Key Sectors

As the business support service for Durham County Council, Business Durham is helping to deliver more and better jobs and a strong, competitive economy. We’re building long-term relationships to foster sustainable growth in businesses, raising economic aspirations and making Durham a place where business is done.

Several sectors are fuelling the expansion of the local economy and we’ve highlighted just six of them in this section; there are many others. We’re taking enquiries from businesses of all sizes and in all sectors; this will enable us to generate future business growth and keep the economy in the fast lane. 

The green agenda is a key driver of economic growth in County Durham. It runs through all industry sectors and is increasingly becoming a key priority for many businesses in the region. This agenda – improving our environmental footprint and tackling the effects of climate change – will become even more important in future and local businesses are capitalising on the commercial opportunities that these challenges bring. 

Advanced Manufacturing

When deciding where to locate or grow your advanced manufacturing operations, County Durham has a lot to offer.

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Digital & Fintech

The North East is a major contributor to the UK’s fast-growing digital sector, with more than 3,000 digital businesses including start-ups, SMEs and global players such as Sage, Accenture and Atom Bank. Together these businesses contribute over £2bn and employ in excess of 32,000 people.

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Electrification

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.

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Life Sciences & Healthcare

The North East has one of the healthiest science and technology sectors in the UK. Statistics from the Office of National Statistics show that the more than 21% of people in the North East workforce are employed in science and technology industries, with the region’s life sciences and healthcare sector the largest in England in terms of the proportion of the population working in it.

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Space & Satellite Applications

The UK has an ambition to capture 10 percent of the estimated £490bn global space sector market by 2030. It has never been a more exciting time to be in the sector as we are on the cusp of a new revolution for communications and the next generation of digital technologies.

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