County Durham – Building a home for future technologies
by John Smith

Rich in industrial and cultural heritage, the north east of England has undergone a radical transformation over the last three decades to emerge as a major manufacturing and technology centre, and County Durham lies at the heart of this process of change.

This is now being pushed further forward by a growing knowledge sector, feeding off the research strengths of the region’s five major universities, most notably the University of Durham.
As a point of focus for this step-change, NetPark – the North East Technology Park – is being developed as a 21st century technology park to create an environment that will allow businesses to develop in an atmosphere of innovation and excellence, both through the skills of their own teams and in collaboration with the collective expertise of the region’s universities.

Indeed, NetPark’s links with the region’s universities will be central to its evolution. It will be the home for the future technologies that are essential to the economic well-being not only of County Durham but of the region as a whole.

Initially planned to extend to 13 hectares, the site enjoys the kind of mature parkland setting generally reckoned to be preferred by innovators over urban equivalents.

With full on-site incubation facilities envisaged it will provide not only the launch pad for new and developing technologies emerging from the academic sector, but also a key point of access for established organisations to tap into the region’s research network.

Further underscoring the region’s new persona are County Durham’s key strengths – as a multinational manufacturing base for consumer electronic products, and as a preferred location for data handling centres and customer service operations.

The county can offer an attractive package for inward investors. County Durham Development Company can help identify sites or premises, local suppliers, recruitment and training support, sources of financial assistance, potential business contacts and can also provide help to research and develop markets.

Durham County Council and the Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, have already invested heavily in the infrastructure needed to support the County’s continuing economic regeneration. The last few years have also seen a number of property development projects undertaken in the County by the private sector.

In the east of the County lies the East Durham Enterprise Zone which offers an attractive package of financial incentives to inward investors, with a business rates holiday until December 2005, tax allowances, a streamlined planning process and the possibility of generous rent-free periods from developers.

Bracken Hill Business Park, near Peterlee, is the flagship of the zone. It is now home to more than 2,500 new jobs, and has attracted a number of leading companies, including EDS, Orange and nvisage.
On the nearby Whitehouse Industrial Park, global healthcare company SSL International plc and MetroMail, one of the UK’s biggest direct mailing houses, have both invested in major new facilities.

The rapid pace of change in a technology-driven world means that there are always new challenges to be met.

County Durham Development Company, in partnership with other support organisations and with the private sector, is working to ensure that County Durham continues to offer an attractive range of benefits to technology investors, which includes the region’s strong academic research sector, low property costs, an extensive portfolio of sites and premises, a highly skilled workforce and an unparalleled quality of life.