Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business Issue 38 | Page 11

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 11
/NEWS
/ADVICE
Aycliffe bosses (left to right) Matthew Stiller, David Osborne, Ross Nagle, James
Ritchie and Geoff Hunton have all backed a plan to save Durham Tees Valley Airport.
Exclusive: Aycliffe business
leaders’ support for airport plan
A
number of Aycliffe business leaders
have backed a plan to save Durham
Tees Valley Airport.
Newton Aycliffe’s nearest airport was
effectively saved from going out of business
when an ambitious buyout plan was given the
go-ahead.
At a crunch meeting of the Tees Valley
Combined Authority, held in Middlesbrough
on January 24 and attended by Aycliffe Today,
five council leaders from Tees local authorities
backed mayor Ben Houchen’s £40m rescue
package for Durham Tees Valley Airport, which
is just 11 miles from Aycliffe Business Park.
Houchen’s airport proposal was part of a
combined £588m, 10-year investment plan
for the combined authority, aiming to create
16,785 new jobs and adding an additional
£1.48billion to the area’s economic output for
the Tees Valley.
Bosses from leading employers including
Hitachi Rail Europe, Tekmar , Roman and
Stiller have backed the proposal.
James Ritchie, chairman and CEO of
Tekmar Group, told Aycliffe Today: “The
potential closure of Durham Tees Valley
Airport would have been devastating for the
region and our local businesses.
“The airport provides vital infrastructure
and access to the world, which in turn
enables multi-million pound contracts that
bring opportunity and prosperity for the area.
“Tekmar Group plc, a world market leader
in the offshore energy market and recently
listed company, with over 150 staff and a
major player in the local supply chain, rely
heavily on the services from the airport.
“We send up to 10 flights per week and
this has allowed us to win tens of millions of
pounds of work a year through this important
link to Europe and beyond via the major hub
airports.
“Anything we can do to support this
important asset has our full support.”
Ross Nagle, chief operating officer-
manufacturing for Hitachi, said: “We
welcome and support any improvement to
the transport links in our region.
“We have over 1,000 UK suppliers,
with whom we’ve spent over £600m. Our
supply chain is growing all the time and is
fundamental to our success as a business.”
Geoff Hunton, director of Merchant Anglo
Property Holdings and the man credited
largely for bringing Hitachi to Aycliffe, said: “A
fully operational airport at Durham Tees Valley
will provide a further effective communication
link within the UK, Europe and indeed beyond
for businesses coming into the Merchant
Park development at Newton Aycliffe.
“And for those already operating from the
area, from a development perspective, the
airport will provide a further pull for investors
to the many attractions which already exist at
Merchant Park, Newton Aycliffe and County
Durham.”
David Osborne, managing director of
leading shower designer and manufacturer
Roman, said: “As a very busy manufacturer
and exporter, we would greatly welcome the
reinvigoration of our local airport, which will
clearly be vastly more convenient, reduce
travel time and provide ease of access.
“We are strong supporters of our local
airport and we hope they can establish a key
network of routes and links.”
Matthew Stiller, managing director of Stiller
Warehousing and Distribution, added: “The
investment made to save Teesside Airport
will probably never be paid off. However,
it is more important this is viewed as an
investment in the region.
“I hope that the mayor’s plan for the airport
delivers on the wider business and lifestyle
benefits we know it can bring.”
Houchen expects the deal to be completed
by the end of March, and an operator –
believed to be the Stobart Group – will be
confirmed in due course.
£25m approved for station transformation
P
rojects to dramatically overhaul two
of the region’s biggest stations have
been granted a £45m investment by the
Tees Valley mayor and combined authority
cabinet.
A total of £25m, from the devolved
£75.5m Transforming Cities Fund, has been
earmarked to transform Darlington station,
creating new train platforms for an improved
local and national service and futureproofing
the gateway for HS2 services.
The scheme would also see improvements
to the fabric of the station, including
improved entrances, and the regeneration of
the wider area around the station.
Once complete, the upgraded station
will unlock capacity across the area leading
to faster, more frequent and better quality
services in Tees Valley.
An extra £20m has also been approved
from the same fund for the redevelopment
of Middlesbrough railway station.
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