Aycliffe Today Business | Page 6

6 | Aycliffe Today Business Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 7 /NEWS James Ramsbotham, Terry Collins and Brian Manning at the NECC County Durham AGM. Young people from Woodham Academy have been visiting Nissan in Sunderland as part of an engineering initiative. BUSINESS BRIEFS HUSQVARNA TO RECRUIT 680 Newton Aycliffe lawnmower manufacturer Husqvarna is gearing up to take on 680 extra staff as part of its summer rush. The Aycliffe Business Park factory, part of the global group behind household names including Flymo, has been given the contract to manufacture all its robotic mowers ahead of around 30 other factories worldwide. IMPROVE YOUR EVENT SIGN-UPS Now the Aycliffe facility is recruiting for its biggest intake of temporary workers yet to cope with summer demand, as it looks to take on 680 temporary workers and about six permanent staff. Hosting an event can be very stressful, there is a lot to plan and prepare for. Here are some helpful tips – four very important pillars to focus on that are bound to make your event sign-up list flourish. Promotion Email: To get people to sign up to your event they you need to give them answers to what, when, where and why. Confirmation Email: A confirmation email can benefit both you and the person who has registered for your event. Reminder Email: Send out a reminder email a week prior to the event to everyone who has registered, including date and venue. Social Media: Create a Facebook event on your page including a link to sign-up and don’t forget to post regular Tweets about your event, always including a link to your sign-up page. Blogs: These are always helpful when trying to spark interest to an event, make sure to mention your upcoming event at the bottom of the related blog and include a link to the sign-up page. Sign-up Page: Your sign-up page is where you want people to sign up for your event, so make it stand out! Use quality imagery and make sure the content is clear and concise. Using all of these ideas will help you reach a bigger audience and make your attendee list grow. There are plenty of other ways to attract more people like video marketing, press releases, ask for help promoting your event from other businesses etc. If you want to know more about the topics in this blog, feel free to arrange a chat with our team. The kettle is always on, so call 0845 838 7517 or email [email protected] and we’ll be happy to arrange a gettogether! Rachel Townsend Green Thrive Marketing CABLE FIRM BOUNCES BACK Engineering thriving at Woodham Academy Young people from Newton Aycliffe school Woodham Academy have been visiting car-maker Nissan as part of an engineering course. The group of 14 Year 9 students spent a week at the Sunderland plant to discover the world of manufacturing and industry by attending the course delivered by Industrial Cadets, an initiative that aims to inspire young people by bringing industry to life. Over the week the students had a number of challenges to complete, including working on their own production line, resolving quality concerns and demonstrating skills in problem solving, team work, communication and critical thinking. The course included meeting graduates and having a tour of the company’s flagship plant. At the end of the week, students were awarded a Certificate of Recognition as they achieved Silver Award Level 2 which is an industry-led accreditation. As well as inspiring the next generation, the national programme aims to open young eyes to the variety of careers available and raise aspirations within an integral industry. Woodham Headteacher Christine Forsyth said: “This is just another example of how we’re gearing up our students for the world of work. “The UK car manufacturing industry is going from strength-to-strength and today is at a 10-year high, with exports at record levels, so clearly educating our young people about the sector is important. “Of course, it’s hoped that some of the Woodham Academy students will go on to have careers within engineering and manufacturing locally. “As well as other initiatives we run, such as the Apprenticeship Awareness Programme, this is helping to give our students real-life insights into industry.” Aycliffe car maker Gestamp, which produces parts for Nissan as well as several other car manufacturers across the world, has worked closely with Woodham Academy and several former students now work as engineers and tool-makers at the town’s biggest employer. Teesport firm getting Hitachi on right track The region’s biggest port is helping to transport Hitachi Rail Europe’s new train carriage shells from Japan to Newton Aycliffe. As Hitachi gears up for full production later this year, PD Ports is handling the majority of Hitachi Transport System Europe’s (HTSE) rail car imports destined for the firm’s new £82m train-assembling facility on Aycliffe Business Park. The train body shells, measuring 26 metres, are arriving into the PD Ports-owned Teesport via a new Ro-Ro service direct from Japan by global shipping line, “K” Line – travelling 12,000 nautical miles over 35 days. Once at Teesport, the body shells are towed from the vessel in a specific order and then manoeuvred usin