Stockton

Dec 6 2007

INNOVATION and development has long been part of Stockton’s business scene.

After all it was in Stockton in 1826 that Dr John Walker created the concept of friction matches.

Today’s Stockton borough - taking in key towns including Billingham, Thornaby and Yarm - is going through a period of dramatic change.

Multi-million pound regeneration is underway on the banks of the Tees at North Shore.

This £300m renaissance of Stockton’s riverbank aims to transform 56 acres.

The scheme includes more than 650,000sq ft of prime office accommodation, leisure facilities including a 100 bedroom hotel, cafes and restaurants, new facilities for the University of Durham, 480 homes and an iconic pedestrian and cycle bridge - creating more than 2,500 jobs along the way.

Urban Splash, which helped transform Liverpool into the European Capital of Culture, and regeneration specialist AMEC Developments - which revamped the Newcastle Quayside and Walkergate in Durham - are working to deliver the project.

Work has been completed on improving access both to North Shore and Stockton town centre via a multi-million pound one-way system.

Construction is also underway on the £15m sweeping double arched bridge which will link North Shore in Stockton and the thriving Teesdale area of Thornaby.

The site sits opposite Thornaby’s Teesdale site - one of the borough’s huge success stories of recent years.

When Margaret Thatcher made her famous “walk in the wilderness” on the banks of the Tees in 1987, the road to regeneration seemed endless.

But since work began in 1989, the devastated former Head Wrightson site has been steadily transformed.

The riverside project has seen a rebirth of the Teesdale site, now home to housing, business and industrial development, a new centre of learning and thousands of workers.

Hundreds of millions of pounds have been ploughed into the site.

The region’s call centre sector has thrived at Teesdale, with Barclaycard, Abbey National and Churchill Insurance all setting up bases there.

Law firms Dickinson Dees and the Endeavour Parnerhip have offices at Teesdale.

Durham University’s Queen’s Campus has come a long way since the idea for a university centre for Teesside was expressed by former vice-chancellor Fred Holliday in the late 1980s.

Now the campus has 2,000 students, up from the 190 when it opened in 1992, and is home to two colleges, the Wolfson Research Institute, a health and fitness club and the Sleep Laboratory.

The university is looking to expand its Stockton campus across the River Tees to the North Shore. Stockton Riverside College is also based at Teesdale and is equipped with the latest stateof-the-art technology and facilities providing an excellent teaching, learning and learner support environment.

Annually, the college offers around 50 full-time and 1,000 part-time academic, pre vocational, vocational, work-based and higher education courses to 15,000 learners including over 1,200 16 to 18-year-olds.

Another key area of business in Stockton is Portrack Lane. The thriving business community is now home to major players such as B&Q, Woolworths and Asda as well as home-grown companies and a range of business accommodation.

Investment in the area continues - Asda has multi-million plans to demolish its ageing store on Stockton’s Portrack Lane and replace it with a modern development.

The new building will be erected on disused land to the south of the existing store, boosting the regeneration of the area and offering the potential of new jobs.

In Stockton’s town centre retail is another key driver of the local economy.

The £43m Wellington Square development has created hundreds of jobs and added more than 40 new retail units to Stockton.

Arts and culture also play an important part in Stockton’s town centre’s success.

It plays host to the annual Stockton International Riverside Festival.

Thousands of people flock to the town to enjoy the event, which celebrates its 21st birthday in 2008.

In Stockton you’ll also find Arc. The £9.5m arts centre opened in January 1999, offering cinema, comedy, theatre, music and restaurants.

The neighbouring town of Billingham is currently gearing up for a multi-million pound transformation.

Stockton Council has sold its freehold interest in the town centre - nearly half of its retail space - to Halladale which will now pump in £45m of investment and transform the heart of the town.

The green light has also been given to push ahead plans to develop Billingham Forum.
 
All this gives Billingham a golden opportunity to cast off its declining 1960s image and become a vibrant Teesside town for the 21st century.

Plus regeneration projects are pushing ahead in Hardwick, Thornaby and the Parkfield and Mill Lane area.

Individual companies are pumping investment into expanding their operations in the borough.

Stockton is home to beer monitoring firm Brulines.

James Dickson, chief executive, was recently named Tees Valley winner at the North East Business Executive of the Year Awards 2007.

Brulines is investing £3m in new Teesside offices - which will provide space to double its Teesside workforce to 200.

Meanwhile 2008 will be a landmark year with Aker Kvaerner Engineering Services building a strong future at new premises in Stockton.

The company, which employs about 500, is moving to new state-of-the-art offices at the Surtees Business Park on Bowesfield Lane.