When deciding where to locate or grow your
advanced manufacturing operations, County
Durham has a lot to offer.
The county plays a significant part in supporting and providing the right
conditions for advanced manufacturing businesses to thrive.
As the largest economy in the North East, 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 (6% of its total workforce) generating £8.0bn GVA turnover with growing exports (increased by 12% from £9.2bn to £10.3bn between 2014 and 2019).
In and around County Durham, there are more than 52,000 STEM students – 50% of its student population with nearly 10,000 studying engineering and technology subjects, 8.7% 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.
If you are thinking about moving your business to County Durham, give us a call on 03000 261261.
Business incentives and support for the sector
Business Durham offers bespoke one-to-one assistance and key support programmes such as Finance Durham and the Durham Business Growth programme. We can also signpost businesses to support networks in the surrounding ecosystem. Additional sources of funding are available through various organisations and support programmes including NBSL, RTC North, BEEP, NE BIC and Business Boost.
Research and innovation
North East England has developed an unequalled reputation for production but now it’s becoming recognised as a location for innovation. Much of this innovation is derived from fruitful partnerships between advanced manufacturing companies, universities and research institutions, which has helped the industry maintain an edge over competitors.
Cost savings to your business
County Durham offers significant labour and property cost savings for advanced manufacturing operations compared to UK regions and global hubs. A variety of incentives, industry support bodies and networking events make the area an attractive option. An important specialism for the region is precision engineering in the aerospace, rail, automotive, and oil and gas sectors.
Competitive salary costs
The North East offers highly competitive salary costs for advanced manufacturing jobs. It costs just under £34,000 to employ an engineer in the North East; this is just under one-third cheaper compared to Greater London.
Low property costs
The North East has some of the lowest property costs in Europe. Office costs are 20% lower than in the North West and South West of England and more than 85% cheaper than in London
Least expensive location
The North East is one of the least expensive locations in which to
establish an aerospace manufacturing operation, with annual operating costs (labour and property) of £10.61m. The region offers more than £11m cost savings compared to Antwerp and over £15m compared to Greater London.
Key advanced manufacturing sites in County Durham
Forrest Park, Newton Aycliffe
With planning permission in place, plans are proposed to bring forward an initial 830,000 square feet of speculative development.
NETPark (The North East Technology Park) Innovation District, Sedgefield
One of the UK’s premier science, engineering, and technology parks. It provides the right mix of infrastructure, collaborative opportunities and support for science, engineering, and technology companies.
Merchant Park, Newton Aycliffe
A £90 million project, Merchant Park is a 65-acre development at Aycliffe Business Park on J59 of the A1(M). Home to one of the largest inward investment manufacturing developments in recent years, the 30-acre Hitachi Rail Europe train manufacturing facility which opened in September 2015. The location was selected by Hitachi from an initial shortlist of 42 sites following a UK wide search.
Connect at Integra 61, Bowburn
Connect at Integra 61 is a new five-unit industrial/warehouse opportunity consisting of units from 43,000 to 297,500 square feet. This development is being built to an institutional specification totalling 639,460 square feet, with strong sustainability credentials including a target EPC Rating of ‘A’ and BREEAM ‘Excellent’.
Jade Business Park, Seaham
A premier location for distribution, technology and advanced manufacturing companies looking for premises to service their suppliers in the UK and the rest of the world.
Phase one is now complete and fully let, with seven new industrial units totalling 155,000 square feet used for distribution, technology, and advanced manufacturing businesses. The next phase of development is being planned by Highbridge Properties, its Agents and Durham County Council.
Some of the businesses we've helped
Finance Durham
The benefit of speaking to Maven about the Finance Durham fund is the flexibility of the fund on offer, which means we can invest from a small amount up to several millions via equity or debt.
Michael Vassallo
Maven Capital Partners
Power Roll
Maven helped us in terms of facilities by introductions into Business Durham, and also the funding opportunities here in County Durham, which really did help pull a package of measures together, which made the premises we're in today, Jade Business Park, that compelling proposition.
Neil Spann
CEO
TinkleGuard
For anyone looking to develop their business idea, DCI provides the resources and community to make that journey less daunting and more successful.
Angela Davidson
Founder
Empowerment Learning Ltd
The DCI programme has been fantastic. The personal support, mentoring, and different perspectives from the cohort have validated my belief that what I'm doing is correct and has a real impact.
Kelly Walton
Founder
%20-%20Medium2.jpg)
Reign Accounting Ltd
The support and friendships I've developed through DCI have been invaluable. Learning from other start-ups and having a community to lean on has made a significant difference in my entrepreneurial journey
Nicole Collins
Founder
AImploy
The DCI program has been instrumental in our journey. The networking opportunities and support from DCI contributors have been invaluable in shaping AImploy into the company it is today.
Arjun Cheruvally
Co-founder
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
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
Useful Information
Net Zero
Innovation
Other useful pages
Get In Touch
Business Durham is the business support service for Durham County Council, helping to deliver more and better jobs and a strong competitive economy.
Contact our friendly team for help with your business.
