Banks Group hosting memories event for former Tow Law staff

An early on-site image of Harry Banks

North East property, housebuilding and mining firm the Banks Group is inviting former employees back to a special community event in the County Durham town where it was founded.

Banks is holding its Stories From Tow Law event at Tow Law Community Centre from 11am on Thursday 27th November as part of preparations for its 50th anniversary, which it will mark in 2026. 

The family-owned firm was founded as HJ Banks & Co in Tow Law in 1976 by Harry Banks OBE DL, who is still chairman and chief executive today, and remained headquartered there until more than 100 staff from Banks’ West Cornforth and Tow Law offices came together to work from its current head office in Meadowfield in 2010.

Members of the present-day Banks community team will be on hand to gather visitors’ memories on paper, tape and video, with tea, coffee and cakes being provided through the event.

The stories gathered will then form part of a company history project that is being undertaken as part of Banks’ 50th anniversary celebrations, with anyone who worked for or with the business in Tow Law welcome to attend.

Kate Culverhouse, community relations manager at the Banks Group, says: “We are immensely proud of our County Durham roots and of Tow Law being the foundation on which the growth, diversification and success of the business was based.

“Our Development With Care approach and our investment in the communities in which we’re working goes all the way back to our first site in Tow Law and remains just as important to our operations today as it always has."

“We’ve supported a wide range of community projects in Tow Law over almost 50 years, including the construction of the community centre itself back in the mid-1980s, and the legacy of our presence in the town lives on to this day.”

Jenny Flynn MBE, former chair of Tow Law Town Council and secretary of Tow Law Community Association, adds: “Banks had been established in Tow Law for ten years when we started to raise funds for the community centre, and both the company and Harry Banks individually quickly came on board to support us."

“Not only did they donated financially to our appeal, but they also sent diggers and drivers to clear the site so that building work could commence, a contribution which saved us about £15,000 in costs."

“Harry was also the association president for a number of years, with the company supporting us with both a range of different grants and practical advice around how we operate, and we wish the business all the best for its next 50 years.”

Banks began life as a surface mining business, with the Edward Pit in Tow Law being the first surface coal mine that it operated, and it went on to successfully develop, operate and restore over 115 surface mineral sites through the following 46 years.

It began to diversify in the 1980s, with successful transport, property development, renewable energy and plant maintenance businesses all being added to the group.

After generating more than three million MWh of renewable electricity, Banks Renewables was sold to the world’s largest dedicated transition investor, Brookfield Asset Management, in 2023, while in the same year, Banks established its own housebuilding division, Banks Homes, which is now building a growing portfolio of residential developments across the North East and Yorkshire.

As part of its longstanding ‘Development With Care’ approach to its work, the Banks Group has also awarded grants totalling well over £7.5m to over 1,300 community groups, voluntary organisations and environmental projects. 

Kate Culverhouse continues: “We know there are many retired members of our team and their families living in and around the Tow Law area, and we’d love to see as many as possible of them coming along to our event to share their memories and stories of their time with us.”

For more information on the Stories From Tow Law event and to confirm attendance, please visit the Banks Group’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/banksgroupdurham