DERWENTSIDE Business 06 07 & / Community DIRECTORY Background Information con t en t s Premise, by Right Honorable Hilary Armstrong 3 Derwentside the District 5 “If we do what Introduction, by LSP Chair, Alex Watson 7 we’ve always Business & Economy done then we’ll A great place for business 9 only get what Derwentside economic profile 11 we’ve always Business support and partnerships 3 got” Flagship projects (Emerge, Beacon, Agility, Enterprise Place) 15 Tom Baker Your business matters 17 Education Lifelong Learning and education 19 Community Safety Safety in the community 19 E d it or Miles Crofton In the Best of Health 0191 586 6010 [email protected] Healthy living for a healthy lifestyle 19 Exxecu t ivve Eddit oor Housing & Environment Sarah J Lee An environment for success 19 [email protected] Childcare counts 19 Ed it oria l Paul Seales You and your Council 19 [email protected] Transport and communication 19 A dv ertisin g & Sponsorship Time out with tourism, leisure and shopping 19 Andrew White 0191 5866 040 Miscellaneous Case Studies 19 Bank Holidays 19 Derwentside Business & Community Directory is published by informnorth creative services, Calendar 2006 19 a County Durham based community interest company. We have taken all reasonable care to Conversions 19 ensure that material is accurate at the time of going to press, but accept no responsibility for Dialling Codes 19 errors or omissions and no liability is accepted for omission or failure from any cause. Travelling distances to UK centres 19 The publisher has welcomed contributions in production of this directory, all opinions UK& Ireland airports list 19 expressed are those of individual contributors and not necessarily our own. All advertisements Details Form 19 have been accepted on the grounds that they comply with the terms of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and all other relevant legislation. Additional professional advice should always be sought before making any commitment to business transactions or advice detailed within Derwentside Business & Community Directory. Inclusion of any advertisement cannot be Business is all about communication. To promote your business or organisation within the next issue of construed as an endorsement of an advertiser or a product by the publisher, their employees the Derwentside Business & Community Directory call Mike Storey today on 0191 5866 010 or their agents. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for any transactions between readers and advertisers. All content©informnorth creative services, no material in this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent from the publisher. Printed by Potts Printers Ltd. P rem ise premise Welcome to the 2006 edition of the Derwentside Business Directory, which is aimed at uniting business and the wider community. I would like to extend a special thanks to all of the businesses and organisations that have contributed and supported what is an unique publication. This directory will help bridge some of the gaps that exist between our businesses and communities, and the firms involved have seized on a glorious opportunity to aid the area’s development, communication Rt. Hon. Hilary Armstrong Member of Parliament for North and future prosperity. West Durham It’s been a real privilege to represent part of Derwentside at Westminster for the past 18 years, which during the last two decades have certainly seen some changes and some challenging times here in the district. It’s 25 years since Consett Steel There are many success stories, Works closed leaving the area companies such as CAV Aerospace without its major employer and (formerly AS&T) now employing 250 local businesses without their major in Consett, Romag Security customer. The early eighties were Laminators employing 150 at tough as businesses either closed or Leadgate and now listed on the restructured and unemployment hit stock market, and the Tanfield a staggering 26 per cent. Group employing nearly 400 people in Tanfield. All this comes in addi- Now, in marked contrast to those tion to many earlier successes dark and gloomy days, including leading food companies Derwentside’s local economy is such as Derwent Valley Foods and stronger, more broadly based and International Cuisine, and newer boasts a rwider ange of modern technology companies such as businesses holding their own in Bioprocessing. global markets. Unemployment is now down to levels not seen for Derwentside really is an area where generations. businesses can thrive. It’s a district with great potential and excellent These successes haven’t come links to the rest of the North East. easily. In large part, it reflects the More importantly it offers a good outcome of the major industrial and quality of life for employees and economic development programme their families, with access to truly launched in the immediate stunning and beautiful surroundings, aftermath of the closure of the especially the North Pennines, an steelworks but it also reflects the area of outstanding natural beauty. strong determination of business owners, employees and community In addition, the regeneration of our leaders to succeed. towns and villages is providing new housing, better amenities, and I’m always impressed when I visit improved public services. workplaces across Derwentside by the dedication and ambition of With serious unemployment largely employers and employees. In recent a thing of the past, optimism has years, we’ve seen the growth and returned to the area. There are of development of local businesses course still challenges to face, not punching their weight at a national least in tackling the skill shortages in and international level. Businesses the area and through publications are prepared to invest in research such as The Derwentside Business and development to ensure their Directory I am confident that products become leaders in their Derwentside has a great story to tell fields. and a very bright future ahead of it. The Derwentside Business Directory 5 houses were built (60 houses for The earliest remains in this area are stoney clearing and it was probably miners at the Pontop Colliery). In the of prehistoric date and a number of an Anglo-Saxon settlement. mid 1800s more and deeper mines artifacts have been discovered. Stanley really owed its growth to were built, including the South During the Roman period coalmining. The inhabitants relied Derwent Colliery in 1872. Lanchester became the site of the on the six collieries within the town During the 19th century the village Roman fort known as Longovicium. itself and another forty within a grew in size, and many new build- Archaeologists have found the two miles radius for employment. ings and businesses were estab- remains of the headquarters lished including a brewery, a mill, a buildings, a bathhouse and some Ebchester candle factory, a school, a Church of barrack buildings. It was built in the Ebchester is a small parish, mid 1st century AD and was in use England church and Primitive separated from Northumberland through the 2nd and 3rd centuries Methodist and Methodist chapels. by the river Derwent. It lies about AD. The remains of the large stone The old Stanhope and Tyne railway 12 miles to the south-west of walls can still be seen in places. was remembered in a 19th century Newcastle. Although a Neolithic pub of the same name, which stood In the Anglo-Saxon period it is handaxe has been found in the area, by the level crossing over the Old possible that the Roman fort was the village is best known for the Stanhope and Tyne railway. re-used. The name of the village Roman fort on which it now stands. included part of the name of the fort The fort was known by the Roman ‘Longovicium’ as well as the word Burnopfield name of Vindomora. Unfortunatley, ‘ceastre’, which is the Old English Until the 19th century Burnopfield there is now little to be seen as for ‘Roman Fort’. was part of the larger parish of most of the site has been built over. Tanfield. Like many Durham villages There were other settlements in The church of St Ebba stands in the the surrounding area, as well as it expanded in size with the growth southern corner of the site. There Lanchester, there may have been of the coal industry - this population has been relatively little research on a medieval settlement at Tanfield, growth led to it becoming a separate this fort, although several Roman parish. which originally had two rows of houses with a green between them. altars and other carved stones are Before the building of the large Other villages probably also stood known to be from the site of the collieries in the mid-19th century at Newbiggin and Colepike Hall. church. the district of Burnopfield was a quite rural area. During the medieval period the area The village is probably of remained rural. The isolated, yet Anglo-Saxon origin- the name Stanley attactive, landscape encouraged ‘Burnopfield’ comes from the Old Stanley is an industrial town derwentside lying on a hilltop between many hermits to come here and the English meaning ‘open land by the valley stream’. The originally village Chester-le-Street and Consett. Much area was once known as the ‘place was quite small, stretching from of the surrounding landscape was of the anchorites’. Busty Bank and Sheephill to Bryan’s changed by coal mining. However, The River Derwent itself played an Leap. The turnpike road from Lobley the mines are all shut now, and important part in the history of the Hill was the only road running the old spoilheaps have been village. Several water-powered mills landscaped and grassed over. he birth of Derwentside District County Durham, centered on a hill Langley Park. through the area.