Two County Durham companies will find out next month if they have won a national award for their work in the community. Deputy Business Editor Dan Jenkins takes a look.

THE Esh Group, a construction company based in Durham, and Newton Aycliffe manufacturer 3M, will be flying the flag for the region in a national awards ceremony on Tuesday, July 5.

The Esh Group has won two Big Ticks from Business in the Community (BITC), recognising the success of its Fit for Employment scheme.

The project sees staff from the construction company work on training that aims to help pupils in five County Durham schools find the right career.

It won the regional Investing in Education Award, sponsored by Greggs, and is shortlisted for the national award. It also won the regional Innovation Award.

The programme this year involved 120 students in years ten and 11 from Deerness Valley Comprehensive School, Gilesgate Sports College, and Trinity School, all Durham, Moorside Community School, Consett, and Fyndoune Community College, Sacriston.

Twenty of them will be offered jobs as apprentices with the Esh Group.

Phil Young, group director of technical and customer services, said: "This provides that special ingredient - a light at the end of the tunnel.

"For those who decide construction is not for them, they take with them valuable transferable skills.

"We're delighted that these qualities have been recognised and that the programme has been celebrated through the Big Tick awards."

Anne Lakey, headteacher at Deerness Valley Comprehensive School, said: "Our students have been transformed through this programme. They have not only claimed ownership and are proud of it, but the programme carries real street-credibility.

"That sort of 'buy-in' factor is very difficult for education or industry to capture, but we seem to have done it here."

The success of the programme at Deerness, previously described by Government as a "school facing challenging circumstances", helped it become a specialist business, technology and enterprise college.

Two success stories from the programme are Paul Facey and Kristi Taylor.

Paul is a trainee engineer with Lumsden & Carroll, the Esh Group's civil engineering business.

Kristi is a member of the maintenance team that looks after the group's fleet of vehicles, excavators and mobile construction plant, and hopes to become one of the few female excavator drivers in the region.

The 3M site at Aycliffe was honoured by BITC North-East for its drive to make sure employees are healthy and happy.

The firm won a Big Tick in the award's Unum Provident Healthy Workplace category, and could also clinch the national award.

The firm, which employs 400, has set up a sub-committee for health, as well as others for safety and the environment.

Over two years, absence for muscular-skeletal problems, such as backache, was reduced by 40 per cent and stress-related absence by 60 per cent.

In November last year, the plant achieved one million hours of accident-free working.

Other preventative measures, such as flu vaccinations on site, resulted in a 33 per cent reduction in absence.

Occupational health advisor Pat Hardy said: "We have always encouraged the close involvement of the workforce across the site and many activities - from organised walks to smoking cessation and healthy eating programmes - are run in direct response to requests from staff.

"It is wonderful to have our success recognised by winning this Big Tick award.