Aycliffe Today Business Aycliffe Today Business Issue 38 | Page 28

28 | Aycliffe Today Business
2018 REVIEW
JA N UA RY
its marketing team with three new
appointments.
• Crafter’s Companion is ranked 31st in the
Sunday Times Lloyds SME Export Track 100
list, after experiencing 72% year-on-year
growth in export sales.
MARCH
• Children from Vane Road School in Aycliffe
got a glimpse into the future when they
saw the steel which will build their new
school being fabricated at SCH Site
Services on the park.
• Subsea manufacturer Tekmar Energy
reveals it has won three major new
contracts at the Hornsea ONE project,
totalling millions of pounds.
• Roman contract sales director Marc
Teasdale celebrates 30 years of service
with the shower manufacturer.
• Finley Structures boss Julie Raistrick
calls on businesses to be vigilant after
a “brazen” £210,000 theft, involving 60
tonnes of steel from the firm’s premises.
The thieves were never caught.
• Working mum Tracey Barnes returns to a
career in finance as she takes up a new
business manager role with Commercial
Expert.
FE B R UA RY
MAY
• Two brand new Hitachi test trains arrive
at Teesport after completing a two-month
journey from Japan. The two five-car trains
will form part of Virgin Trains’ new Azuma
fleet and will be the first used for training
on-board crew and drivers.
• Commercial Expert expands to Leeds
as it celebrates 10 years in business and
outlines an ambitious plan which would
see its turnover surpass £1m by the end of
the 2018-19 financial year.
• PWS adds another new member to its
marketing department with Michaela
Hanna joining the firm as customer
engagement manager.
• South West Durham Training (SWDT)
takes on five key new members of staff as
the firm also prepares to launch a series
of new Higher National Diploma (HND)
courses for employers.
APRIL
• Stiller Warehousing and Distribution
reveals a new £150,000 contract with
Scarborough-based import and distribution
firm AddCore, involving 800 pallets of
goods weighing an enormous 400 tonnes.
• Well-known manufacturing specialist and
former Gestamp Tallent boss David Land
joins Ebac as the firm’s new managing
director.
• Finley Structures wins two new education
contracts involving a total of nearly 1,000
tonnes of steel – a 625-tonne contract at
Bannerdale School in Sheffield for Bam
Construction and a 360-tonne project
at the University of Hull for Henry Boot
Construction.
• Tekmar Energy is named company of the
year at Subsea UK’s annual awards.
• The 18-acre Whinbank Park – an estate at
the heart of the business park made up of
over 90 industrial units and office suites –
is marketed for £7m by Manchester-based
owners MCR Property Group.
• PWS, one of the UK’s leading distributors
of kitchen components, expands
laminate products for the residential and
commercial sectors from its sites in North
Shields and Aycliffe – saw its turnover
grow from £64m to £77.5m.
• Hardwick Hall hotel reveals a new-look
after the completion of a £500,000
refurbishment which included a restoration
of its great hall.
• Tekmar Energy celebrates winning major
contracts from Dutch contracting company
Van Oord to supply its systems on two
projects.
• Family-run Beaumont Grounds
Maintenance reveals the appointment
of five new members of staff, including
former Royal Air Force engineer Craig
Taylor, who spent his RAF days fixing
fighter jets, as head of maintenance.
• Midlands-based developer Richardson
Barberry is assigned to drive forward plans
for the 55-acre Forrest Park development
– which will include more than 1.75 million
sq ft of business and industrial units
and the potential to accommodate a rail
freight interchange, as well as a pub and
restaurant.
• Formica reports an increase in sales,
which enables the firm to almost halve its
operating losses. The firm – which makes
• Aycliffe-based Baltic Training and Virtual
College were among the exhibitors at
a digital careers fair event held in the
Rivergreen Centre at Aykley Heads in
Durham, organised by tech firm RAW
Digital Training alongside DurhamWorks.
• The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI),
which had earlier revealed it had opened a
new state-of-the-art printable electronics
centre on Aycliffe Business Park, inspires
the workers of tomorrow after partnering
with UTC South Durham on a 12-week
educational programme.
• Former college student Laura Pickering
takes on a new admin role with South
West Durham Training after joining the
organisation on an 18-month level 3
apprenticeship in business administration.
• Stiller Warehousing and Distribution is
named Company of the Year at Aycliffe
Business Park’s fourth annual Make Your
Mark awards ceremony, attended by more
than 200 people at the Xcel Centre.
JUNE
• The developers who brought Hitachi Rail
Europe to Newton Aycliffe – Merchant
Anglo – reveal plans for an exciting new
large-scale development, including three
new units covering a total 25 acres.
• Tekmar, which employs around 110 people
at two sites on Aycliffe Business Park,
reveals plans to raise at least £70m by