Several sectors are fuelling the expansion of the local economy.
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 some 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.
Key sectors in County Durham
Below we highlight the key sectors fuelling the expansion of the local economy.
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
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
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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.
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