When we work together, nothing is beyond us

Families and businesses have learned over generations that there is strength in numbers and great progress can be made when you understand your neighbours and you each appreciate your own needs and strengths. That’s how united and powerful communities are built and then grow with a vested interest in the whole place succeeding.

For Amanda Hopgood, leader of Durham County Council, the potential of bringing such hand-crafted communities together with the same teamwork ethic is inspiring – and is now being realised at a whole new level.

Under new mayor Kim McGuinness the North East Combined Authority brings together the local authority areas of County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

The North East devolution deal unlocks £4.2 billion of investment, over 30 years, and sees many additional powers transferred from Whitehall. The deal is expected to create 24,000 extra jobs, 70,000 courses to give people the skills to get good jobs and leverage £5 billion of private sector investment.

This is further boosted by a North East ‘trailblazer’ deal which gives more control over transport, housing and skills, and makes available more than £100 million of additional funding, a new approach to public sector innovation and a North East Coastal and Rural Taskforce.

She told me: ‘Everyone has been waiting for this for so long, an opportunity to truly work together for the whole of the North East.

‘As separate councils we always had a strong relationship with government, and now there is a fresh drive to work with the combined authorities and elected mayors. In many ways this is a continuation of the progress we had been making, but now supercharged by the devolution deal.

‘Everyone in the new NECA cabinet is hugely experienced in their portfolios and starting to work within them and explore the potential they bring as we come forward with plans for the next 12 months. I see it as a powerful example of how you can put the politics to one side and unite for the benefit of the region.

‘Within my own portfolio of Culture, Creative, Tourism and Sport our key goal is to make the very most of the world class assets that we’ve got to offer. We are in a unique position with two UNESCO World Heritage sites, a stunning coastline, areas of natural beauty and the cities going from strength to strength.’

Against such an impressive backdrop, one of the key projects Amanda and her team will be pushing is the incredible Crown Works Studios. This £450m 33-hectares development on the banks of the Wear in Sunderland will include state-of-the-art facilities to deliver a hub for skills and innovation in support of the UK’s film and TV industries, establishing the largest studio complex outside of London and the South East.

The site has a rich industrial heritage and for many years was a thriving area used for various industrial activities, including shipbuilding and repair works. The site and surrounding area then experienced significant change towards the end of the 20th century as a result of deindustrialisation, site clearances and regeneration. Now it represents one of the biggest opportunities in the country.

‘It’s massive for the region in terms of jobs, aspirations and opportunities for people,’ said Amanda.

‘No longer, if you want to be in that industry, are you going to have to leave the North East. It’s all here for you, which can only be good news for our young people, for employment and for the economy of the region. I think the opportunities that we will have are truly game-changing for County Durham.

‘We have seen in the past that bidding for funding often doesn’t get us where we need to be, but now the whole region has that within its own gift – decisions and policies not being made by Whitehall about things that deeply affect the North East and so many things unique to this place that we need to work on.

‘The hard work to get all that done started some time ago, with the cabinet working together in shadow format for 18 months so that when Kim was elected, she could hit the ground running with elements that were oven-ready for her to start working on straight away.

‘Working together so that each authority in its own right is successful can only benefit the rest of the wider region because the changes we are talking about here are enormous for every one of our residents in villages, towns and cities – but it won’t change our priorities as a council. What it does is give us more opportunity to work with others, across traditional local authority boundaries, and provide a bright future for our residents and our visitors.

“We want people to have better life expectancy, better quality of life and better jobs so they can have ambition and hope. But we appreciate that residents don’t always stick to borders, and there is absolutely no reason why if you live in Durham, you can’t work in Newcastle or Gateshead or Sunderland and vice versa.

‘I keep telling people that if we lived in London they wouldn’t think twice about getting on the Tube for 40 minutes to go from one destination to another – that’s the barrier we have to break down here. It is less than 15 minutes on the train from Durham to Newcastle but some people still have the idea that they might as well be getting on a plane and going abroad.

‘This is a moment in time where we can change that perception, and the reality of key drivers like the Crown Works plan is that it will impact on everyone because while it’s located in Sunderland, when you’ve got crews working up here or you’ve got visitors, the boost to the visitor economy won’t all stay in Sunderland. That’s where the whole region benefits from this.

‘And we have outstanding skills provision here, so that when we are given such rare opportunities as devolution and individual sites like Crown Works and NETPark, we will rise to the challenge and make sure every person who wants to be involved gets the best possible support.

‘The universities already sit on our advisory board alongside further education and college representation. So those experts know what skills the employers need for the future and can start planning the perfect courses to supply the right workers.

‘That applies across all the sectors that are crucial to the economy here in Durham. We want people to visit us, live here, be educated here and build their careers here.

‘There is so much that can enrich the lives of those people, so if we are to co-ordinate and promote the visitor economy, for instance, we have to work in partnership across the whole combined authority to make sure we’re not delivering the same things at the same time. We can work together and spread them out to prolong that stay – for example, we can have things for people to do throughout the six-week school holidays right across the North East.

‘In County Durham, we advertise programmes of what people can do in the county for free, so why not expand that across the region and co-ordinate that with what we’re doing on transport – cheap fares or free fares for children, cheap fares for adults? If we can put an itinerary together region-wide to show where you can go on a budget we can open up so many places to our residents and our visitors, and they, in turn, will have friends and family from across the country who will hear about what we have and come and visit because I’m quite certain there’ll be lots of things that people from near and far didn’t even know existed across the whole authority area.’

Amanda’s brief is potentially one of the most exciting in any of the UK’s new combined authorities, embracing everything investors and families look for when they want to make a move – Culture, Creative, Tourism and Sport.

The sporting success of the region has taken its reputation around the world, with its deep roots going back into communities for generations, taking it from a back street kickaround or a makeshift match using dustbins as wickets to world-class sporting potential.

Amanda tells me: ‘We’ve already got a lot of people from the North East who go on to be professional footballers or cricketers or superstars in so many other disciplines, so now we want people to see this region as a birthplace of the future sports heroes – but starting at the most basic grassroots level because I believe it’s got to be from the ground up to bring the communities with us.

‘It can’t just be elite sports – as grateful as I am to see multi million pound players coming in from across the world with Premier League dreams, that isn’t what this is about. It’s about starting with the basics and giving people aspirations.

‘We will be listening closely to some of our professional sports legends like Jill Scott, who is a huge ambassador for females in sport for the region, and Daley Thompson who came here to show his documentary and was an inspiration as he told us what he’d come from and how he’d succeeded. Or Steve Harmison, who told us that Bobby Robson took him under his wing and he trained with Newcastle United during the winter season to get himself in peak condition.

‘That helped him to be successful and to get where he is and that’s why he puts back into it now and its why we want to spread those sort of motivational stories of overcoming challenges to succeed at whatever it is you are focussed on – young or old, male or female, there will be no barriers here.

‘We’ve got three really strong elements within this portfolio. There’s the tourism, the sport, but also the creative and the arts sector. That’s really important as well because we need to have something for everyone, and as a very proactive authority, we will never underestimate what the arts can do for the economy.

‘We aspire to be part of a route to success and it is our job to make sure people have opportunities right across the board. Whatever they dream of doing, you want them to be able to do it here.’

The sense of ‘we can do business together’ sends a powerful message to those who may have doubted the true state of collaboration between such huge authorities, and perhaps we need to pause and reflect that this is a breakthrough for every family and company in the North East. The geographical boundaries are still there, of course but the gates to investment are open and we can at last cross easily from one to another and see the whole region as a single opportunity.

‘This region and these people deserve a future to look forward to and we will deliver that for them,’ says Amanda.

She is a perfect fit for her region – passionate, committed, determined and absolutely immersed in what surrounds her. There are a lot of persuasive statistics out there, and she knows them all, but this runs much deeper. The Hopgood DNA is pure Durham.

KEY SECTORS

Advanced Manufacturing

County Durham is a prominent contributor to the area’s standing as the leading UK region for advanced manufacturing foreign direct investment in per capita. Almost 69,000 people are employed (six per cent of its total workforce) generating £8.0bn GVA turnover with growing exports (increased by 12 per cent from £9.2bn to £10.3bn between 2014 and 2019).

In and around County Durham, there are more than 52,000 STEM students – 50 per cent of its student population with nearly 10,000 studying engineering and technology subjects, 8.7 per cent of its student population – the highest proportion of any UK region.

More than 140 undergraduate and postgraduate engineering-related courses are available across the region’s five universities, while an additional 11 colleges offer over 300 advanced manufacturing-related courses.

Digital & Fintech

There are more than 3,000 digital businesses including start- ups, SMEs and global players such as Sage, Accenture and Atom Bank in the North East, contributing more than £2bn and employing in excess of 32,000 people.

Business Durham offers bespoke one-to-one assistance as well as key support programmes including Finance Durham and the Durham Business Growth programme. Support also comes from Sunderland Software City and the North East and Tees Valley Digital Catapult.

There are an estimated 3,100 fintech-related jobs in the region, contributing £171m of GVA. Regional fintech support organisations Dynamo and Fintech North offer excellent opportunities for collaboration, while support is also offered through five local universities.

Durham University Business School is also a major player in this field, renowned worldwide for its pioneering work in blockchain and data analytics for risk pricing.

Electrification

Nissan began producing Europe’s most successful battery electric vehicle, the LEAF, and Europe’s first battery gigafactory also located to the region.

Over the last 12 months, there has been a further £3.85bn of investment into electrification, and the Government is pumping £1 billion into ultra-low emission vehicles and committing £246m more over four years in the design, development and manufacture of batteries.

WE CAN HELP

Business Durham, the county’s business support service works closely with partners to help entrepreneurs turn bright ideas into business plans and students become leaders.

Through Business Durham, there is a range of comprehensive innovation support, finance advice and funding initiatives from start-ups to established businesses.

Business Durham manages a business property portfolio to find perfect places for businesses to grow, including commercial office space, laboratories, and industrial units, working across many key sectors, fuelling the expansion of the local economy.

Durham Business Growth: Offering expert guidance, tailored solutions, training and development and networking opportunities, Durham Business Growth aims to help County Durham businesses to increase productivity and grow.

Finance Durham Fund: £20m ‘evergreen’ fund, 100 per cent financed by Durham County Council and operated on a commercial basis, to provide flexible equity, debt or mezzanine funding packages from £150,000 to £2 million for early stage and established businesses.

Foresight North East Fund: Initially financed by Durham County Council’s Pension Fund, with support from Teesside Pension Fund, this second £20 million investment round from British Business Investments, will support SME growth.

A home for the next phase of innovation

County Durham is becoming a shining haven for the sciences, with many businesses in the sector choosing to base themselves here

The County Durham blueprint is like no other in the UK.

Part of it didn’t need to be drawn up because it already existed in the glorious coastline and heritage that runs like the Wear through the whole county.

But so much needed to be added, and as these essential elements of its infrastructure started to be designed and built, the county became a magnet for investment and a byword for growth.

The natural beauty and centuries of history now form the perfect package with 300 hectares of new land for employment, a plan for 25,000 new homes before 2035, and an Inclusive Economic Strategy powered by world-class sites like North East Technology Park (NETPark) and Aykley Heads.

Phase Three of NETPark is already backed by £100million of council money and there is significant interest even while it is being built, with units already attracting major interest at a site that is home to multi-million pound international contracts in security, space and technology.

‘It does absolutely blow my mind,’ says Durham County Council leader Amanda Hopgood.

‘I haven’t got a scientific bone in my body so every time I go there, I’m amazed at what is happening in these labs and offices – I was certainly one of the majority of the population who didn’t appreciate just how much space affects every single thing we do in our lives.

‘And as that technology made here literally takes us out further than we have ever been, the idea that the next major discovery or exploration in space might have “Made in County Durham” stamped on the side of it is quite astonishing. But let me assure you, it is happening at NETPark now.’

NETPark’s astonishing rise – now home to more than 40 companies employing more than 700 people – means it is a global focus of innovation with industries that are rewriting the textbooks every day in fields such as advanced materials, nanotechnology and space technology.

Owned by the council and managed by Business Durham, NETPark is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, testament to its success in advancing our thinking on energy capture and storage, cyber threats, health applications and water infrastructure in partnership with such driving forces as Durham University and the Centre for Process Innovation.

In parallel with its anniversary, the £100million Phase Three expansion project is underway, creating space for even more businesses and up to 1,250 new jobs, hugely boosted by its designation as an Investment Zone ‘Growth Site’ as part of the North East devolution deal.

‘Every time I go down there it just looks even better,’ said Amanda.

‘To me, it has always felt as if it is not just a business park, but a whole community. You go to some business parks and you could be anywhere, but this is definitely NETPark and we are definitely at the heart of County Durham.

‘You can tell it is successful because it has its own momentum now as people that come here want to stay – and Kromek is the ultimate example of that, having been here from the beginning and able to grow as much as they want.

‘That’s why we needed this Phase Three development, because these new buildings mean businesses that have outgrown the current space can progress, and then welcome new neighbours who want to be part of a hugely influential cluster. We have to be able to support small and growing businesses, so if you are a start-up who wants to take a small lab space for maybe six people, then let’s start there and see how far we can help you develop.

‘We often talk to global businesses with outstanding stories to tell – and they want to come to  County Durham and grow their ideas into industries right here on our doorstep for local people to work in.

‘In terms of green technology Phase Three has set the benchmark for carbon targets and energy use. We invested more to make sure those buildings were state of the art, because obviously they do use a lot of energy, but we upped the spec from the outset to make the whole place as sustainable as possible, with solar panels, heating from air source heat pumps and automated ventilation and cooling systems.’

That means NETPark can continue to be a world leader in technologies that we wouldn’t have dreamt of a short while ago, but that shows how fast industries change – something we have all witnessed in our lifetimes, and for Amanda Hopgood, there are important lessons to be learned.

She tells me: ‘I think it is really important that as a county and as a wider region, we have a diverse industrial base that is not overly reliant on any single sector. We should be extremely proud of our history, but we need to learn from it as well and the biggest learning curve for me is to never to put all our eggs in one basket.

‘We have all seen what happens when an industry starts to lose its prominence – whether that might be coal or rail or shipbuilding. When whole industries cease to exist, it can take generations to recover.

‘There is a fine line between spreading yourself too thinly and doing lots of things well, but if we’ve got facilities where we have people who are scientifically-minded who can go into this industry, we’ve got the arts and the creative industry with Crown Works across the region, we’ve got the tourism, we’ve got sport, we’ve got something for everyone.

‘Then if one thing falls we don’t crash the whole economy and everyone’s opportunities. There is something left.

‘I don’t ever want us to be in the position that we’ve been in generations before, where we lose whole communities because of the loss of one industry.

‘I won’t stand for that.

‘It’s really critical that we celebrate our history, celebrate our heritage, but we must learn and evolve in how to make ourselves self-sufficient going forward.’

This breathtaking county’s success was never going to be reliant on one amazing site – there has been progress at a rapid rate across the whole region, including at Durham City Innovation District at Aykley Heads right in the heart of the city, which is now looking for a joint venture partner.

Major road schemes are planned for the A19 and A182 at Jade Business Park, housing infrastructure projects at Newton Aycliffe and Seaham, a new bus station already open in Durham City and one on the way at Bishop Auckland, a new train station at Horden and one planned for Ferryhill.

Boosted now by almost £73 million of redirected HS2 money, the council has delivered the most capital projects ever in the last financial year with a total value of more than £225 million.

County Durham is evolving, all the time. Permanent change that means its people will always be able to perform at the top of their game.

Come here with your ideas and you will find a home for life.

KEY COMPANIES

Kromek:

This was where it all started, as NETPark’s first tenant, making wearable devices capable of detecting biological and radiological threats. It was a Durham University spin-out that started in an incubation space and grew into building its own facility.

As the only commercial business to produce Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) globally, Kromek’s leading technology means it can design, develop, manufacture and market world class products and solutions for the security and defence, civil nuclear, and biological detection markets.

Filtronic:

This innovator now supplies parts to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, for its Starlink platform. Its products transmit, receive and condition radio signals, particularly at microwave and mmWave frequencies. Mission-critical communication networks like Starlink depend on their systems and components.

SamplePod:

The company was established as a partnership between private sector innovators and the NHS. The driver behind its formation was to transform the way in which specimen tubes are transported and traced between primary care, hospitals, and the pathology laboratory.

SEEDS:

It stands for Sustainable Energy Efficient Designed Structures, which provide energy generation and capture solutions by formulating printable inks using advanced carbon based nano-structures which can then be integrated directly onto different surfaces, conforming to the shape of the housing of products to provide structural power without an increase in weight.