Electrification in the UK is world-leading, particularly as this country was the first major economy in the world to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050.
Electrification in the UK is world-leading, particularly as this country was the first major economy in the world to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050. There are large sectors looking at it as a way of battling the economic challenges that the country faces, automotive, aerospace and energy being three relevant examples. Electrification has been on the agenda for some time and the current pandemic will accelerate it. Supply chain developments in the UK must become larger, more efficient and cost-effective.
The North East has a long history of electrification: electrifying trams in the 1920s, developing EVs in the 1950s and, more recently, Nissan began producing Europe’s most successful battery electric vehicle, the LEAF, and Europe’s first battery gigafactory also located to the region.
The Government is committed to making the UK a global leader in designing, producing and using ultra-low emission vehicles – spending £1 billion to date into ultra-low emission vehicles and committing £246m more over 4 years in the design, development and manufacture of batteries for vehicle electrification.
Due to the region’s experience of electrification and the fact that we have the materials and supply chains that automotive businesses need, we’re already way ahead of many other regions in the UK when it comes to vehicle electrification. Over the last 12 months, there has been a further £3.85bn of investment into electrification in the region including BritishVolt, Turntide Technologies and Nissan/Envision AESC.
If you are thinking about moving your business to County Durham, give us a call on 03000 261261.
Automotive & Manufacturing Advanced Practice (AMAP)
Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)
Future Engineering, Informatics for Business and Manufacturing
National Centre for Ageing Science and Innovation
National Institute for Smart Data Innovation (NISDI)
Technology Futures Institute
Transport Operations Research Group (TORG)
The region has 50% more capability in manufacturing than the English average and has specialised research centres of excellence including the:
Cost savings to your business
County Durham offers significant labour and property cost savings for advanced manufacturing operations compared to UK regions and global hubs. A variety of incentives, industry support bodies and networking events make the area an attractive option. An important specialism for the region is precision engineering in the aerospace, rail, automotive, and oil and gas sectors.
Competitive salary costs
The North East offers highly competitive salary costs for advanced manufacturing jobs. It costs just under £34,000 to employ an engineer in the North East; this is just under one-third cheaper compared to Greater London.
Low property costs
The North East has some of the lowest property costs in Europe. Office costs are 20% lower than in the North West and South West of England and more than 85% cheaper than in London
Least expensive location
The North East is one of the least expensive locations in which to
establish an aerospace manufacturing operation, with annual operating costs (labour and property) of £10.61m. The region offers more than £11m cost savings compared to Antwerp and over £15m compared to Greater London.
Business incentives and support for the sector
Business Durham offers bespoke one-to-one assistance and key support programmes such as Finance Durham, Digital Drive Durham and the County Durham Growth Fund. We can also signpost businesses to support networks in the surrounding ecosystem. Additional sources of funding are available through various organisations and support programmes including NBSL, RTC North, BEEP, NE BIC and Business Boost.
Research and innovation
North East England has developed an unequalled reputation for production but now it’s becoming recognised as a location for innovation. Much of this innovation is derived from fruitful partnerships between advanced manufacturing companies, universities and research institutions, which has helped the industry maintain an edge over competitors.
Advanced Manufacturing regional support networks. Support organisations by sector include the following:
Key electrification sites in County Durham
Forrest Park, Newton Aycliffe
With planning permission in place, plans are proposed to bring forward an initial 830,000 square feet of speculative development.
Merchant Park, Newton Aycliffe
A £90 million project, Merchant Park is a 65-acre development at Aycliffe Business Park on J59 of the A1(M). Home to one of the largest inward investment manufacturing developments in recent years, the 30-acre Hitachi Rail Europe train manufacturing facility which opened in September 2015. The location was selected by Hitachi from an initial shortlist of 42 sites following a UK wide search.
Connect at Integra 61, Bowburn
Connect at Integra 61 is a new five-unit industrial/warehouse opportunity consisting of units from 43,000 to 297,500 square feet. This development is being built to an institutional specification totalling 639,460 square feet, with strong sustainability credentials including a target EPC Rating of ‘A’ and BREEAM ‘Excellent’.
Jade Business Park, Seaham
A premier location for distribution, technology and advanced manufacturing companies looking for premises to service their suppliers in the UK and the rest of the world.
Phase one is now complete and fully let, with seven new industrial units totalling 155,000 square feet used for distribution, technology, and advanced manufacturing businesses. The next phase of development is being planned by Highbridge Properties, its Agents and Durham County Council.
Some of the businesses we've helped
Marmax Products
We have been delighted with the support that Business Durham and their partners have provided our company and with additional funding, we hope to further develop our working practices to safeguard our existing business and expand our capabilities to meet new customer demands and expectations.
Dave Johnson
Managing Director
Redditch Medical
NETPark is a fantastic place to do business in terms of facilities, potential for growth and for collaboration.
Steve Brown
Managing Director
Tekgem
The facilities and ancillary business services here are second to none and the campus feel of the science park suits the culture within the company.
Ian Gemski
Director
SEEDS
The ecosystem in NETPark is just right for us; SEEDS first came here because of its partnership work with the CPI and now our vision is to have a busy lab facility developing various applications and licensing them out to companies.
Peter Chalder-Wood
Head of Strategic Partnerships
Magnitude Biosciences
We expect to more than double the team in Sedgefield to 45 over the next two to three years, with a larger commercial team allowing us to expand our global footprint.
Dr Fozia Saleem
CEO
Wootzano
At a time when the fruit packing labour market is very challenging across Europe and North America, compounded by Brexit, Covid, and the movement of people, Wootzano’s robots are providing a niche solution using game-changing, world-class technology that has been developed here on NETPark.
Jesse Opoku
Chief Operating Officer
Teescraft Engineering
Teescraft Engineering has been a major employer in County Durham for a number of years and I’m delighted that, with grant support through the County Durham Growth Fund, the company is embarking on ambitious plans to significantly expand.
Hazel Sykes
Business Durham
ATT Fabrications
We knew we had the space to add new machines which would not only improve productivity and efficiency but also allow us to add new products and processes, the County Durham Growth Fund helped this happen.
Andrew Devlin
ATT Fabrications
AAA Caring Caretaker
The Caring Caretaker is a company that’s grown from one to a team of 41 and is now, with grant support from the County Durham Growth Fund, in the process of taking its business journey to the next stage, moving to much larger premises and creating a further 10 jobs, cementing its long-term future here in County Durham.
Sarah Slaven
Managing Director, Business Durham
Renovo Solutions
We’ve been incredibly lucky to have secured financial investment from Business Durham which really has been crucial to the growth of the business and fast-tracked our plans in such a short space of time.
Antony Gray
Founder
Ashgarth Engineering
The grant we’ve received from the County Durham Growth Fund has been invaluable to us as without it we probably would have only been able to purchase one machine.
Niall Ash
Director
TO Mounter
We were looking at investing in new machinery which would enable us to expand our client base, and our accountant mentioned the County Durham Growth Fund to us.
Lisa Mounter
General Manager
Creator
Investing in this additional space means we now own our future – we’re not in anyone else’s hands and that’s a fantastic position to be in.
Ryan Carter
Founder
E Catering
We took on more space than we needed to, allowing for our planned growth over the next five years, however with the grant support we’ve had from the County Durham Growth Fund, we are now looking at achieving our projections in the next three years.
Reece Ingham
Head of Finance
Tridonic
It has been a testing couple of years due to the pandemic and this support has been invaluable. Going forwards, we intend to invest further in technology and skills to strengthen our position in this competitive marketplace.
Ben Kennard
Manufacturing and Supply Chain Manager
Newton Press
We’ve got a great team now and looking ahead this year, for us it’s about building on what we have, and then expanding with new orders and further investment at the right times to propel this business forward in this new space.
Stuart Howarth
Sales Director
Useful Information
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Innovation
Other useful pages
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Business Durham is the business support service for Durham County Council, helping to deliver more and better jobs and a strong competitive economy.
Contact our friendly team for help with your business.
To support the growth of the electrification sector in the North East, an organisation called EV North has been established. Its role is to strengthen the North East’s manufacturing and research activity in electrified powertrain components and systems, and to work with organisations like Invest North East England to attract new electrification businesses and investment to the region.
EV North has three key priorities: to promote the North East as a key global centre for the manufacture and development of electrification technologies; to encourage collaborative projects to leverage public and private sector investment; and to attract investment to the region to support building and scale-up of manufacturing, research and development excellence for electrified powertrain components
The region’s five universities each offer a wealth of expertise and research capability to support the sector.
Newcastle University for instance, is home to the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) which aims to position the UK as a centre of excellence for low carbon propulsion development and production. The APC team brings together and supports those who have good ideas in the form of innovative technologies with those who can bring them to market as products.
As the Electric Machines Spoke, Newcastle University acts as the focal point for electric machines development in the automotive sector. It brings together the academic and industrial communities in order to set the agenda for future collaborative research.
The University is also leading on the UK Driving the Electric Revolution programme, demonstrating the region’s commitment to R&D which has really helped the EV and electrification sector flourish. This UK-wide project provides a national network of four cutting-edge centres to enable faster collaborative research and development of electric machines – including cars, planes and ships.
The Driving the Electric Revolution Centres (DER Centres) are backed by £30m Government funding and will provide open access facilities with state-of-the-art equipment, bringing together the UK’s technology and manufacturing expertise in electrification research and development.
The network will help propel UK manufacturing to the forefront of global efforts to tackle climate change by accelerating the UK’s ability to deliver- next-generation electric vehicles, hybrid aircraft, energy generation, smart grids, industrial drives, consumer products, low-carbon off-highway for construction and agriculture, low-carbon maritime and rail activities.
To support the growing electrification sector in the region, the North East Automotive Alliance has also launched The Electrified Powertrain Technology Group to capitalise on the mega-trend within the automotive industry of powertrain electrification. Set up by members of the Alliance, the Group provides an opportunity to promote the region as an innovative and forward-thinking environment and to also leverage collaborative working.