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Inward Investment In County Durham

Opening up links to the thriving UK and European economy.

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Soft Landing

County Durham is a dynamic place to do business at the heart of the North East economy and it has been welcoming overseas investors for decades: NSK Bearings set up the first Japanese manufacturing plant in the North East in 1976 and has been joined by many other big names including Hitachi Rail Europe, Caterpillar, Walkers, 3M … And high tech companies, such as Bristol Laboratories, Atom Bank, Compound Photonics and PolyPhotonix have also seen Durham as the place to grow their businesses.

As the economic development company for County Durham, Business Durham encourages overseas companies to establish and settle into a long term base through its soft landing scheme.

If your business needs are not covered in this list, please do discuss with us – our inward investors will testify to our flexibility and commitment in supporting them. All offers are subject to discussion and agreement with Business Durham.

Our Offer

We understand that your needs are individual and what is useful for one investor may not be for another. Our offer is tailored to you and may include (see table below):

A single point of contact so that you have a person who understands your needs
Mapping of needs and appropriate Action Plan so that you can be sure that your needs are understood and supported: Legal and regulatory, Finance and Accounting, Funding, Marketing, Innovation and R&D, Export, Local supply chain, Workforce profile, Other specialist need
Research, intelligence and statistics so that you make the best case possible for project approval
Tour of the area so that you see and understand the economic and social infrastructure
Help to find residential accommodation for your key, relocating staff to reduce the uncertainty of them and their family.
Introductions to companies, networks and influencers so that you quickly become part of the local business environment.
Free virtual office address and use of meeting rooms for three months at one of our Durham County Council Business Centres during the set up and transition to permanent accommodation.