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
The high-tech company – a world leader in protecting critical national infrastructure from serious cyber threats – has already expressed an interest in NETPark’s phase 3 development as it continues to scale up and choose office space that suits its evolving needs.
Operating in a niche field of cyber security that helps safeguard the computer systems and technologies used by clients primarily in the process industry, Tekgem expects to grow its team of highly skilled engineers at its NETPark head office from 30 to 150 over five years through its specialist Apprenticeship Academy.
With exponential growth forecast in the industrial cyber security sector, Tekgem Director Ian Gemski says the company is well placed to expand both in the UK and overseas, with plans to open an office in Dubai to serve customers in the Middle East.
Ian, who founded Tekgem in 2005, says: “When we first arrived at NETPark four years ago we took a small office with just three desks in Discovery 1. As we’ve grown, NETPark has accommodated our needs perfectly, allowing us to scale up with a move to Plexus and then to Explorer 2.
“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.”
Working predominantly with companies that process, refine and generate oil, gas, petrochemicals, electricity and renewables, Tekgem helps protect operational technology – the computer systems that control and operate machinery and equipment – from cyber threats and risks. The company carries out cyber security assessments, identifies and fixes vulnerabilities, and has developed its own real-time cyber security software platform, Unity.
As a niche service provider, Ian says one of Tekgem’s biggest challenges is finding suitably skilled engineers. Last year, the company established its own degree apprenticeship programme and training academy onsite, in collaboration with the UK’s leading tech talent and training organisation, QA.
Ian adds: “Being located at NETPark, bang in the centre of the North East, means we can attract outstanding candidates from across Tyne & Wear, Teesside, and County Durham. Last year, we took on five apprentices when the Apprenticeship Academy launched, in 2023 we’ve taken on another eight and we expect to grow those numbers year-on-year until we have a team of about 150 highly skilled engineers benefitting from rewarding and fulfilling careers at Tekgem.”
Sarah Slaven, Managing Director of Business Durham, which Manages NETPark, said: "Tekgem's remarkable journey at NETPark is a testament to their unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence. By growing their skilled workforce and expanding abroad, they are not just securing critical national infrastructure but also opening new horizons. NETPark's support and state-of-the-art facilities have been pivotal in their success, making them a beacon of inspiration for businesses in the North East."
If you would like to find out more about locating your business at NETPark contact us or call 01740 625250
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
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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
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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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