim

HomeCall Independent Living, part of Coast & Country, has launched a new partnership with homecare provider Heritage Healthcare to enhance its independent living support services. The announcement follows HomeCall Independent Living winning a contract from Redcar and Cleveland Council to supply Telecare services to older and vulnerable people across the region.

The introduction of further services has created extra jobs, as staff are now responding to alerts triggered by HomeCall technology that has been installed in people’s homes. HomeCall Telecare monitors signs of potential problems and emergencies that may affect people living safely and independently in their own homes. These are linked to HomeCall’s customer contact centre, where advisors can then respond.

Iain Sim, chief executive of Coast & Country, said: “Telecare is about giving vulnerable people their independence while offering their relatives and friends the peace of mind that help is available should they need it.

“We are extremely proud of the services we offer, and partnering with Heritage Healthcare, which is an established and experienced homecare provider, will further strengthen and improve our services across the region.

“Going forward we have exciting plans to improve and expand our HomeCall Independent Living services even further, and we will be announcing these soon.”Heritage Healthcare is run by company directors Glenn and Sally Pickersgill, Michelle Fenwick and Amanda Jackson.

Glenn Pickersgill, Heritage Healthcare managing director, said: “This is an exciting new phase in the growth and development of Heritage Healthcare. The partnership with Coast & Country’s HomeCall Independent Living is a perfect fit as we have a shared vision of providing high quality care and support to help people maintain their independence.”

HomeCall’s Telecare service involves connecting a Lifeline alarm unit to a telephone socket in a client’s home, providing a direct link into a 24-hour customer contact centre.

A selection of Telecare sensors also can be fitted around the home, in places identified in a formal assessment, to monitor health, safety and security. If a Telecare sensor is activated, a message is automatically sent to a trained customer advisor at HomeCall’s 24-hour contact centre. A family member, carer, independent living advisor, or the emergency services will be alerted as required.

>> Pathway to prosperity Middlesbrough-based TTE Technical Training Group has secured new government funding to offer 70 young people on Teesside the chance of a career in industry.

Through its TTE Pathway - open to students of all academic levels - it provides an opportunity to gain an industry-recognised Level 1, 2 or 3 diploma and practical experience.

So far “a large proportion’’ of students who have completed a TTE Pathway have gone on to secure a place on an apprenticeship programme. TTE works closely with more

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

than 200 local employers that support apprenticeship training.

The TTE Pathway is available in six trade disciplines including electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, process operation and warehousing.

Aimed at 16-year-old school leavers, TTE Pathway is open to students with a variety of skill levels and qualifications. From its fully-equipped, industry-standard training centre, in addition to its Pathway and Apprenticeship programmes, TTE provides industry-specific technical training for UK

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and international commercial businesses in the oil and gas, process, manufacturing and engineering sectors. TTE, based in South Bank, Middlesbrough, is a charity with not-forprofit status, and re-invests surpluses from its commercial activities in the development of its Pathway and Advanced Level Apprenticeship programmes and facilities. The training on the TTE Pathway is supported by industrial placements with regional employers. Students also receive free equipment and materials to support their training as well as subsidised meals and free safety clothing. Steve Grant, managing director of The TTE Technical Training Group, said: “The growing interest in engineering, process and warehousing training programmes are attracting a much broader range of applicants, which is fantastic news for employers and industry.

>> Media man joins society Darlington Building Society has appointed Bob Cuffe as a non-executive director following an annual general meeting held at the University of Teesside, Darlington Campus.

Meanwhile Chris Fleetwood has retired after over 17 years on the society’s board, the last four as chairman. James Ramsbotham, the society’s vice chairman has been elected to replace him. The new vice chairman is Alison Thain, who was elected to the society’s board in October 2011 and is group chief executive of Fabrick Housing Group. Bob Cuffe comes from a strong media background having worked for a number of regional newspapers culminating in the role of North East regional managing director for the Gazette Media Company and ncjmedia business. His current role is as director of recruitment for Marske Site Services Recruitment – a recruitment agency serving the engineering sector. A native Teessider, hailing from Redcar, he is also a governor of Teesside University and sits on the Advisory Council of the University’s Business School and additionally has chaired the Tees Valley Chamber of Commerce and served on the Chamber’s regional council. Ramsbotham said, “[Bob’s] experience should help the society to maintain its current positive trajectory as it looks to build upon its strong foundations and remain a mutual, independent building society dedicated to looking after the interests of its members.”

INVEST IN TEES VALLEY

COMPANY PROFILE

company profile

SUMMER 13 13 SUMMER

Northstar invests £30m into the region Northstar Ventures is a venture capital company based in Newcastle, dedicated to helping fledgling north east SMEs Northstar currently manages two active funds on behalf of the £125m Finance for Business North East programme, the £25m Accelerator Fund and the £15m Proof of Concept Fund. These funds invest in a variety of sectors such as technology, SaaS (Software as a Service) & healthcare.Since the funds’ inception in 2010, they have invested almost £30m into regional SMEs – out of that £30m, £4.5m has been invested into Teesside which has helped to create and safeguard over 50 jobs. Examples of Teesside-based companies to benefit from funding from Northstar are SocialRel8 and Mylearnadfriend.

Mylearnadfriend A Middlesbrough-based e-learning provider has

created a unique online health & safety training package that has captured the imagination of employers, trade unions, insurance companies and educationalists worldwide. Since its formation last summer, Mylearnadfriend has developed software that works in conjunction with 360 degree panorama photography to recreate any work environment on-screen and enable students to look for hazards and learn the correct way of dealing with them. Now, thanks to £100,000 of funding from the Proof of Concept Fund, the system is about to go live with a new website offering easy-toaccess training for a wide range of industry sectors.

SocialRel8 A Middlesbrough software company that helps

call-centres to provide better customer service, by improving the way staff handle enquiries, has secured £250,000 of investment.

SocialRel8 has received £100,000 from the Proof of Concept Fund with a further £150,000 coming from angel investors. The company provides a range of modules in a Software as a Service product it calls EvaluAgent. These are designed to enable callcentre managers not just to monitor and evaluate the activities of their staff, but to support them with coaching, e-learning and customer feedback.

For more information, please visit www.northstarventures.co.uk

NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Glass firm’s clear vision A recycling specialist is creating 10 jobs and looking to add £2m to sales on the back of a £750,000 investment in a new glass recycling plant.

Middlesbrough-based Ward Recycling now has a product with none of the contamination and health risks associated with alternatives and demand is so great it is winning two new clients every week, with the company expecting to produce 25,000 tonnes in 2013.

Ward, which employs 140 people across the UK and about 60 in Middlesbrough where it has a 12-acre site, can now take smaller pieces of glass which would normally have to go to landfill and using special sterilisation and crushing processes – turn them into a nonsharp product for use in water filtration, shot blast and decorative aggregates.

The final green light for expansion was given with the successful securing of the BSI PAS 102, the quality accreditation for processed glass used in secondary end markets, which the company achieved with the help of the Manufacturing Advisory Service, MAS, and Teesside University.

“It’s been a hectic six months, but we are now finally in a position to take advantage of the investment and increase capacity,” said Paul Stonehouse, sales and marketing manager at the glass plant.

“Securing BSI PAS 102 opens up a whole host of new markets for us and, basically, is a public endorsement that our product is safe to re-use and of an excellent quality.

“Getting this accreditation is a tough ask and we knew we needed some

>> Google grant boosts university Teesside University is to help teachers develop the next generation of computer scientists thanks to a grant from Google.

The university has been awarded about £4,500 to host an event to help secondary school teachers deliver vital computing skills to their pupils. The award was given as part of Google’s Computer Science for High School (CS4HS) initiative which aims to promote computer science and “computational thinking’’ in the school curriculum.

Computer science is a supplement and an alternative to the existing ICT subject and the government has voiced concerns about a lack of computer science in schools. Many teachers are now retraining to offer both ICT and computer science, including computer programming, in their classes.

Dr Michael Ryding, the School of Computing’s head of digital enterprise, said: “It’s great for Teesside University’s support of local teachers to be acknowledged by an international giant like Google.

“Google’s commitment to secondary school education is being seen up and down the country and it’s fantastic that we are now able to bring this to Middlesbrough.

“There’s plenty of evidence that there’s a significant shortage of computer programmers not only in the North-East but across the country and as a School of Computing we want to do what we can to ensure that the next generation of computer scientists are equipped with the necessary skills.”

The two-day event is to be delivered by staff from Teesside University’s School of Computing at its Middlesbrough campus for up to 120 secondary teachers from local schools.

It will deliver a number of key computer science topics including the internal components of a computer, logic, binary, hexadecimal and computer networks.

Teachers will be encouraged to create lesson plans specific to the subject and share those with local and national colleagues while supporting their own classroom activities.

Full details are to be announced but the university expects that it will run in late June or early July.

This month, Teesside University also began a 10-week course for teachers to provide them with support for teaching computing and computer science at GCSE. external support in achieving it.

We discussed this with Teesside University who signposted us to MAS, who provided us with strategic advice and a £3,000 grant towards consultancy services.

“They advised us to concentrate on moisture

>> Why Frank has a spring in his step A retailer best known for its love of carpets is expanding by adding bed and bedroom furnishings to existing and new stores in the region. Frank’s The Flooring Store, which has 30 stores across the North East, has been piloting its new product ranges in 12 stores and has reached agreements to be official stockists of two of the market’s best known brands, Silentnight and Rest Assured. There are also plans to expand the range across other sites and to open dedicated bed stores. The first Frank’s store opened in 1996 in Stockton and its advertising catchphrase “I love carpets, me!” slogan, soon became well known.

Mick Copeland, Frank’s The Flooring Store’s business development manager, said: “Expanding and finding new sites to house these ranges will form part of our ongoing investment in the North East, following the addition of our Hartlepool store in 2012, and we look forward to being able to announce further developments in the coming months.”

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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content, particle shape and distribution and chemical contamination, which we duly did.

We then employed the services of accredited laboratories to undertake testing before we were assessed.”

On the back of this accreditation, the firm’s products are now being assessed by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, to certify the product as suitable for filtering drinking water.

If successful this could see the glass plant running 24 hours a day, five days a week within 18 months and the company, which exports 95% of its water filtration products, is confident markets in the Baltic states and Nordic countries could lead to a further doubling of production and consequently the workforce.

This will form a significant diversification from the firm’s core offer, which includes bringing bank collection services, dry recycling, sorting and various styles of kerbside collections.

INVEST IN TEES VALLEY

SUMMER 13

NEWS

>> Calming influence for Azione

>> MJF cleans up with contracts flurry A County Durham cleaning company is expanding with a number of new contract wins and plans to take on 80 more staff this year.

MJF Cleaning Services, in Darlington, has seen demand grow faster than expected for its commercial cleaning services for business and organisations.

New contract wins have secured the jobs for its team of more than 100 staff and will lead to about 80 new positions in the next 12 months.

MJF also plans to open a new office close to the M62 next year and its headquarters in Darlington town centre are being refurbished. MJF’s new contracts include work for Shepherd Construction at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaRec) in Blyth where the company carried out a major industrial deep clean; an industrial highlevel clean at St George’s Park in Burton-upon-Trent the home of the new National Football Centre with more than 330 acres of training facilities, football pitches and five-star hotel accommodation; and a three-year contract with Darlington Council to clean windows at council properties across the town. Darlington businessman, Martin Ferguson, established MJF Cleaning Services in 2006 while working as a domestic window cleaner. Since starting with two members of staff, MJF has gone on to secure contracts with companies including BAE Systems, Rockliffe Hall and the Esh Group.

Bike manufacturer Azione has reappointed creative agency Calm Digital to work with it to design and market its new models following its launch of the brand in 2012.

Carbon fibre bike brand Azione has broken into the cycling market and become an established name with professionals since launching in late spring last year. The two North East companies joined forces originally to design a state-of-the-art road bike – Questo – and take it to market. Now Azione has developed two new models – Falce, a time-trial bike, and Chiaro, an aero frame bike. Calm Digital, based in Boho One, Middlesbrough, designed the frame artwork for the new models as well as creating a website. The e-commerce site includes a bike building facility to enable cyclists to customise their own bike to their individual specification.

Azione was established by cycling enthusiasts and entrepreneurs Dave Anderson and Simon Johnson. Bianca Robinson, managing director of Calm Digital, said: “The initial response from professionals has been positive and people are excited to see what Azione is doing next.”

>> C&A gets Gee Dee gig A newly-launched training company which has already secured five clients is now working with environmental waste management company Gee Dee Tankers.

Hartlepool-based C&A Safety Solutions is helping Gee Dee Tankers – also based in the town – achieve industry accreditations to help it win more and larger clients. It is working with Graythorp Industrial Estate-based Gee Dee Tankers to fast track them through the awards of the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certificates covering health and safety and environmental processes. Gee Dee Tankers employs eight staff and its turnover last year was £500,000.

C&A Safety Solutions was launched last autumn to deliver health and safety and management courses for North East manufacturing and engineering companies. Its parent company is pump and engineering solutions provider C&A Pumps & Engineering – which is predicting more than £600,000 of turnover for its first year. C&A Safety Solutions’ clients already include Camerons Brewery, JCS Contractors, Clarion Homes and Cleveland Potash at Boulby. Owner Alan Roberts said: “We know how hard a process it can be for companies to properly document all the evidence needed to be considered for the ISO accreditations so we do it all for them. We go through their various systems to make sure everything is in place and then pull all the evidence together in a suitable format for assessment.

He added: “The relationship we’ve established with Gee Dee Tankers as a result of the ISO work we’ve done is proving to be mutually beneficial as they’ve now asked us to re-write their health and safety policy and we call on their services if we need waste removing from a site we’re working on.

We’re two growing local businesses so it’s great we can support each other.”

Evan Edwards, site manager at Gee Dee Tankers said: “Since we started working with Alan and his team the whole process has been simplified and we’re confident we’ll secure the ISO accreditations in the near future.”

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SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Accelerated growth

(l-r) Kevin Allinson and Anthony Borsumato

>> Paralympics pays off A Teesside University graduate whose company designed the Channel 4 Paralympics website has picked up a major national award.

The Channel 4 Paralympics website was awarded the prize for Digital Creativity at the recent Bafta Craft Awards held at The Brewery in East London.

Middlesbrough-based sports digital agency 13 Strides helped design the website for Channel 4 along with developer Deltatree.

The founder of 13 Strides, Anthony Borsumato, went to the ceremony which was attended by several celebrities and major figures from the television world including Stephen Mangan, Meera Syal, Russell Tovey and Dawn O’Porter.

Borsumato, a former international hurdler, enrolled on an MSc in Multimedia Applications at Teesside University after his athletics career came to a premature end through injury.

He then founded 13 Strides in 2006, with his cousin Kevin Allinson, in a business incubation unit at Teesside University.

The company is still based on campus at the Phoenix Building and now employs seven people, all Teesside University graduates.

Channel 4, which had the exclusive television rights for the 2012 Paralympics, commissioned 13 Strides to work alongside digital solutions specialists Deltatree on the website for the games. The website, which used high-impact graphics to display key information, results and explanatory features, received 18.7 million page views, a record for the Channel 4 brand.

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

Nifco UK, the international car parts manufacturer is set to start work on a new multi-million pound second factory on its Eaglescliffe site in Stockton which will mean 170 new jobs.

The company’s £12.8m expansion will accommodate a new research and development facility and will eventually see staff numbers increase to nearly 450. The company says the development will also boost turnover from £40.9m in 2012 to more than £68m by 2015.

Nifco has received Government Regional Growth Fund Round 3 of £1.9m to support the development. Mike Matthews, managing director said: “Nifco UK’s continued unprecedented success beyond sales forecast has led to a projected capacity shortfall at our UK facility from 2013 onwards. To support this shortfall in capacity Nifco UK will be investing in a second new factory and equipment “Phase 2” in addition to our current investment programme.“ Phase 2 will involve the construction of a new 61,451 sq ft facility and an R&D facility that will support the securing of future business at Nifco UK and centralise R&D services for the Nifco group in Europe. This venture will create up to 150 manufacturing and office jobs, and up to 20 high end R&D jobs. The Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham, Mrs Sue Snowdon joined representatives from Nifco UK, Stockton Council, Tees Valley Unlimited, TVU, Department for Business, Innoviation and Skills and businesses to celebrate the start of the new building at a groundbreaking ceremony at the Nifco UK Eaglescliffe site.

Matthews said: “We are delighted to welcome the Lord Lieutenant to Nifco to mark this special occasion. On behalf of Nifco, I would also like to thank our partners for their significant support in this venture: the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, Tees Valley Unlimited, Stockton Borough Council, and the borough of Stockton, for their continued support and involvement. The Government support of RGF has made a great difference to our shareholders and the prospect of a second new site at Nifco.’’

Sandy Anderson, chairman of Tees Valley Unlimited, said: “Occasions like this give us a

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real opportunity to demonstrate how the public and private sector are successfully working together to bring jobs and investment to Tees Valley. Nifco UK must be congratulated once again on both its ambition and determination which help make these projects happen.”

Formerly known as Elta Plastics, established in 1967 and based in Stockton, the company became became part of Japanese-owned Nifco in 1990, supplying plastic injection-moulding components to automotive plants across the country including Nissan in Sunderland, Honda and Toyota and exporting globally to firms such as Ford.

In February 2012, the company moved into new premises based in Eaglescliffe, after an £8.5m investment in a new factory and £11.5m on new capital equipment.

>> Greentyre rolls on A Middlesbrough wheelchair manufacturer is proving to be not only green by name, but green by nature too.

Greencare Mobility has implemented a number of green initiatives and reduced its reliance on mains electricity by 40% after installing PV panels.

In production the need for painting has been eliminated and welding has been reduced. Every component used in Greencare’s wheelchairs can now be recycled, as can the wheelchairs themselves. Greencare founder, Colin Scarsi, said: “I think as a company we were green before it was ever considered either fashionable or a necessity. I have always believed that business has a rent to pay to the environment in which it operates and a responsibility to the community by minimising its environmental impact.

“In manufacturing, it’s not always easy to be green but we’re doing what we can and we’re currently working hard to try and return our component producers to the UK to further reduce carbon footprint.”

Greencare Mobility has 28 staff, manufacturing several thousand wheelchairs each year. It is the wheelchair division of Scarsi’s business, Greentyre, and was set up in 2005 along with David Batty.

INVEST IN TEES VALLEY

COMPANY PROFILE

COMPANY PROFILE

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Tees Valley a key target for NETF Of the ÂŁ14m committed by the Finance for Business North East Technology Fund, nearly a fifth has gone to businesses within Tees Valley The North East Technology Fund (NETF), managed by IP Group, made its first investment in the Tees Valley into Onyx Group to enable the company to develop its cloud offering. Since then, another four deals have been carried out into companies south of the region.

C-Capture, a company that is aiming to make the North East a leader in carbon capture technology, received seed capital from both the NETF and IP Group plc. Based at The Wilton Centre, it has developed a low cost, energy efficient technology which aims to capture CO2 from the flue gas streams of coal-fired power stations and other power generation sites, making coal a more

environmentally acceptable energy source.

Datum360, a provider of Information Management (IM) and software consultancy services to the oil and gas sector which is building its own cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, also received funding from the NETF. A specialist engineering information business, it works primarily in analysing and resolving issues around the management of complex engineering information on large capital projects and assets.

Durham Graphene Science, which is developing production technology for graphene which could enable it to be mass-produced, received investment both from the NETF and IP Group

plc. Finally, the NETF invested in CatalySystems which has developed advanced oxidation process technologies to decontaminate industrial waste water helping companies comply with their environmental obligations.

If you’re also a fast growing technology business with global potential that requires investment to fulfil its ambitions, it may be we can help.

Why not give us a call on 0845 519 411 or visit www.thenortheasttechnologyfund.com for more information.

NEWS

SUMMER 13

>> Mourik on the move Specialist technical services company Mourik UK, part of a global business, has moved its headquarters to the Wilton Centre from Darlington for a team of five.

And it is buying premises on the Teesside Industrial Estate in Middlesbrough where it will base 15 staff.

The company provides speciality services such as catalyst handling, heat exchanger handling and cleaning, tank cleaning and industrial cleaning.

The business has an annual turnover of £470m.

Mourik’s move into the Teesside area is aimed at allowing it to provide a rapid response time to clients in the area and offer savings.

Mourik specialises in catalyst handling, which is used widely throughout the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, agrochemical and processing industries.

Mourik’s Heat Exchanger Branch (Euro Exchangers) also offers dedicated personnel and equipment to pull/push every type of heat exchanger within the industry.

General manager Roy Gascoigne said: “Our aim is not to be the biggest, but the best at what we do. We now have a base at Wilton Centre so we can prove that to the local industries which use the services we provide.”

>> Growth platform A Teesside firm which trains offshore and onshore workers on the UK’s largest steel platform of its type is aiming high after bringing a £70,000 investment into the business.

Teesside Rigging & Lifting (TRL) provides specialist training for highly-skilled riggers and erectors in the oil and gas industry, and already helps many of the major offshore operators meet their rigging, lifting and erection services training requirements. The firm is currently in the final stages of securing the highest available accreditation in its industry from skills body the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation, OPITO, a process which has required the completion of a six-month qualification.

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

>> Funding fuels expansion at recycling group Hartlepool-based J & B Recycling is set to move into new markets, following a £1.9m refinancing agreement with Santander Corporate & Commercial.

The waste recycling business operates from two sites in Hartlepool, on Baltic Street and Thomlinson Road.

It will use some of the funding to develop and expand its Thomlinson Road site onto adjacent land that it bought from Hartlepool Borough Council in October 2011. The business plans to develop the site over the next couple of years to increase waste handling efficiency.

The Baltic Street site has additional licences for activities such as the handling of liquids and hazardous waste and it plans to make greater use of these with the extra capacity gained when some of its other processes are moved to the expanded Thomlinson Road site.

J & B Recycling provides waste collection, recovery and recycling to both the public and private sectors. It has more than 800 customers, including the five Tees Valley local authorities, Middlesbrough’s James Cook Hospital, Sage UK and Nifco UK. Vikki Jackson-Smith, managing director of J & B Recycing, said: “I’m really looking forward to the forthcoming developments. Firstly, it will be great to prepare the land next to Thomlinson Road. Our main aim is to divert as much waste as possible away from landfill sites, and to increase levels of recycling, and this will significantly remove the to-ing and fro-ing we currently do between sites and enable us to increase productivity.” Mark Dolphin, relationship director for Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “J & B Recycling is an excellent example of a strong, well managed local business with the potential to significantly grow. It offers a great service, and has a real brand heritage across the North East. We are delighted they have chosen us as their new banking partner and look forward to building on our relationship in the years to come.”

>> Businesses back NHS plans Hartlepool businesses are backing proposals for a new hospital on the outskirts of the town which they say could provide vital work for local contractors.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust want to build the new hospital at Wynyard, near Billingham, to serve Hartlepool, Stockton and parts of Easington and Sedgefield. Members of the North East Chamber of Commerce’s Hartlepool Committee were unanimous in their support for the project.

The NHS plans to replace outdated facilities at the University Hospital of Hartlepool and

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the University Hospital of North Tees with a £300m hospital on the Wynyard site.

NECC Hartlepool Committee chairman, Peter Olsen, a board member at Vela Housing Group, said: “The committee was unanimous in its backing for the new hospital development, which would be fantastic for Hartlepool and Stockton and could hopefully bring with it some excellent opportunities for local business.

“There will be a lot of opportunities for local procurement of services and we’re working closely with the Foundation Trust with a view to agreeing that local contracting conditions can be included in their plans going forward.”

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COMPANY PROFILE

Business benefits of knowledge transfer At Teesside University, working with business is at the heart of our mission. It’s a focused mission, too: we’re very clear that we aim to make a positive and measurable impact on business.

For even the most forward-thinking businesses, growing the capacity for innovation can be a real challenge.

It’s not just about money: finding the time and resources to identify opportunities, introduce new technologies, or perhaps improve operating efficiency, can be all but impossible.

Yet working on the business – as opposed to working in the business – is a vital ingredient for growth. It’s one of the reasons why businesses and universities are urged to work together, to bring new thinking to business challenges and develop new approaches that deliver real benefit to the bottom line.

There’s a name for the joint process by which business and academic know-how come together and create new ways of doing things – it’s called knowledge transfer. It works because it’s based on a partnership between the business, the university and a talented graduate brought into the company to deliver the work.

For companies of any size, the knowledge transfer model is an excellent way of getting that deep understanding of a business and applying specialist expertise to come up with innovative solutions, products and processes, and even new business models.

At Teesside University, building these partnerships with business is a very high priority. We know you have business challenges and opportunities; we know you have the ideas; and we know that time and resources are in short supply.

Through a knowledge transfer project, we can bring in new knowledge and skills to help improve your performance, productivity and competitiveness – and innovation doesn’t have to be about technology.

The benefits of this approach include increased annual profits before tax, new knowledge and skills in the organisation, and a solid, long-term relationship between business and university.

Projects can last between six months and three years, depending on your needs - and what’s more,

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Left to right, Pablo Olalla, the KTP associate, Ruben Pinedo-Cuenca, Teesside University and Kevin Martin, managing director of Exwold

The partnership between Pablo, Exwold and Teesside University has worked very well. We are confident that the project has placed the company in a much stronger position to create significant growth. they bring with them significant financial support.

Chemical processing company Exwold Technology worked with Teesside University on just such a project, to improve operational and process efficiencies and to prepare for future growth.

Exwold wanted help in selecting and embedding a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, to integrate information across the company, ensuring it flowed across all business functions.

Pablo Gonzalez Olalla, originally from Spain, was appointed as the Teesside University associate to support the ERP implementation. Pablo, who picked up the North East of England Process Industry Cluster Young Achiever 2012 Award, said, ‘The project has been a life-changing experience, helping me to develop my skills and knowledge as well as enhancing my career opportunities.’

This was the third project between the University

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and Exwold, an expanding company with around 65 staff, and over 50 clients across a variety of industries around the world.

Kevin Martin, Exwold managing director, said: ‘The partnership between Pablo, Exwold and Teesside University has worked very well. We are confident that the project has placed the company in a much stronger position to create significant growth.’

Find out how working with Teesside University can help your business: call 01642 384068, email business@tees.ac.uk or visit tees.ac.uk/spark

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

OVERVIEW

SUMMER 13

confidence rising in the valley

Tees Valley is attracting huge investment in property and infrastructure, leading to a physical transformation, as Peter Jackson reports Developers, business and government organisations are all expressing their confidence in Tees Valley and backing that confidence with cash. Each of the five boroughs that make up the area is benefiting from significant investment in facilities and infrastructure for business, retailers and residents. Here we give just a brief overview of some of the developments underway or recently completed.

Hartlepool When the Government approved the Tees Valley Enterprise Zone application, Hartlepool secured more than 30% of the Tees Valley land allocation and the first EZ occupiers moved into Hartlepool. Hartlepool has two EZs: The Port Estates which is a capital allowance site and Queens Meadow Business Park, a business rates discount site.

Port Estates has: • A site area of 120 hectares • Advanced engineering and low carbon sector focus particularly aimed at offshore wind opportunities • Long term potential to create 1,800 jobs.

In addition significant off site supplier chain investment may create another 1,000 jobs • 100% capital allowance for plant and equipment investment

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• A simplified planning regime governed by Local Development Order, LDO • Implementation of super fast broadband.

Queens Meadow has: • A site area of eight hectares • Advanced engineering, chemicals, medical and new business start up opportunities • Long term potential to create 1,860 jobs • Business rate discounts of up to £55,000 a year for five years with maximum allowance of £275,000 per business • Simplified planning regime governed by LDO • Implementation of super fast broadband.

In addition to the Government approved EZs, a 14.16 hectare site, Oakesway Business Park, has been identified as a key supplier chain site to the Port Estates and in the long term will receive investment from the LEP generated from Enterprise Zone business rate income to stimulate private sector investment and job creation. Hartlepool delivered the first two Enterprise Zone projects in Tees Valley: • Omega Plastics and Propipe. Omega Plastics – Queens Meadow, 10,000 sq ft. The company is based in Blyth and has undertaken a major expansion project manufacturing high quality plastic moulding for Martin, McLaren Mercedes and the project will generate around £800,000 of private sector investment and create a

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minimum of 21 jobs.

• Propipe – Queens Meadow, 17,000 sq ft.

The company started up in Hartlepool in 1998 manufacturing pipe line investigatory equipment and exports all over the world. It has expanded from its original factory at Park View Industrial Estate and will invest at least £700,000 and create around 24 jobs.

Queens Meadow Business Park has since attracted two further projects: Durable Technologies and Solomons. An application for a fifth project is currently being processed from a laboratory supplies and technical support business that will create 10 jobs in the medical and fine chemicals sector.

• Durable Technologies – Innovation Centre, Queens Meadow Business Park, 2,400 sq ft. The company started up in Hartlepool in 2007 and occupied 600 sq ft in the Innovation Centre. It designs and manufactures energy - saving lighting control products and exports 15% of its products, clients include Balfour Beatty It employs four staff and will create a further nine jobs.

• Solomons – Innovation Centre, Queens Meadow Business Park, 2012 sq ft. The business is new to Tees Valley and will create eight skilled jobs in the process industry supply chain. “Hartlepool’s key asset in attracting

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major offshore wind investment is its Port area and is illustrated by the fact that all Siemens wind turbines for the EDF Redcar Offshore Wind Farm are being shipped through Hartlepool Port. In addition a long term facility for maintenance will be established

by TWL at the Port and the project will create 12 jobs,’’ says Antony Steinberg, economic regeneration manager. “The project will help to raise awareness in the market place of the opportunities the Port and Hartlepool can offer to turbine manufacturers.’’

A planning application has also been received to develop a pipe coating facility supplying overseas energy markets. Details on investment and job creation have yet to be finalized but it is estimated that around 50 jobs will be created. “Coupled with our existing cluster of energy businesses including Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, Heerema and JDR Cables, Hartlepool is well placed to attract major investment across all energy sectors,’’ adds Steinberg. Apart from attracting inward investment, the Enterprise Zones are helping – in partnership with the town’s business support network - to underpin Hartlepool’s achievements in developing the business start up market. Steinberg says: “Hartlepool first published its Business Incubation Strategy in 2002 and we have seen steady improvements in our start up rates and business stock.

Working with key partners such as UK Steel Enterprise, Hartlepool has seen significant investment into accommodation infrastructure.

Darlington Darlington Central Park is a 30-hectare brownfield site, which represents an opportunity to revitalise a key strategic site near the centre of Darlington, bringing

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investment and jobs. Managed by Darlington Borough Council working with the Homes and Community Agency the project will bring forward a high quality mixed development scheme of a value more than £100m over the next 15 years. The initial phase of development will deliver more than 320 new homes and the park land will be bought forward by the selected residential developer, commencing in 2013. In addition a public sector-led Business Growth Hub, offering a fully serviced and supported business environment for new and expanding SMEs in Darlington and the surrounding area will also be delivered by 2015.

This links closely with the recently developed education hub containing the new £35m Darlington College campus and £13m Teesside University complex, along with the Central Park Enterprise Zone, the commercial centre which focuses on a fast growing digital economy.

Central Park will deliver: • 500 new homes, including family town houses and affordable units • More than 1,000 new jobs, in addition to those in the construction phase of the new Darlington College • The new Teesside University Darlington Campus • Hotel and facilities close to Darlington Bank • Top mainline railway station • A new local centre

OVERVIEW

• A new park • Office accommodation, including the Business Growth Hub • A new link to the mainline railway station and the town centre • and provision for a Tees Valley metro stop near the University • Within the Central Park, Darlington Business Growth Hub represents an opportunity to revitalise a key strategic site near the centre of Darlington, bringing investment and jobs.

Stockton Stockton town centre's multi-million pound regeneration is moving ahead with a hive of activity in and around the town centre as physical works continue to take place to improve access, reduce bus journey times and make it easier for people to get around the town centre. Phase two works are also now underway. These will see the area between The Shambles and The Town Hall transformed with new paving laid, trees planted, current street furniture replaced with artistically designed furniture and a modern pedestrian crossing installed. Most of the underground works are now complete outside the southern end of the Castlegate shopping centre with paving laid and work has also begun on the new bus lay-bys and a new taxi rank. Meanwhile natural stone paving is being laid for a car park >>

Working with key partners such as UK Steel Enterprise, Hartlepool has seen significant investment into accommodation infrastructure

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SPECIAL REPORT | summer 13

OVERVIEW

SUMMER 13

to the south of The Shambles. The council’s wider redevelopment plans have also seen a 200 year old Grade II building transformed into a million pound digital centre. DigitalCity Stockton, 62 Dovecot Street will provide flexible accommodation and general networking areas for digital and creative businesses with a hot-desking facility to allow businesses and freelancers to rent space by the day or hour. Apart from taking on short-term lets, businesses can also take advantage of a range of business advice and support. The high-tech hub will bring new and expanding businesses into the heart of the town centre, increasing footfall and stimulating investment.

The renovation has been funded by £500,000 from the European Regional Development Fund with a further £500,000 from Stockton Council. Business support services are provided

by DigitalCity Business Community Interest Company (CIC), a spin-out of the DigitalCity project. The council is also offering a variety of support to businesses to help them prosper and boost town centre trade. It has introduced a new local business rate discount scheme which applies to all vacant units in the main shopping areas of town and will apply to professional service companies, retail outlets, restaurants, cafes and offices. It is anticipated around 35 businesses are likely to benefit from the scheme over two years which could result in up to 100 jobs being created.

For those thinking of setting up a business Stockton Council can offer guidance with its new Enterprise Support Programme, which offers a range of workshops and one-to-one mentoring on all aspects of starting up a business. Specialist retail workshops offer a range of retail related issues such as merchandising and marketing. Meanwhile Stockton Council’s Enterprise Arcade continues to support fledging businesses

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The high-tech hub will bring new and expanding businesses into the heart of the town centre, increasing footfall and stimulating further investment as they start trading.

Two new businesses have recently moved into the Arcade which provides free retail space plus a full package of business support to tenants.

One newcomer to the Arcade is photographer and graphic designer, Derek Bates, from Billingham. ‘‘Affordable Art’, offers individual art prints of Derek’s own work alongside vintage reproductions of old adverts and movie posters. Off the shelf frames and a bespoke picture framing service are also available.

Laura Carter, 23, has opened ‘Beanie Girl’ selling gifts and accessories.

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough’s encouragement of business and entrepreneurship has started to pay dividends, according to recent research and surveys it has: • Enjoyed the second highest growth in the UK for the number of businesses within its boundaries, according to the latest Inward Investment Guide to England by the Municipal Journal (based on research by Local Futures) • The borough also had one of the highest business start-up rates in England at 8.6% between 2008 and 2012 • According to Experian, Middlesbrough is ranked fourth in the country for numbers of ‘business champions’ capable of driving economic growth • The Royal Mail Business Barometer ranks Middlesbrough in the top five nationally for

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generating business growth and new start ups • Middlesbrough was recently named as a winner of Portas Plus High Street Innovation Funding and is working to develop its already significant independent retail offer • Middlesbrough is trialling a free parking initiative Middlesbrough’s cultural and leisure assets include: • The £14.2m contemporary art gallery Mima • The £2.7m Temenos project by Anish Kapoor, underlining Middlesbrough's spirit for innovation and creativity • Middlesbrough Town Hall, attracting some of the biggest names in comedy, and music • Centre Square, the largest civic space in Europe which has hosted events such as the outdoor finale to the Last Night of the Proms • Middlesbrough has also recently been awarded a large casino licence, with a new leisure and casino complex including luxury hotel, restaurants and shops set to be launched within the next couple of years • The DigitalCity project is a digital hub, a supercluster of digital businesses driven by a partnership between Middlesbrough Council and Teesside University This has led to: • More than 50 new digital businesses being generated through Teesside University annually • An active cluster of more than 250 companies in Tees Valley

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• Most companies within the cluster growing by more than 25% per year • Award winning companies such as Double 11, working exclusively with Sony • Numerous £1m plus foreign investments into locally grown companies • Selling technology into Japan • A return on public investment of over 7:1 The DigitalCity initiative has also driven the physical regeneration of an area in St. Hilda’s now known as the Boho Zone, comprising: • Boho One – 3,200 sq m of new build, costing £10.6m and providing workspace for 27 digital media firms employing more than 200 staff • Boho Two (Platform Arts) - 300 sq m of refurbished Victorian buildings in the Middlesbrough Rail Station precinct • Boho Three (BoHouse) - 3,300 sq m of new build live-work accommodation housing 20 digital professionals operating businesses from their own homes • Boho Four (Gibson House) – 1,000 sq m of Victorian space refurbished at a cost of £1m to provide accommodation for 14 growing digital and creative companies employing more than 50 people.

All Boho buildings are nearing 100% occupancy, with more to follow. The £4.2m Boho five building will provide 2,322sq m of accommodation including space for innovative new businesses and flexible workspace to accommodate stages of rapid growth.

There are two Enterprise Zones within Middlesbrough: Teesside Advanced Manufacturing Park and St. Hilda's. Teesside Advanced Manufacturing Park is a 13 hectare site formerly known as South West Iron Masters, next to Riverside Park. It will be used to attract advanced engineering companies, working together around co-ordinated research

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and development activity. St Hilda’s is a 10 hectare site adjacent to the existing Boho Zone identified for the expansion of the digital sector in Middlesbrough, building around the infrastructure established by DigitalCity Business. The site is expected to be developed as an urban/mixed-use environment, with digital companies taking up around 30% of any floorspace. Eligible businesses locating in either Enterprise Zone between April 2012 and March 2015 would be able to access: • 100% Business Rate relief for five years, up to a limit of £55,000 per year • Simplified planning arrangements through a Local Development Order.

Middlehaven is Middlesbrough's flagship regeneration area and includes residential, office, education, leisure and cultural developments. Located in Middlesbrough's town centre north of the A66 it incorporates the dockside near the Riverside Stadium and the Transporter Bridge.

The regeneration area combines the preservation and renewal of historic buildings in Middlesbrough's original centre. Covering an area of 100 hectares, Middlehaven is one of the North East's largest regeneration schemes, and has already attracted over £140m of investment, including: • Middlesbrough College: more than 4,000 full-time students and apprentices enjoy the new education facilities at the college building • The Boho Zone: with its £10m Boho One headquarters and BoHouse living quarters, the zone fosters digital and creative businesses • Manhattan Gate: waterside office buildings.

The two office buildings at Hudson Quay are now fully let • Community in a Cube (CIAC) is a residential development that includes a range of studios and loft-style living

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OVERVIEW

• myplace at the Custom House: a £4.3m youth centre which includes recording and film studios and a 108-seater theatre. It also houses health and job advice services for young people • Temenos: a huge sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor, unveiled in 2010 • Stages Academy: a £5.7m pioneering centre to provide a new start in life for the homeless • Middlesbrough Police HQ: officially opened in 2007, the headquarters for the Middlesbrough division of Cleveland Police • Boho Four at Gibson House: set in the restored Gibson House, built in 1872 • New Sixth Form Centre MC6 at Middlesbrough College: a £6.8m Sixth Form Centre, MC6 giving students from across Teesside access to facilities including 13 classrooms, a student lounge, a full size floodlit Astro turf pitch and a high ropes centre.

Dominic Lusardi founded Animmersion in 2006. His company, which specializes in computer animation and visualization taking some of the technology from gaming and applying it for business purposes to visualize information, employs 10 staff in the Boho Zone and has an annual turnover of some £500,000.

In the next five years it aims to increase this to 30 staff and a £2m annual turnover.

The business moved to Boho Zone in 2009.

Other developments underway or due to commence in Middlehaven include: • The Gateway: an £8m neuro rehabilitation centre helping people in their recovery from serious brain or spinal injury • The £2.6m refurbishment of the Transporter Bridge, including the installation of glass viewing lifts • Urban Park: The implementation of a new Urban Park on Cleveland Street • Urban Pioneers: Proposed self-build sites providing frontage onto the new park. >>

SPECIAL REPORT | summer 13

OVERVIEW

SUMMER 13

Teesside University was recently identified as University of the Year by the Times - the first modern university to win the award.

It has also been recognised as one of the top UK universities for widening participation in higher education.

It has also invested more than £135m in developing the thriving and vibrant town centre campus in recent years. The council is currently reviewing its Local Development Framework in order to bring forward a significant increase in the number of houses.

The document seeks to deliver 6,885 additional houses between 2012 and 2029.

Redcar Redcar’s regeneration projects are all focused on meeting the council’s objectives by creating employment opportunities and providing new facilities, while helping to stimulate the town’s leisure and tourism economy.

Council Leader George Dunning, says: “Redcar today is worlds apart from how it looked five years ago and as many visitors return we hope they will be bowled over by the impressive regeneration works that are being carried out.’’

“Regeneration totalling some £75m has been secured from a range of bodies, including the European Regional Development Fund and the Environment Agency and has taken place during that period” A series of high profile projects have been completed and further regeneration work is underway. On the seafront, coastal protection work carried out by the Environment Agency stretches 2.7km from Coatham to the Stray. The concrete flood defence wall has been built to protect more than 1,000 homes,

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securing the town against flooding for the next 100 years.

A set of steps to reduce wave energy has also been built along the Esplanade, as well as a curved wall designed to bounce waves back to the sea.

The Redcar Beacon – an addition to the North East’s skyline – and the improvements to the promenade were developed in the wake of the council’s biggest ever public consultation which took place in 2008 and which saw people calling for an attraction to bring visitors and investment to Redcar.

From the viewing platform of the 80ft tower visitors can enjoy a 360 degree view.

The new landmark also provides a café where customers can enjoy the coastal views on ground and first floor level, four floors of dedicated studio/business space for the creative industries, a sky lounge for meetings and events, with the potential to hold wedding ceremonies and an open roof terrace.

Councillor Olwyn Peters, cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, says: “One thing is clear, walking down the promenade these days you get a real sense that things are changing. Visitors who haven’t been here for a while can’t fail to be impressed by the smart new look. Now the tide has turned thanks to investment, innovative thinking and homegrown creativity.”

The Palace Hub is a new facility in Redcar for digital and creative businesses. The building houses the creative talent of the borough and provides support for existing and budding businesses in crafts, visual arts, software and computer services, cultural heritage, art, antiques, designer fashion, design, advertising, publishing, film and

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video production and architecture.

The £75m investment also includes Tuned In! a multi-media and performing arts centre.

Funded from a grant of £4.9m from the Big Lottery’s national ‘My Place’ funding programme, the centre provides activities and entertainment for the borough’s young people as well as leisure and learning opportunities with a focus on arts and media.

Finally, the £30m Redcar Leisure and Community Heart will open in 2014, in the heart of the town centre, near to the town’s railway station. This development will provide a focal point for local communities and visitors. It will include: • A new, six-lane, 25 metre swimming pool • Dance hall and performance space • Fitness suite and gym • Sports hall • Business space for small to medium sized enterprises • Community facilities • Improved parking - including an underground car park • Landscaped public spaces.

The business centre will offer space for people to develop new business ideas and is intended as a catalyst for the creation of new companies and job opportunities.

A civic space for council business includes a new council chamber and register office.

There will also be spaces within the complex for cinema showings, performances and dance groups.

Councillor Mark Hannon, cabinet member for economic development, says: “There has already been massive investment and the results are there for everyone to see – and there is more to come.” n

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COMPANY PROFILE

Investing with the Angels Tees Valley is perhaps not known for its startups, we know different, you just have to spend time there. As early stage investors managing the North East Angel Fund, one of the Finance for Business Funds, we see a growing culture of new business creation especially in the chemical and software/IT sectors.

The fund we operate is essentially seed capital designed to have the flexibility to deal with Business Angel investors. It is available for businesses looking for their first investment or growth capital. The average cash investment from the Fund is around £120,000.

Our activities take us from pump-priming startups for less than £50,000 up to route deals of around £1m. The clue is in the name of the Fund as we work closely with Angels and other investors. In addition

to the £5.4m invested to date we have attracted £3.6m from other sources of capital now placed into 37 businesses across the North East.

There are a number of hubs of activity in the Tees Valley that have attracted our investment and close involvement in the last few years. Key amongst these are iCreate at the Wilton Centre aimed at the chemical and advanced manufacturing sector; Digital City and the activities of Teesside University and SearchCamp the new Internet, software and creative accelerator and incubation programme.

Rivers Capital has worked with iCreate over the spring to help assess the applicants in a startup competition for the chemical industry.

Teesside University is also a founding partner of SearchCamp, the new guys on the block, up and going now with their first accelerator programme.

SearchCamp is again putting Middlesbrough firmly on the tech world map. We are offering delegates £10,000 pump priming investments that can lead to their first £150,000 investment. This is another one to watch this year, with an outstanding level of potential already shown from the delegates.

So don’t let the economic climate fool you, there is a lot starting up around the Tees Valley and we are proud to be part of it all.

For more information please visit www.riverscap.com or contact the office on T. 0191 230 6370 E. info@riverscap.com

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coming back stronger

Tees Valley has ridden recession and is now well placed to lead recovery, as Peter Jackson discovers in conversation with Stephen Catchpole

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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While the UK has avoided triple dip recession, times are still unquestionably tough.

Tees Valley, however, has not only come through relatively unscathed but is even seeing encouraging signs of green shoots.

Stephen Catchpole, managing director of Local Enterprise Partnership Tees Valley Unlimited, says: “We are subject to the general economy but, whereas in the past in a downturn this area would be expected to do worse than the national picture, we have held our own. Our unemployment rate is only fractionally below the decline in the national picture and the private sector has created a significant number of new jobs.’’

There is a feeling that the economic tide is flowing in Tees Valley’s favour.

Not many years ago, there was a belief that manufacturing represented Britain’s past and – glorious though that had been – it was time to move on into a bright future of services, particularly financial services.

Post Lehman Brothers, there has been a realisation that that was never a sustainable basis for a prosperous economy and that industry in the UK would have to be rebalanced in favour of manufacturing and exporting.

This plays to Tees Valley’s strengths as an area with a proud history of manufacturing and of selling its products all around the world.

“There’s a change of mood in government and in all parties,’’ says Catchpole. “The downturn has shown the folly of relying solely on financial services as the main driver of your economy. Having a more balanced economy where industrial production, the sale of goods, particularly exports gives you a much more healthy and balanced longer term position that can help you withstand economic shocks.

“Perhaps the country thought in the past that industrial activity was a thing of the past but if you look at Germany, it has managed to continue to be a modern, leading country but also have a modern, leading economy which is based as much on industry and exporting as it is on the service sector.

“This government has been working with us to make sure we can help lead that balancing of the national economy by increasing our activities in terms of industrial production in the industries that we are good at here.’’

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INTERVIEW

The LEP was able to hit the ground running because we did have policies, we had resources and we had the five local authorities all working together Not only is the tradition of manufacturing established, but Tees Valley Unlimited had been in place – in various forms – for some 10 years when the government set up the Local Enterprise Partnerships two years ago, which gave Tees Valley a head start.

“The LEP was able to hit the ground running because we did have policies, we had resources and we had the five local authorities all working together to achieve economic growth and success in the area,’’ says Catchpole.

Tees Valley Unlimited has 40 staff and is funded primarily by the five local authorities of Tees Valley: Darlington; Hartlepool; Middlesbrough; Redcar & Cleveland; and Stockton-on-Tees.

Its activities are directed by a leadership board, the majority of whose members are from the private sector but also with the leaders of the five boroughs and the university.

“We have an economic strategy that’s well established, we have produced a business plan which covers a four-year period and is updated annually,’’ he says.

The economic strategy, which was agreed some years ago, is primarily about protecting and growing Tees Valley’s industrial base, which makes up one of the largest concentrations of industry still left in the UK – in the process, advanced manufacturing and renewable energy sectors.

“It’s a question of helping that become greener in a more competitive world and helping it absorb new industries like biowasteto-energy and build on our heritage of engineering skills,’’ says Catchpole.

The second main thrust of the strategy is to diversify the economy into new growing sectors, particularly digital, based on the expertise at Teesside University and Middlesbrough’s Digital City.

“These have spun off scores of businesses,

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creating something like 2,000 jobs, particularly in the gaming industry,’’ he says. “Other industries are subsea, logistics, healthcare – all are key sectors for us which we see as producing growth and jobs for the future.’’

The Tees Valley economy is growing more diversified but the bedrock remains industrial activity.

The area has a successful Enterprise Zone which is made up of two parts.

There are smaller sites catering for smaller companies and which receive business rate relief and also bigger sites catering for large scale foreign investors which get enhanced capital allowances.

These are proving successful.

Air Products, which is building one £300m plant on the EZ has announced it is keen to build a second plant adjacent to the first to fulfil a new contract with the government to provide energy. This would mean another £300m investment, 50 new jobs and many more in the supply chain.

“Our core activities are moving into different forms of waste and energy and biotechnology, offshore, renewable energy, wind farms – all those things are possible for us because of our engineering heritage,’’ says Catchpole.

Beyond those core activities, the diversification strategy is paying off. Digital is a key area of development for the area with the DigitalCity project to develop a cluster of world class digital media and technology enterprises.

“At the moment our digital specialises in gaming but we can see other elements of the digital industry that we will start to move into, sectors that will produce even more jobs,’’ he says.

He cites one new business in the Boho Zone in Middlesbrough town centre which has just won a contract to design websites for a client in San Francisco.

“It is truly a global industry and you can >>

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Boho Zone in Middlesbrough town centre.

win business even in places you would have thought would have as much digital expertise as our companies, so it is an exciting, growing industry.’’

The area is also developing an expertise and a supply chain in subsea, particularly around Darlington, with businesses gearing up to service the wind farms planned for the North Sea. “There is also the bio industry where we are finding more and more ways of turning what conventionally was waste into energy and waste is now being seen not as a problem to get rid of but as a possible feedstock which has a value and which then generates new forms of energy. That again is a growing industry here. We also have CPI which is a leading exponent in research in this field and they are part of the government’s Manufacturing Catapult funded by the Technology Board. We see that as a real growing industry.’’

Diversification also involves growing the service sector.

“We would look to see more services here, more office based activities, particularly in financial services,’’ he says. “Clearly at this point in time that is harder to achieve but we do attract service companies. We

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would see that growing in the future as the national economy picks up and we would see an opportunity to provide good quality accommodation in accessible locations.’’

Tees Valley has government agencies such as Student Loans Company and DfEE in Darlington and is hoping to attract more.

But inward investment by the private sector remains a key element in Tees Valley Unlimited’s strategy.

Catchpole says: “Inward investment is a big thing for us. Because of the nature of our industries it tends to be that our bigger companies are foreign owned. We have very few large British-owned companies that operate in the process and renewable energy fields, so we spend a lot of our time trying to attract large scale operations.

“We have been pretty successful at that and our latest success is two £300m plants from Air Products, an American company that is going to build the world’s leading waste to energy plants in the Tees Valley.

“We have also got a pipeline of others who we are negotiating with.

“They are so large and so complex they take a considerable time to land, sometimes they take several years to negotiate. But we are quite confident that in the next 12 months

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we’ll have a major announcement about another large scale inward investor coming into the area.’’ Tees Valley Unlimited handles inward investment on behalf of the five local authorities, which gives “a single door approach’’ which potential investors find attractive.

“We are in a position where we can negotiate and assist and we can bring others into that, either the local authorities or other agencies.

We work well with the Environment Agency, we work well with the Highways Agency and they are used to working with us in an area that seeks solutions rather than putting up barriers to growth.’’

The area also has a number of ambassadors drawn from inward investor companies resident in the area.

“We call upon them for a red carpet treatment to would-be investors.

“It’s easier to sell the area with independent people who are already here running companies saying what the advantages are rather than just us,’’ says Catchpole.

“We have a good network co-ordinated and fronted by us and agencies like Nepic and CPI are all part of that network. It puts forward the offer that is Tees Valley and as comprehensive a proposition as we can, that

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tries to deal with all the things that an inward investor wants to know about, such as the availability of land, how do we help them get a skilled workforce, how do we help them access finance – all these sort of issues are the things we can help them with.’’

Tees Valley has a great deal to offer investors.

The Enterprise Zone area is more than 400 hectares – the largest in the UK. It has eight smaller sites offering business rate relief and four for the large scale investors which will benefit from generous capital allowances.

There are eight companies already on the EZ including two on the bigger sites with more than £300m of investment.

“We are looking for support to put up some speculative development on the business rate relief sites because we have virtually filled all the existing empty properties. We are looking at filling the bigger sites from our pipeline of foreign investors who say they are interested in coming.’’

Land availability generally in Tees Valley is good and Catchpole can recite a long list of other advantages. “We have very good infrastructure in terms of the port, we have good road and rail connections. We have the skills that are required to produce competitive goods. We also have an extremely good quality of life here. Neighbouring all our industrial activities we have the North York Moors, all the green areas that we can get to really easily and the coast. We have excellent educational facilities, superb colleges and two universities in Durham and Teesside University.

There’s also access to London in two hours or Edinburgh in two hours.’’

Tees Valley Unlimited can also point to a range of good quality housing, culminating in such upmarket stock as Wynyard. These are well placed for good schools and a good quality leisure offer and, apart from the coast and countryside an urban environment with five closely linked towns with a population of 660,000. Tees Valley has such established strength in certain sectors that it is already well known internationally.

“They know that foreign companies are welcome here,’’ says Catchpole. “They know foreign companies prosper here and they know that’s because of the underlying bread and butter stuff of available premises, good

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Having come through the tough times we need to capitalise on our strengths and innovate on those strengths

power and all the utilities available here. There are good transport connections in and out and also a population with the skills they need, who are readily available, are trainable, are resilient and are innovative as workers.

“All those things tend to be known but as we move into newer sectors we do have to make sure those attributes are well known in those sectors. We’ve been particularly active in the offshore wind industry, attending conferences abroad and putting that message about.’’

Tees Valley has done well out of the Regional Growth Fund, getting more than £100m in rounds 1, 2 and 3 and it has won £12m to improve roundabouts on the A19, out of £16m allocated to transport improvement schemes in the North East.

“We have managed to achieve a level of investment in the area that hasn’t been seen before,’’ says Catchpole. Under the new European funding round from 2014, Tees Valley and Durham have been designated a Transition Region which, according to current estimates, will mean funding of some £200m for Tees Valley for the period 2014 to 2021, which will attracting matched funding of £130m, for programmes such as improving skills and coaching for SMEs and schemes to allow businesses to access finance.

“That’s a level of income and resource that we have never seen before in this area and we need to maximise that, to put that into projects which are going to deliver our economic vision, better quality jobs and growing SMEs, better skills levels and access to employment. We are in the midst of drawing up a prospectus as to the sort of things we would commission from 2014 onwards, then we’ll be working with partners to look at the proposals that come forward to us and using that money as wisely as we can.’’

Such an investment would have much to build on. As has already been described, Tees Valley

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has come through the economic downturn relatively unscathed. Despite a loss of public sector jobs, the area’s core industries such as engineering, which are export oriented, have done well during the recession, whereas in previous recessions it has been the service sector which has performed best.

Catchpole says: “We are, together with our cousins in the rest of the North East, the only area that has a balance of trade surplus – we export more than we import. To that extent, we have had a successful period.’’

He adds: “I’m very optimistic. One cannot deny we are going through very tough times but we have more than held our own on a national level and we show signs, with these newer enterprises coming, that the private sector is capable of creating a level of jobs.

We are starting to see more apprenticeships, particularly among the young, we are seeing improvements in educational attainment levels. From all that, I think we are already starting to move forward.

“I won’t pretend we haven’t still got some tough times in front of us, as the country has, but I think we, as an area, have emerged from the past RDA [Regional Development Agency] grant type culture into one of using our own innovative skills to gain finance and to become more profitable and competitive and I think that’s starting to pay off.”

He adds: “Having come through tough times, we need to capitalise on our strengths and innovate on those strengths, we need to encourage our young people to get the skills they require and we need to encourage those young people to stay and help the area be a real economic success. We - of anywhere in the country - are a test bed for the government’s avowed policy of rebalancing the economy. If we can’t make what is already here work, then it won’t work anywhere.’’ n

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Us firm’s double vision for teesside Air Products has produced delight in Tees Valley not once, but twice, as Peter Jackson reports It caused much excitement when US company Air Products chose Teesside to build the world's largest renewable energy plant in the UK using advanced gasification energy-fromwaste, EfW, technology.

The plant on industrial land, known as the Reclamation Pond site, adjacent to the North Tees Chemical Complex near Billingham, will provide renewable electricity for up to 50,000 homes and create up to 700 jobs during its construction and 50 permanent jobs once it enters commercial operation.

It is also expected to divert up to 350,000 metric tons of non-recyclable waste from landfill per year.

That was a major fillip to Tees Valley, reinforcing its claim to be at the forefront of renewables technology, so there was redoubled celebration when Air Products announced plans for a second plant. It is proposed that this second, separate plant will be located on land adjacent to the first.

Again, it will use advanced gasification technology to convert industrial and commercial waste into 50MW of renewable energy and, again, it is anticipated that the new facility will create up to 50 permanent jobs and up to 700 jobs during its three-year construction period. Each facility is expected to have a 20-year life. Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, said: "I was delighted to play a small part in bringing the first Air Products plant, now under construction, to Teesside but to learn of this huge vote of confidence by the company in our area by confirming a potential second plant is quite stunning and will sustain hundreds of construction jobs over several years. It shows that Teesside is successful at attracting world class technologies and

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It shows that Teesside is successful at attracting world class technologies and corporations corporations that create jobs and support the country's renewable energy agenda.

“By diverting waste from landfill the plant offers an environmentally-friendly solution for the production of renewable energy in the North East: The proposed scheme has also been welcomed by local business organisations including NEPIC, North East Chamber of Commerce, CPI and Tees Valley Unlimited.’’

Andrew Connolly was named Tees Valley facility manager in January 2013. He is responsible for the safe, reliable start up and operation of Air Products’ Energy From Waste Facility in Tees Valley.

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He says: “Subject to planning and other approvals, Air Products would plan to build a second advanced gasification energy-fromwaste, EfW, plant in Teesside.

It would be based on the same technology as the first, offering a more efficient, cleaner conversion of waste into power than traditional EfW technologies.

“It is proposed that this second, separate, plant would be allocated on adjacent land to the first. Our first plant represents an investment of £300m, but it is too early to say what the investment would be in this second project. We anticipate that the second facility will create up to 50 permanent jobs and up to 700 jobs during the construction period.’’

He adds: “It makes practical, economic and financial sense to plan for a second facility in the Teesside area, given the skill set and infrastructure we will have created from the first plant.” Last month the gasifier - the world-leading technology which will turn the waste into energy - arrived on Teeside for the first plant. Connolly says: “This is an exciting milestone as we move towards the plant coming into operation in 2014.’’

The facility will use municipal, industrial and commercial waste, the majority of which would otherwise be destined for landfill.

Waste is fed into the facility’s enclosed gasifier and treated at a very high temperature using plasma technology. Final emissions are minimised due to the high temperature used in the gasifier. Output from the gasifier is a fuel gas, called syngas - and a solid vitrified inorganic by-product. The syngas is treated, cleaned, and then used as fuel in gas turbines to generate electricity. The vitrified by-product can find be used for road foundations and

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other construction applications. Also, in the future, the plant will have the potential to produce renewable hydrogen for fuel applications. Air Products emphasises that while the technology is ground-breaking, it is not untried. Previously it has developed, owned, and operated five combustion-based EfW facilities in the US as part of its American Ref-Fuel joint venture. Additionally, the core technology that will be using, the AlterNRG gasifier, has been successfully used in other schemes in other parts of the world such as Japan.

This facility is the first of a number of advanced gasification plants that Air Products will be looking to develop in the UK over the next few years. While this technology has been proven in other countries, the North East will be leading the way towards the sustainable production of energy from waste in the UK. Air Products’ global HQ is in Pennsylvania and its European base is in Hersham, Surrey.

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Founded in 1940 it operates in key growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. It serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and speciality gases, performance materials, and equipment and services. It currently employs more than 20,000 people around the world and 1,500 people in the UK. It has operated in the UK for more than 50 years and has been a local employer on Tees Valley for more than 40 years.

Connolly says: “One of the main reasons we have invested in Tees Valley is because of the good access to electrical infrastructure, excellent road links and the skilled workforce here. Our main employment contractor is Foster Wheeler Construction Management Personnel, which itself employs over 50 people

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INSIGHT

in Teesside and has been hiring locally where possible throughout the construction period.

We will also be making an announcement very soon about an employment campaign for the 50 permanent jobs at the site.

“People in Tees Valley have been very supportive and for that we are grateful.

Throughout the consultation process and beyond, we have been committed to engaging with the local community and have sought to address any issues raised with relevant parties as part of our successful planning application.

“We are regularly speaking to people in the area via our dedicated project website and other channels to ensure they are fully aware of the construction schedule, as well as taking steps to minimise any disturbances.

“We have been working closely with Stocktonon-Tees Borough Council and other local stakeholders throughout our planning and environmental process and we will continue to engage with them as we proceed.’’ n

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redressing the balance An industry once seen as a male preserve is attracting more and more women, as Gabrielle Kent reveals to Peter Jackson >>

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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INTERVIEW

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Gabrielle Kent has not only turned a hobby into a career, she has become a leading light in her chosen industry.

In fact, Gabrielle, 37, who is now deputy head of games art and design at Teesside University, has been named as one of the top 100 women in the games industry.

The accolade, coming from a leading games publication, is not the first time Kent has been so honoured, she was also listed in the top 100 most influential women in the industry by a US magazine in 2006.

She says: “It’s great to be recognised in what has traditionally been seen as a male dominated industry and an honour to be listed among such inspirational women.’’

We meet in the library of Teesside University’s Darlington Campus where she tells me how her interest in computer gaming began and what appeals to her about them.

“I’ve kind of grown up with gaming. I’ve got a very broad taste in games, I like really strong game play, great characters and a good story line. But you can play really simple games that just have a really strong game play mechanic that can be quite addictive.’’

But surely not combat?

“Well, yeah, one of the games I really like is a very macho sort of game, the God of War series, which I really love. You play as a Spartan warrior avenging his family and that’s very brutal but it’s the mythology and things that are woven into that that I really like. A broad range of games appeal to me if they’ve got strong writing, strong characters and good game play.’’

She graduated from Teesside University herself in 1998 with a degree in graphic design and illustration. While she was at university she had done a placement at a games studio in Stockton.

“That was my first experience of the games industry and I was blown away by it, I realised that was absolutely what I wanted to do, to be able to sit there drawing crazy characters all day’’ she says. “I’d never thought of a career in games, I didn’t realise there were jobs in it. There weren’t that many jobs as artists in the early days but with the birth of the new consoles jobs as artists became available because the consoles could handle so much more and more exciting artwork.’’

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A rising star of the tech world Ellie Dudley, 21, from North Wales is in the second year of a degree in computer games art at Teesside.

She is currently working at Microsoft in London on placement. She is working for Soho Productions which is a Microsoft studio producing Xbox 360 content. She was one of 7,000 UK applicants for a placement “I’m absolutely loving it,’’ she says. “I think I’m one of the very few people who can say they enjoy their job every day. I’ve been playing games now since I was about four years old on the PC and progressed onto games consoles and Gameboy. I’ve always studied art so when it came to choosing a university it was a decision between illustration or computer games art and it was a clear winner to combine my two loves – video games and art.’’

At Soho she is working with a number of women.

“There’s a very good percentage,’’ she says. “We have female programmers, female designers, female artists and we have creative directors who are female as well.’’

She adds: “I’ve learned a lot and made a lot of contacts through my internship year, so I won’t have much of a problem going for other jobs. One of the most important things is learning about working in a team and how everybody works together.’’

What does she want to do after graduation?

“If I get the opportunity to go back to Microsoft I will. I just want to see where it takes me. This course has given me so many opportunities that I have a lot of choices.’’

After graduation she did some freelance concept art work before joining the Pitbull Syndicate, a console games studio based in West Pelton, County Durham. She worked on car racing games there for about five years.

“The North East is the racing game capital of the UK, a number of those types of titles are made up here,’’ she says.

After that, she moved into teaching at Teesside having “got a little bit tired of working on sequel after sequel’’.

I put it to her that computer gaming is usually associated with men, with its interest in shoot-em-up story lines or cars and planes and other boys’ toys.

“It has changed over the years,’’ says Kent.

“Initially games were fun for all the family and then it became very skewed towards a male audience.’’

In those early days game development was dominated by programmers with very few jobs for artists and, Kent points out, programming does itself tend to be dominated by men and, even now, the university gets very few women on its games programming courses.

“So in the early days it was mainly guys who were creating games in their bedrooms and then games studios formed and games continued to be made by men and when

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you’ve got mainly guys working on a game they tend to make something that they want to play and the subject matter becomes very male.’’

But, with the new consoles and growing importance of art, more women like Kent have gone into the industry and that has inevitably had an effect. She cites the example of the game character Lara Croft.

“Lara Croft did really appeal when she first came out but then she became very sexualised in the second and third games but she has just been brought back full circle now. In fact, my best friend was the writer on the last Tomb Raider game that has just been released and she has really brought the nice sort of strong edge to Lara Croft.’’

Kent was the organiser of the world’s first annual conference for Women in Games in 2006.

She says: “At the studio I worked that there was me and about 40 guys for all the time I was there and that was quite common. There are more and more women going into the games industry, which is great. The conference was a chance for women who are working in games to get together and discuss issues relating to gender and games.

“As more and more women are going into >>

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COMPANY PROFILE

Interim Director Encourages Growth An innovative business growth programme, devised by DigitalCity Business (DCB), is now available across the North East DigitalCity Business is making the Interim Sales Director (iSD) programme available regionwide, together with the North East Business Innovation Centre (BIC) and consultant David Anderson. iSD is focused on effective business growth strategies, together with selling skills, and is designed to encourage self-sufficiency to set established businesses on the path for future growth and success.

DCB is the business driver for the Tees Valley - fast becoming the UK’s most vibrant digital hub. It helps businesses with start-up, growth, expansion, community, and space and provides support to help businesses grow.

Mr Anderson, who spent more than 12 years as a sales and marketing director, developed the programme together with DCB where, over the past three years, it has proved to be a great success.

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.

“DigitalCity and BIC are innovative and openminded organisations that support real-world initiatives like this. Many organisations have benefitted from our involvement and it is fantastic that we are expanding this proven process to a wider catchment.

“The programme is not about putting a salesperson into the business but rather drawing the salesperson out of the business.”

DCB and BIC are looking to recruit established businesses to the programme that have the potential to grow but that are unsure as to how to move forward.

The programme is open to all businesses in the North East, irrespective of sector. It works using short, sharp interventions. iSD has been developed to assist with one of the most pressing problems for most start-up and growing businesses: Sales. And more specifically,

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The programme is not about putting a salesperson into the business but rather drawing the salesperson out of the business sales planning, delivery and execution.

The iSD is designed to equip selected companies with the awareness and skills necessary for them to be able to develop the capabilities and capacity to sell independently for sustained business growth.

Companies on the iSD have access to a top-level sales and marketing specialist who helps them create their business development strategies, equips them with the skills and knowledge needed to execute them, and shares a wealth of hard-won, real world experience won over years of front-line sales and business development – much of it for high-tech and digital businesses.

The interim Sales Director works closely with the businesses to put everything in place: there are group workshops with the other businesses in the

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iSD; intensive one-on-one sessions; practical tasks to get products and services truly ready for market; and practice sessions to give people real-world sales experience.

After the initial intensive training period, we keep in contact to make sure the advantages gained are permanently installed at the companies, and that the approach is constantly refined.

Iain McPherson is Business Development Director of Big Bite Creative, a web and graphic design company based at DigitalCity’s flagship Boho One building.

Mr McPherson said: “The ISD programme came along at just the right time for us as we were at the stage where we wanted to grow the business but needed some pointers.

“I am so pleased we were able to take part as it was really effective and allowed us to focus on the areas of the business we wanted to grow.

“As a result of the ISD programme we’ve expanded the business both in terms of revenue and workforce size as we have been able to secure new contracts and grow the team as we’ve secured new customers.”

Mark Elliott, Chief Executive of DCB, said: “We are delighted that BIC has come on board with us so that we can offer iSD to businesses throughout the region.

“Our three years of running this programme has shown that iSD makes a very real difference to the businesses that take part.

“In a competitive market businesses need to utilise everything they can to succeed and this programme harnesses business expertise and puts it to practical use.”

For more information on iSD visit www.dcbusiness.eu

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games they are going to have an influence on the content of those games, which is why I’m really glad to see more girls coming through the courses.

“Every woman I know in the games industry really does push for realistic representation of women and games not being sold on hyper-sexualised females with armour that just wouldn’t stand up in battle or metal bikinis.’’

She argues that games are marketed to men and points to the recent advert for a new console which is touch sensitive on both sides and which pictured the body of a woman with breasts on her front and back with the caption `fun on both sides’.

Kent does not quote this in any pursed lip or disapproving way but with a hearty laugh, as she does when she recounts the story of another friend who worked for a games studio.

“They got the contract to do a Barbie game and no other studio in the UK really wanted to take on a Barbie game. She took it on and really wanted to do something different that girls would enjoy, more exciting things they would prefer to do than doing their hair and make-up and horses and that sort of thing.

“But she went into schools and did some market research into what little girls wanted - and what they wanted was horses and makeup and dressing up.

“That’s what they did in the game and it was the biggest selling game that Christmas so a lot of these studios where the guys didn’t want to work on a Barbie game lost out.’’

Games publishers generally don’t like taking risks and she left the industry for teaching as she wearied of working on sequels. She’s not the only one to get bored and with a casual games revolution – with games for smart phones and other devices - many directors at major games studios are leaving to set up casual studios.

Whereas a major console game such as Tomb Raider might need 60 to 150 working on it for two to three years, a casual game could be developed by a small team or even an individual over a year at most.

“It’s so easy to get it to market as well,’’ says Kent. “You don’t have to rely on major publishers to fund the projects and there’s a lot of free software to work with.’’

In recent years a number of big studios have

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It was unheard of a few years ago for a single person to be able to produce their own game failed to adjust to these changes and have gone under. Kent believes that big console games will always be produced but studios which produce weaker, poor-selling titles will struggle.

Wherever the trends lead, gaming will remain a major industry and now far surpasses the film industry to the point now where films – such as Tomb Raider or Doom – are being made from games. Even where the game doesn’t precede the film, Hollywood now makes the film with one eye on the subsequent game, as with Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.

It was, therefore, a good move by Teesside University to get into the industry at an early stage. It was the first university in the UK to start running games courses. It has a computer games department within the School of Computing with 13 members of staff. There is also a games programming course which

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does not sit within the games department and which has six staff.

Courses include games programming, games animation, games design, games AI (artificial intelligence) and games development. There are about 220 students in the first year alone studying these courses.

“We have graduates in practically every top games studio around the world,’’ says Kent.

With the growth in casual games there are now more opportunities than ever for Teesside’s gaming graduates to set up their own businesses and the Indy Games Development degree course and the MA in Games Development include business skills and marketing.

Kent says: “Before when they graduated they had no chance of going and setting up their own studio and trying to get a big publisher interested in investing in them. But now they can develop games and get them to market themselves, so we have a lot of students forming their own small games studios and developing games for Android and iPhone.

There are lots of these studios scattered around the North East.’’

A graduate can have a game released within six months of starting up, perhaps with the support of a Digital City fellowship.

Kent has a friend who has just spent six months developing a casual game on which he made £10,000 in the first two weeks and has since made three times that.

“It was unheard of a few years ago for a single person to be able to produce their own game entirely on their own and get it published,’’ says Kent.

She is also the director of the popular Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games which is held annually at the university and which attracts leading figures from the animation and games industries from around the world. The festival, which is held over a week every February, is attended by about 700 people from the industry.

Kent says: “The industry loves it, there aren’t that many opportunities to get in front of the next generation.

“In big industry conferences they are just talking to their peers but they seem to get more enjoyment out of speaking to students and inspiring the next generation.’’ n

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COMPANY PROFILE

Successful venture capital funding supports a record 500 companies Venture capital programme generates economic success for the region.

The £125m ‘JEREMIE’ venture capital programme for the north of England (also known as the Finance for Business funds) was established in 2009 to provide risk capital for growing businesses from the Tees to the Tweed. So far, some 500 businesses have received over £70m of investment – matched by a further £80m from private sector co-investors.

Since then, of course, there have been many changes, at both the regional and national levels.

The downturn in the economy has continued now for almost five years, real living standards have fallen and reductions in public sector payrolls have had a particularly severe impact in the north of England. At the same time, the ‘big four’ banks have largely withdrawn from lending to businesses in those high growth sectors which are so important to UK PLC and, closer to home, to the future of the Tees Valley economy.

On the plus side, however, this part of the world (led by the export-led businesses of the Tees Valley) has maintained impressive growth in terms of a favourable trade balance in manufactured goods. Inward investment levels are healthy too – with our 2012 performance being second only to Greater Manchester and top of the table in terms of inflows per head of population. Not least, levels of new start-up activity in the north east are better than anywhere except Greater London and Scotland.

We have also seen the demise of ONE North East and the emergence of two Local Enterprise Partnerships, one covering the northern part of the old North East Region and, further south, the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (TVLEP), led by Sandy Anderson and Stephen Catchpole,

Andrew Mitchell, CEO, North East Finance

focussing on the economy of the Tees Valley.

Following the recent Heseltine report, it seems clear that the LEPs will play an increasing role in economic regeneration and will increasingly command the resources to facilitate new private and public sector initiatives.

Against this backdrop, the JEREMIE programme has continued to invest in those high growth sectors and businesses which will be essential to the future of the Tees Valley. Through seven funds,

They say that the best time to start or grow a business is during a recession. Now is that time.

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focussed on different sectors of the market, we are able to provide investment for companies needing £10,000 or £1,000,000. We invest in technologybased businesses working at the forefront of the digital, healthcare and clean energy sectors, as well as more established manufacturing and process-based firms which already have a strong track record and real traction with customers at home and overseas. Major investments in the Tees valley area have included companies as diverse as Femeda, Onyx and Datum 360. Over a dozen businesses in the Tees Valley have received investment from us in excess of £250k.

In the first quarter of 2013, some 23% of our funds were invested in the TVLEP area and we are determined to leave no stone unturned in terms of reaching out to ambitious firms across the area. The TVLEP has played a vital role in helping to raise the profile of the funds with local entrepreneurs, businesses and professional advisers and we have appointed a business development manager to ensure that the message reaches the brightest and best companies from across the Tees Valley.

They say that the best time to start or grow a business is during a recession. Now is that time.

If you are ambitious for your business, we are there to provide the investment you need. We look forward to working with you.

For further information please contact Andrew Mitchell on 0191 2112300

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

CASE STUDY

SUMMER 13

Amec flies the flag

Tees Valley’s engineering tradition is alive and well in Darlington, as Peter Jackson finds talking to Amec’s Nicky Mason Engineering giant Amec has a long and proud history in the Tees Valley.

It demonstrated its commitment to the area last October when it moved to new premises in Darlington’s Lingfield Point business park from nearby Yarm Road Industrial Estate, where it was coming to the end of its lease.

These offices house 450 people of whom the majority perform back office functions for Amec such as expenses, payroll, car hire, car fleet, and includes the finance team and the HR team. That’s a lot of activity, for Amec is a big organisation. Its international workforce stood at 28,770 in March, up from 27,242 employees the year before. Last year pre-tax profits were £263m. It expects growth to continue in the UK oil and gas industry, with new contract wins such as the £68m contract to deliver the hook up and commissioning services for the two new Clair Ridge platforms in the North Sea for BP and its partners. Apart from its back office functions,

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Darlington plays a key role in the sharp end of these operations, for, of the 450 staff at Lingfield Point, about 160 are engineers, led by Nicky Mason, director of Amec’s business unit.

She says: “We are one of Amec’s engineering centres of excellence. We work for all the different parts of Amec in Europe. The engineering team work for oil and gas clients mainly and we will work though from conceptual design, all the way to front end design, detailed design and we will also support with any commissioning activities.

“It’s engineering design work, primarily for oil and gas customers. We do look at power, we do look at renewables. It’s a real broad range of skills that we can apply to all kinds of different engineering industries. We have people working on offshore projects as well as onshore projects. We have a real mix of skills and a real mix of people.’’

The Darlington operation is growing along with the group.

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“Ten years ago the industry was in a lull in project development but right now it’s a very busy environment,’’ says Mason. “Projects are progressing that might have been on hold for a while. The oil price is quite high which always moves this industry forwards.

“We moved a couple of miles into new offices in Lingfield Point with lots of space to expand because we are growing our business. The engineering team was around 120 people at the start of the year and we are now up to 165 and looking to get even bigger this year and next year. We hope to be over 200 next year.’’

Not only has offshore oil and gas been resurgent in recent years but there is also growing activity in engineering for renewable energy in preparation for when the oil and gas run out.

“Renewables is an area we are really keen to develop more,’’ says Mason. “Our area of speciality is carbon capture and storage.

The reason for that is that historically Amec has been a gas processing company here in Darlington and a lot of the skills that we have around compressing gas, transporting gas and storing gas are directly transferable into carbon capture and storage. It’s an area we have naturally progressed into and done very well in.

“At this time a lot of the projects are front end feasibility type projects. Until we know exactly where the industry is going to go and where the British government is going to take renewable energy it’s all conceptual work to get an idea of costs and how long it takes to build these installations. We are known as being one of the top companies in that area.

It’s great for Amec and it’s great for the North East.’’ I ask: is carbon capture and storage still just a matter of engineering theory on the drawing board, or is it doable?

“Absolutely it’s doable,’’ says Mason. “It’s not a cheap solution but we are putting together all the component parts that have been used in other areas, putting them together into carbon dioxide transport rather than transporting other chemicals or gases.

“The first time we do it will be the first time

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but each individual part has been proved.

“There are other countries that have got further with their pilot studies than we have in the UK. One of the projects we are helping out with at the moment is in Abu Dhabi, a front end study level looking to go into detailed design, that one is progressing quite nicely.’’

There is a broad spread of engineers in the Darlington operation, as Mason explains.

“We start with apprentices. We take on three or four apprentices every year.

“We put them through training with Neta. We also take on four or five graduates every year, they might be process, mechanical, electrical, C&I or civil structural engineers.

“We go all the way through from people at the start of their career to people who are nearing the end of their careers.’’

How difficult is it to recruit engineers?

“The environment we are working in is definitely hotting up, the industry is quite busy and I think the engineers in this area are good strong engineers. People will come down from Aberdeen and see if they can get engineers from this area. The resource pool in Aberdeen is completely used up. Similarly in London where there’s a huge volume of

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engineering taking place, they will also try and get engineers from this region because they are a good bunch of people. It’s quite competitive but Amec has a good reputation and people want to come here.’’ She points to the opportunities for engineers with Amec.

“We do a lot of work in the UK. “We are also working in the Middle East and we are chasing work hard in that part of the world. It’s really great for people to feel there are opportunities in Darlington, it’s a relatively small town but we have this global network of companies that we work with. From Darlington we have had individuals that have gone out to Shanghai. We have worked out in Santiago in Chile.

“Amec is a company that’s full of opportunities at the moment.’’

CASE STUDY

Mason trained as chemical engineer and got a job as a process engineer, working in a number of other companies before joining Amec. I put it to her that, as a woman in engineering, she is in a minority “There are fewer women in engineering than there are men and when I first started there were even fewer. There are a few more of us coming through now and in Amec there’s a lot of senior women in engineering, so it has been a great place for me to work and I’ve had lots of opportunities.

“I joined as an engineer 12 years ago and I’ve worked my way up.”

Does she want to see more women getting into engineering?

She laughs: “To be honest, I just want to get more people into engineering.’’ n

The environment we are working in is hotting up, the industry is busy and the engineers in this area are good strong engineers

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SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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changing times

The world of transport and logistics is rapidly evolving and PD Ports has had to evolve with it, as Peter Jackson reports PD Ports Group has launched PD Portcentric Logistics, a new brand to highlight the group’s portcentric logistics capabilities and showcase the big name businesses already taking advantage of the offering.

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It has developed the portcentric logistics concept in response to fundamental shifts in economic and trading structures.

The rapid development of e-commerce to play such a major part in UK retail, coupled

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with the growth of non-food sales over the past 10 years, has presented retailers with opportunities as well as challenges.

Many have responded with a wider online product range built around their high >>

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INSIGHT

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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PD Ports Key Facts • £129m annual turnover • 1,250 employees • 34m tonnes handled in 2012 • More than 5,000 vessel calls • Owns and operates the ports of Teesport and Hartlepool • Owns and operates the single largest warehousing facility at the Port of Felixstowe

street brands and offering the same quality.

Geoff Lippitt, business development director at PD Ports Group says: “This has huge implications in how retailers set up and manage their supply chains and logistics networks.’’

Customers now expect delivery of an online order within a day or two and successful retailers have to meet that expectation.

Not only that, but the internet and social media means that any failure to meet customers’ expectations – either in speed of delivery, service or quality of goods – can be communicated to thousands.

Lippitt explains: “This means there’s a huge requirement for both agility and fexlibility in a supply chain. Upstream optimisation, which works so well from a stockholding perspective is less appropriate for e-fulfilment.

“Instead, retailers need to forecast demand

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as accurately as they can, but complement this with as much product differentiation and customisation as possible, with the ability to intervene back into their logistics networks at any point in the cycle.’’

PD Ports has addressed this need with the establishment of an effective storage and distribution network based around portcentric logistics: using facilities close to the port itself where retailers can store large containers of stock much closer to the customer.

It has more than 4 million sq ft of operational portcentric warehousing.

This allows retailers to fulfil orders more quickly and react flexibly to unexpected buying patterns, as well as any unforeseen disruption to the supply chain.

Lippitt adds: “Crucially for e-fulfilment it also allows them to draw on the same stock for both online and offline channels and to

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intervene at a stock level much later in the process.’’

With more than half of retail goods in the UK being consumed north of Birmingham and with southern ports becoming bottlenecks it makes sense for retailers to look at northern ports such as Teesport.

Furthermore, there has been a growing trend for manufacturers of consumer goods to shift production to Europe and the Baltic states. A base that supports short-sea and Baltic services as well as deep sea routes allows retailers and freight companies to change their supply route at short notice without having to change their distribution model.

Some retailers have reduced their road usage by 40 million miles as a result of using northern ports with distribution facilities in the local area. PD Ports says that each year in total it saves its customers £15m in supply chain costs, five million road miles and reduces their carbon emissions by 12,000 tonnes.

Lippitt says: “Portcentric logistics has very real commercial and environmental benefits. Every year, in total, our customers save millions of pounds in supply chain costs, road miles and significantly reduce their carbon emissions.”

“We have a proven track record of delivering tangible results for businesses across a range of sectors, including clothes and food, adopting a portcentric solution.”

Unsurprisingly, the portcentric logistics operation at Teesport has seen rapid growth in recent years, with major contracts including household names such as Asda, Tesco and Taylors of Harrogate. Tesco has a 900,000sq ft facility at Teesport to service its northern operations.

Seven years ago the port handled fewer than 40,000 containers a year and four vessels a week. By 2012 this had increased to 275,000 containers and as many as 25 arrivals a week.

PD Ports has invested £19m over the past year to upgrade one of its two container terminals to give it the capacity to handle 500,000 containers a year.

The brand launch includes the unveiling of the ‘project P’ campaign, which will champion the cause of portcentric logistics and help explain the benefits to business and the wider community, under the premise of ‘making logistics logical’. n

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COMPANY PROFILE

COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER 13 13 SUMMER

Enterprise Team fuels business growth in Redcar and Cleveland WE all know that running a business is challenging in these tough economic times, which is why for many MDs considering growing their business can seem like a pipe dream. Finding new premises, recruiting staff, identifying relevant training, marketing the business, sourcing the right companies to create a robust supply chain - these are all barriers to growth that stop businesses from taking that next step. But help is at hand!

The Enterprise Team’s business experts are fired up to fuel business growth any way they can from helping companies cut their energy bills to assisting SMEs build on their success and increase turnover.

The coaches provide advice and support on a range of business topics. They also have a bank of business experts to call upon who provide a

bespoke advisory service on topics including marketing, accounts, recruitment and business funding. The Enterprise Team is also the driving force behind the new Redcar and Cleveland Business Forum.

The Forum meets once a month and provides networking opportunities for SMEs across the borough, along with relevant information from a range of speakers.

Guest speaker at the inaugural Redcar and Cleveland Business Forum event in May was war hero and former Royal Marine Ben McBean, a 26-year-old double amputee whose inspirational story of overcoming adversity and always having a challenge to work towards struck a chord with the audience. The Enterprise Team has been helping Redcar and Cleveland residents with a business dream achieve their goals since 2010. They have

helped hundreds of new businesses to launch across the borough. The team recently received further investment from the European Regional Development Fund Competitiveness Programme 2007-2013 – managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The ERDF cash allows the Enterprise Team to focus on assisting new and existing small and medium size businesses based in the borough, as well as continuing to help residents who have a business idea.

Contact the Redcar and Cleveland Enterprise team on 01642 495707 to discuss your ideas and plans or visit www.theenterpriseteam.co.uk

Solutions, Not Problems Property & Asset Consultants Providing advice on all aspects of commercial and industrial property across Teesside and Tees Valley for over 50 years.

Contact us to see how we can help your business: Richard Stevenson Property Valuation/Landlord and Tenant John Irwin Business Rates/Consultancy Andy Wright Agency Fiona Kent Business Rates Barbara Blenkinsop Property Management Mark Brooker Planning David Swift Machinery & Business Assets Or email us -

richard.stevenson@storeys-es.com St James House 139 Albert Road Middlesbrough TS1 2PP

01642 230800 www.storeys-es.com

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cultivating new digital successes With the changes in technology gathering ever increasing pace, one Middlesbrough initiative aims to keep growing businesses ahead of the game, as Peter Jackson reports >>

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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Built on Teesside University’s expertise and reputation in digital media and digital technology, DigitalCity Innovation, DCI, is proving to be a driver for creating record high growth businesses and jobs.

Since 2008 it has directly created more than 200 companies and at least 280 jobs in sectors including computer animation, web design, advertising, nanotechnology and forensic science.

Through a programme of fellowships, partnership working and tailored placements, DCI directly injects £20m into the economy each year.

Led by Teesside University, DCI’s remit is to harnesses ideas, graduate talent and academic expertise to generate new digital businesses, connect business with research and address the digital challenges of the future. It’s supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

Now, one of the North-East’s leading entrepreneurs has joined DCI to help develop the next generation of businesses.

David Jeffries, founder of the Mere Mortals group of companies, has been made head of DigitalCity Innovation and Graduate Enterprise.

Over the past 15 years, Jeffries has grown a series of digital media companies, at one point employing more than 50 people in four businesses and with a annual turnover of several million pounds.

After leaving Cardiff University with a Fine Arts degree, he worked as a 3D animator before founding Mere Mortals in 1999.

The Newcastle-based company grew from a two-man operation to a leading group of companies in the North East Digital Media Sector and worked on several major films including 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine and Slumdog Millionaire as well as several leading computer games for clients such as Sony and Ubisoft.

His role will see him using his industry contacts and his business knowledge to drive forward and expand the work of DigitalCity Innovation and help create new companies, jobs and business opportunities in the digital media industries. He says: “Having spent my time in digital media in the sharp end of the business I wanted a different challenge.

“One of the key things I’ll be doing is raiding my address book to make full use of all the contacts I’ve developed over the years and connecting Teesside to key people within industry to help further business opportunity.

“I’ll continue to work on my businesses outside of my new role as I feel it’s vitally important to keep a presence within the industry, since only by doing so and being at the coal face as it were, do I stay in touch with what’s happening in commerce.

“When I left university there was no logical connection between university graduates and industry and I had to find my own way.

“Things are very different now, and I want to help define the relationships we have with employers, find the best graduates and postgraduates for business and to make sure that we are encouraging the right kind of businesses and bringing value to those we support in start-up.”

As part of DCI, Teesside University works with partnership organisations to provide an infrastructure to support the growth of digital businesses in the region.

Central to the DCI initiative is the DigitalCity Fellowship scheme - a programme that allows talented graduates from a range of disciplines to turn business ideas into reality.

DCI fellowships give a £4,000 business start-up grant, business training and mentoring from industry professionals, as well as roundthe-clock access to specialist software and equipment in fellowship labs and film and sound studios.

When I left university there was no logical connection between university graduates and industry, I had to find my own way

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Jeffries added: “I think one of the key things to a successful start-up is the speed at which you can react to change and given the current speed of change in the digital world it’s important to remain agile.

“Additionally, watching and being aware of trends both current and future can define whether you are first to market or become a me-too company.

“Our fellowship programme at DigitalCity Innovation is a good example of a short programme that can have significant impact on the success of a start-up business.

“Quarterly we choose a number of graduate submitted digital related start-up ideas and assist them with funding for a period of up to six months, offering incubator space, mentoring and workshops along the way to help them to succeed at the end of that period.

“At the end of the fellowship programme we can offer the businesses space in our Graduate Enterprise Centre, where both digital and non-digital businesses are housed, and connect them with partner project DigitalCity Business, as well as signposting to accelerators such as SearchCamp.”

DCI’s industry placement scheme also offers support to small and medium-sized businesses in the North East – not just those in the digital sector – to enable them to place a graduate employee in the digital field.

The scheme provides a recruitment service along with a 50% contribution towards salary costs for 26 weeks.

Companies can get valuable help with their recruitment process as well as the confidence that they will be employing a skilled graduate.

Together with the Fellowship and industry placement schemes, DCI offers access to knowledge transfer services for the digital sector – enabling academic experts to work with businesses to enhance performance and implement innovative solutions. A programme of industry workshops helps keeps business at the cutting edge of technology, while DigitalCity Communities works with third sector and community organisations, to enhance life prospects through digital technologies.

In DCI’s Phoenix Building on the Teesside campus, companies seeking to strengthen >>

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WE’VE CREATED THE INTERNET, HELPED MAN WALK ON THE MOON & DISCOVERED DNA SO HOW COME IT CAN TAKE 3 DIFFERENT JOURNEYS TO DELIVER A PAIR OF SHOES?

IGNORE ALL THE COMPLEX JARGON AND CONFUSION. IT’S TIME TO CHANGE AND GET BACK TO BASICS. IT’S TIME TO MAKE LOGISTICS, LOGICAL. With project P, we’re championing the case for portcentric logistics, a solution that seeks to get products from a to b simply, taking a common sense, straight talking approach to logistics.

As the UK’s number 1 provider of portcentric logistics we’re well placed to talk about the commercial and environmental benefits it can deliver. Every year in total we save our customers over £15m in supply chain costs, 5m road miles and reduce their carbon emissions by 12,000 tonnes.

We’ve a proven track record in a range of sectors and are the UK’s only port operator to offer integrated portcentric logistics solutions in both North and South locations.

We also operate the UK’s best connected feeder port, which delivers unrivalled connectivity to Europe and the world.

All of which means we’re committed to the future of portcentric logistics.

So let’s take a new look, and make your logistics logical. For further information on our portcentric logistics solutions please call: +44 (0) 800 111 4071 or visit www.pdportcentriclogistics.co.uk

PD PORTCENTRIC LOGISTICS

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their links with the University can lease high quality offices.

Jeffries insists that the emphasis of DCI is very much on practical help and training which will be of real use in the world of business.

He says: “I’ll also be looking to help graduates coming through be more entrepreneurial and look at how they come out of the other end with some more business skills. I’m a big believer that there needs to be an association between someone’s degree and their employability – both for the employers and the employees who have paid a lot of money for their education.’’

Spearhead Interactive, the brainchild of Teesside University graduates Dan Riley and Paul Li, was founded with the help of a DigitalCity Fellowship.

Spearhead Interactive create 3D interactive solutions for the corporate, education and public sectors and has used its DigitalCity Fellowship to build a range of demonstrators showcasing the wide range of their work and the potential applications for it.

These include a 3D model of Teesside University’s Phoenix Building which the user can walk through in real time, toggling the view to strip away elements and see individual parts of the structure such as the construction and even the heating system.

In the space of three weeks the company has gone from just Riley and Li to having five employees and it has been shortlisted in the top 10 start-ups in the UK and Europe in the Codeworks Thinking Digital Awards.

Riley says: “The Digital City Fellowship is a fairly recent thing for Spearhead International.

It has enabled us to form the company, it has enabled me to initially start to employ staff through the Fellowship as well and it has given me the kind of platform that enables me to use the technologies that we need to, use the equipment that we have in the labs and

Dan Riley (left) and Paul Li (right)

hopefully expand the company in the next three to six months.

“Obviously the money comes in handy, the equipment is great, the premises are absolutely fantastic as well but I would say the biggest part of Digital City Fellowship is actually the other start up businesses.

“The ability to collaborate with our peers, everyone is working on so many different exciting projects that it’s just great to be a part of it, great to share knowledge banks and work together as a team.

I’ll also be looking to help graduates coming through be more entrepreneurial and look at how they come out the other end with some more business skills

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There’s very much a community feel with a Digital City Fellowship, which is absolutely fantastic and it really helps drive everybody else forwards.’’

But, ultimately, Riley makes clear, success is down to the business and not the support.

He says: “For anybody looking to join Digital City Fellowship you’ve really got to kind of think about the people you are working with and the idea you’ve got moving forwards.

“The cash injection’s absolutely great for the few bits and pieces you need to get yourself up and running, the equipment’s great, the staff and the mentoring is also great but unless you’ve got that solid idea, got that work ethic, and you really want to be successful in whatever it is that you are doing then there’s no point in joining the Fellowship.

As with everything in life, you get out what you put in and that’s no different in the Fellowship.’’ n

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COMPANY PROFILE

Focusing on the challenges facing SMEs today ‘It’s all about who you know’, sometimes holds more truth than we think and is the common reason why many SMEs find engaging with the complex Process Industry and large manufacturers such a challenge.

Imagine having the opportunity to be introduced to one or more from a portfolio of over 100 of the most influential senior mentors in the Process Sector today and imagine the difference that introduction could make for a SME wanting to establish themselves as a supplier for the Process Industry. This is the thinking behind NEPIC’s Business Acceleration for SMEs programme (BASME). £1.5 million in funding from RGF allows BASME to provide free mentoring sessions and workshops to assist ambitious SMEs to grow their businesses. These multi-functional vehicles are designed to help SMEs network, increase their customer retention and sales or make their first sales to the Process Industries.

How BASME differs With the objective to strengthen the North East region’s supply chain, BASME acts a gateway for SMEs by providing them with the opportunity to gain access to and engage with established manufacturers within the Process Industry.

As opposed to offering generic business advice, the BASME programme focuses on connectivity.

This is achieved using a distinct 1-2-1 mentoring approach that makes relevant matches from a selection of over 100 influential senior people from the regional Process Industries and key academics with SMEs. Based on the results of a successful pilot scheme trialed a few years ago, the BASME team found that industry mentoring is the best way to facilitate cluster development, secure longevity in the region’s Process Industry and strengthen the supply chain. 1-2-1 meetings with mentors, who have decades of experience of the industry, help SMEs understand and respond to the needs of the industry, which increases their likelihood of successful sales.

The combination of networking and specialist BASME themed workshops stimulates collaboration by encouraging businesses to share best practice

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BASME team from left to right: Mark Snell, Phil Hollowood, Philip Aldridge & Felix O’Hare

The benefits of establishing a strong Process Sector Supply Chain in the region provides companies with the incentive to develop their businesses in the locally, which in turn brings economic benefits and reinforces the North East as a region of excellence and innovation with one another. The benefits of establishing a strong Process Sector Supply Chain in the region provides local companies with the incentive to develop their businesses, which in turn brings economic benefits and reinforces the North East as a region of excellence and innovation.

The BASME programme illustrates that sharing best practice between large manufacturers and SMEs, a practice common amongst clusters in the EU, demonstrates it can work in the UK too, resulting in benefits for both parties and the wider economy.

Theory into Practice BASME member’s HR2day, a Darlington-based HR company, who offer support and strategy to companies from the process sector, have benefited greatly from shared best practice and formal introductions to relevant companies. Since BASME engaged with HR2day in 2012 they have grown in their employee numbers from 3 members of staff to 7, which has in turn allowed them to expand their current client base. Managing Director of HR 2day, Nicky Jolley commented: “The BASME project has been invaluable in working with HR2day to expand

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our client portfolio and reach into this thriving sector. They have been a source of information and support and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.”

Felix O’Hare, BASME Programme Manager commented: “The BASME programme has demonstrated how the power of the NEPIC members and its collaborative network can be used to help SMEs within the Process Sector. This is enlightened self interested, as a strong local SME base can provide extensive support to the larger companies in the region and help them become stronger as well. This has clearly been shown in other clusters within the EU.”

For more information contact Felix O’Hare, NEPIC, 0164 2442 576, felix.ohare@nepic. co.uk, NEPIC, The Wilton Centre, Wilton, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 4RF

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

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car parts revival

ElringKlinger has come through the economic turbulence and is now forging ahead, as Peter Jackson discovers talking to Ian Malcolm Manufacturer ElringKlinger (GB) has unveiled the latest phase of its five-year expansion plan which will see it more than double turnover in four years.

The Redcar-based automotive car parts supplier, which has been on Teesside for 50 years, recently proudly showed off its newly installed assembly line to local MP Ian Swales.

The £1.5m four-part production line – which will allow for rapid assembly of a number of key products, including exhaust manifold gaskets and turbo heatshields – is just the latest phase of an investment programme that will see the company create 50 jobs in the next few years.

The arrival of the final component to complete the line means that ElringKlinger (GB) can expect annual volumes of the product to reach up to 500,000 units. It will meet the demand for a new contract with General Motors that is expected to be worth more than £10m over the next five years and will be instrumental in the company’s five-year expansion plan.

Managing director of ElringKlinger (GB), Ian Malcolm, says: “The state-of-the-art assembly line marks an important milestone for us from which we can continue our expansion bids, open up more jobs and carry on giving back to the community.

“Our regional roots are something that we thrive upon and we endeavour to keep manufacturing at the heart of Teesside, which is so well reputed for its traditional steelmaking industry.”

As well as recently being nominated to supply made-to-order prototype parts for General Motors, ElringKlinger (GB) has recently secured business for under-body heat-shielding components for BMW Mini – making the company the only volume producer of underbody heat-shielding in the UK. Other customers include Ford, Caterpillar Perkins and Jaguar Landrover. It also sells parts

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to brands including Lotus Cars and Bentley, and has recently worked with famous British names including McLaren and Aston Martin.

About a quarter of its sales is for export, of which three quarters goes to Europe and the balance to the US. The company’s current turnover is around £14.5m its aim was to double its turnover to £26m in five years.

One deck Ian Malcolm, managing director of ElringKlinger (GB) has been with the company for more than 15 years. He has full profit and loss responsibility for the business and is responsible for delivering customer satisfaction in the fast moving and challenging automotive supply market.

An experienced managing director with a financial background, prior to working at ElringKlinger, Malcolm was deputy director of finance at South Durham Healthcare NHS Trust. He has also worked in New Zealand where he was responsible for the financial control of Auckland General Hospital, Auckland Children’s Hospital and Greenlane Maternity Hospital.

Malcolm says: “We’ll probably exceed that target by 2017, which is very positive. We are inundated with projects at the moment.’’

So what’s the secret of their success?

“Hard graft,’’ says Malcolm and adds, “It’s a flippant remark, but that’s what it is. The contract we won with BMW has taken us four years of just chipping away with the customer, letting them know that we are here, letting them know what our capabilities

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are and reminding them.

“Four years ago we looked at them re-sourcing their then business to us and they finally decided not to do that but we kept in contact and kept knocking at the door. When the next generation of their vehicle was coming out we sold the advantages of a local production base, made in the UK for the UK and the advantages that they would have in passing the exchange risk on to us, in that they would be invoiced in sterling while we would be buying the material in euros.

“It’s also demonstrating that we do what we say we do, delivering the product to the quality and quantity on time.’’

The company also benefits from being part of a multinational employing more than 5,000 people worldwide which reinvests something like 15% of profit into R&D every year.

This means it remains at the cutting edge and its products cannot easily be copied and commoditised.

Immediately post Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008 things didn’t look so optimistic for the automotive sector.

Malcom says: “At the beginning of 2008 our product sales were about £1.1m a month. In October 2008, we did £1.1m, in November we did £600,000 and in December we did £200,000. In two months we went from 130 people employed to 80.

“The automotive sector was hit hardest and quickest but has recovered quicker than other sectors. Literally our customers stopped buying product, they were so hugely overstocked both in terms of components and finished vehicles that they had to liquidate that tied up working capital and they just stopped buying from their suppliers.’’

That lasted until the second half of 2009 when, partly thanks to the Government’s scrappage scheme, sales started to recover.

“2010 saw a big bounce back that continued

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in 2011 and 2012 saw that come back down and, all of a sudden, we were selling between 10% and 15% less. But, we’ve got an awful lot of projects that will come on stream within the next two years that will produce significant growth in our business.’’

Malcolm believes the greatest threat to the business and to all the UK’s manufacturing stems from the nation’s neglect of the sector during the years when services – particularly financial services – received all the attention.

He says: “We are going to face a significant skills shortage, particularly in engineering, it’s frightening. It’s not only finding engineers but finding them at a price that we can afford because we have to remain competitive. We have the likes of Nissan recruiting hand over fist, Tallent recruiting in the Tees Valley, we’ve got Jaguar Landrover recruiting hundreds of engineers for the new engine plant in the Midlands and that is sucking engineering resource from every area of the country and it means that the engineers can then charge a premium for their service.

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“That has the potential of making UK manufacturing less competitive and we go full circle again and that’s a concern.’’

The company is however trying to do something about it.

It works closely with local education services to encourage a younger generation to consider a career in the industry.

It also works closely with local universities, running a year in industry programme, and is also dedicated to the development of apprentices. The company recently provided a series of skills master class sessions alongside teaching staff to students at Nunthorpe Academy combining theory work with practical learning to highlight the benefits of working in the engineering industry.

Ensuring it fully meets the curriculum requirements of the academy – which has a strong focus on science, business and enterprise – the course was tailored by the company specifically for the academy’s year eight pupils.

It was rolled out as part of its ‘Opt4’

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INSIGHT

programme which allows students to gain abilities from their activities that complement academic skills gained in other areas.

Malcolm says: “We are committed to working in unison with local schools and universities to support these activities, as we look towards a generation of youngsters aiming for a career in engineering.

“The skills shortage issue in the industry isn’t going away, so firms need to invest properly in careers advice and schools support to attract youngsters from an early age.”

Fortunately ElringKlinger has an experienced workforce in place.

“We couldn’t move business because the skills that we have are local skills that wouldn’t move,’’ says Malcolm. “We have a very loyal workforce. We have one guy who will retire at the end of this year having served all 50 years that we have been in Teesside. We have several with more than 40 years service, several with over 30 years service.

Those are advantages that are difficult to measure.’’ n

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

CASE STUDY

SUMMER 13

a point proven Left: John Orchard.

Below: Master plan and one of the areas of office space YARN.

Lingfield Point in Darlington is a shining example of how the region is embracing sustainability in business, writes Peter Jackson Few places illustrate the transformation of the North East’s industrial landscape more than Lingfield Point in Darlington.

This 107-acre site, which was once a wool factory, is being transformed into what it is claimed will be Europe’s biggest sustainable mixed-use development and which is already the workplace of 2,500 people.

Lingfield Point has a 100MB connection which paid off when one long-standing tenant was bought by American gaming audio specialists Turtle Beach. This was followed by an announcement of a £10m investment in a move to a 120,000sq ft base at the site.

Broadband connectivity was essential to such a massive European distribution operation and helped attract Turtle Beach to the site – together with its 50 new jobs.

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

Other businesses at Lingfield Point include Student Loans Company, Darlington Borough Council, FaulknerBrowns, Four Seasons Health Care, NFU Mutual, NAAFI and Amec.

Now construction has started on the residential area of the site with eco-coded homes being built by Taylor Wimpey.

John Orchard, director of Marchday, owner of Lingfield Point, says: “We aren’t just paying lip service to sustainability. It’s a fact that recycling an existing building, rather than knocking down and rebuilding, is the most sustainable development possible.

“The careful restoration and remodelling of key buildings on the site is key to the success of the project.

“We realise the importance of this site’s industrial heritage and we try to mark that

46

It’s a fact that recycling an existing building is the most sustainable development possible heritage in every phase of the regeneration.

We are moving on to release more space in Studios next - which as the name suggests used to be a recording studio and, of course, the office spaces will reflect that.

“We want Lingfield Point to be much more than just a physical development – we have our own culture that’s reflected in the facilities here. By providing a child-care nursery, cafés and bistros and organising public transport to service the site we’ve reduced the carbon footprint of those working here.

“We also look after the environment, we have allotments complete with our own bee colonies contributing to the fight to stop bee numbers from declining and we’ve been producing our own honey for several years now.” n

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COMPANY PROFILE

COMPANY PROFILE

SUMMER SUMMER 13 13

Tees Valley, a place to invest – just ask the experts…

As one of the largest independent firms of Chartered Accountants in the North East, Tait Walker currently employs 130 people across three offices. The firm expanded into Tees Valley in 2001, moved to their current site on Teesdale in 2007 and has never looked back!

Acutely aware that many Tees Valley business people prefer locally based advisers, Tait Walker has steadily built its Teesside team, which has doubled in the last six years at its Stockton office.

The specialist based structure of the organisation has enabled the team to deliver advice at the highest technical level, all the time maintaining a ‘hands-on’, proactive and joined-up approach to each and every client.

Whilst Tees Valley is best known for its chemical and steel industries, new high-tech businesses frequently connected to Teesside University are

growing rapidly. Linked with this change in the industrial scene is a change in the tax regime, and Government now seek to reward and incentivise companies creating intangible assets. Tait Walker’s specialist intellectual property tax team are at the forefront of advice on the benefits of Research and Development tax credits, reduced tax rates for Patent Income and new Creative Sector tax reliefs. Proper use of these regimes can reduce tax leakage, helping companies to grow and thrive. This is true for both new and traditional industries.

Funding remains an issue for all businesses, and timely corporate finance advice is vital.

Tait Walker’s Corporate Finance team guides businesses through the ‘maze’ of funding options available, ensuring they obtain the maximum financial support possible. Delivering this advice

from a Tees Valley base ensures that local factors are fully appreciated.

Local business is important, but companies cannot ignore the wider economy and are increasingly encouraged to grow their business through exporting. Tait Walker is part of an international organisation providing direct access to advice from chartered accountants in over 90 countries, thus enabling them to assist businesses as they expand into new markets.

For more information, contact Andrew Moorby at andrew.moorby@taitwalker.co.uk, or call 01642 676 888

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CASE STUDY

SUMMER 13

Hart beats ever stronger

Hart Biologicals, a successful world class company based in Hartlepool, is growing strongly as Alby Pattison explains to Peter Jackson Hart Biologicals has shrugged off economic downturn and credit crunch to continue its trajectory of strong growth.

The 10-year-old company, which makes biological reagents used to investigate blood clotting disorders, has grown from 14 employees and an annual turnover of £1.1m 18 months ago to 20 employees and turnover of £1.5m today. More than 70% of its sales are exports.

Founder and managing director Alby Pattison says: “We have contracts with a number of key multinational diagnostics manufacturing companies around the world.

We manufacture for organisations in Europe, USA, and Thailand, that’s under our contracts

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

manufacturing banner, but under the Hart Biologicals own-branded materials we sell into Europe, Asia, Australia, and we are working on a programme to take our products into the USA.’’ But the company is by no means resting on its laurels and more growth is planned.

Based in the Queen’s Meadow estate, it makes reagents to cover three areas: the monitoring of Warfarin therapy for hospital and clinic environments; to supply pathology labs in hospitals; and the management of acute bleeding in surgery at the point of care. Hart Biologicals forms partnerships with instrument manufacturers to make the biological materials to go in their machines.

48

The company has now begun to undertake R&D for a number of its clients and its links with some companies in Europe have led to it being contracted as their new reagent research and development partner.

This will fuel future growth and the company aims to double turnover in five years.

Pattison says: “We have a number of projects ongoing that, when they come to fruition, will significantly increase our turnover.

“We have already invested in two new manufacturing labs during 2012 and we are about to invest a significant amount of money in both property and additional manufacturing equipment for a very specialised area of the medical device business.’’ >>

INVEST IN TEES VALLEY

SUMMER 13

INVEST IN TEES VALLEY

49

CASE STUDY

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

CASE STUDY Details of the new venture have to remain confidential but Pattison can reveal it is a three-company alliance to develop a new instrument for which Hart will do the R&D and the manufacturing for the new reagent delivery system.

Pattison has set up a small sister company, Hart Innovations, to do R&D and will be recruiting two researchers for it in late summer.

Hart Biologicals also plans to buy and expand its current rented property.

Pattison certainly has no intention of moving.

He says: “I’m Hartlepool born and bred, my two brothers work for me, my sister-in-law works for me, my nephew works for me.

I wanted the company to be in Hartlepool more for personal reasons than anything else because my kids were well settled in school.’’

He particularly values the links he has been able to forge with the region’s universities to collaborate on research projects and to provide some input to the curriculum for bio medical science degrees.

“We have good links with Sunderland University, where I’m doing some guest lecturing,’’ he says. “We have good links with Newcastle University, we are now developing links with Durham University and we have worked on two or three projects with Teesside University. We are also forging links with Hartlepool College of Further Education relating to the apprenticeship schemes because we are going to need at least another 10 people over the next two years and we are going to try to use the apprentice schemes where appropriate.’’

He has no problems recruiting staff of the right calibre locally.

He says: “I’m a great fan of recruiting for aptitude and attitude rather than paper qualifications. Having worked in the pharmaceutical research business, I’ve seen people with PhDs who couldn’t design an experiment to save their lives, whereas there are people out there and all they need is direction and they can do good work, so, for me, aptitude and attitude are more important than degrees per se.’’

He himself graduated in biochemistry at Manchester in 1980 and worked in haematology in hospitals for three years before moving on to pharmaceutical research. After

SPECIAL REPORT | SUMMER 13

SUMMER 13

We have good links with Newcastle University, we are now developing links with Durham University and we have worked on two or three projects with Teesside University

50

that he worked in diagnostics manufacturing for 14 years before deciding in 2002 to take the plunge and set up his own business in the area of blood coagulation, in which he had specialised in his years of research.

He had identified a product made at the Thrombosis Reference Centre in Manchester as something he could distribute across Europe.

However, discussions had hardly begun when that and other products were put up for sale as part of a hospital rationalisation.

“I made a pitch to take on the manufacture of these products but we didn’t have cash so I did a deal where we paid for it through sales over 18 months and that worked really well,’’ says Pattison.

“At the time, it was a complete leap in the dark. From the business plan I knew what I wanted to do but when I told my wife I wasn’t going back to work she had to pick herself up off the floor.’’

Through that deal he also acquired the necessary equipment and Hart Biologicals was set up in 2003 in 2,000sq ft rented premises in Hartlepool. By 2005 the company needed bigger facilities and moved to another Hartlepool trading estate where it soon began taking on extra units. In 2009 it needed its own premises and moved to the newly completed Queens Meadow estate where it took 10,000sq ft.

Pattison has no regrets about the decision to set up the company.

He says: “Something I would say to any entrepreneur looking to set up a business is that the leap from secure salary into the unknown is the biggest one but if you don’t take it, you’ll just never know what your business might have done.’’

And he certainly has no regrets about his location in Tees Valley.

He says: “The proposals for a more autonomous North East region when it comes to business investment and business support for me is a great idea.

“I think the North East has great capabilities but it does seem to sit outside the peripheral vision of those in the South and if business support was more devolved then I do believe the North East, which already punches above its weight in a lot of areas, could be encouraged to do even better.’’ n

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The University for BUSINESS

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