BUSINESSiQ Editor Mike Hughes meets Cllr Joe Quinn, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Investments and Assets at Durham County Council, to talk about one of the most exciting development opportunities in the country.
Looking at what County Durham has to offer is awe-inspiring. The blending of heritage and progress is a masterclass in how to make the most of this unique setting, from coast to cathedral – and with that historic foundation to build on, Joe Quinn is focused on the future and building the momentum for one of the most influential transformations anywhere in the country as Aykley Heads leads the next stage of the county’s evolution.
For now, the monolithic County Hall that sits at the centre of the site still echoes with emotion. This has been the council’s home since the 1960s and has been the scene of many passionate debates and decisions that have taken the county and its residents and businesses in new directions.
But Durham County Council vacating the site – and moving to The Rivergreen Centre just a short walk away where work is already underway to extend the building and create a council chamber – provides the opportunity to create a transformational business and employment site that can create up to 3,700 jobs and support global names alongside the startups and SMEs that underpin the regional economy.
A computer-generated image of how phase one of development at Aykley Heads could look (Image: Durham County Council)
And this is only the start – the development of Aykley Heads, which has outline consent for over 400,000 sq ft office development, will act as the catalyst for a wider innovation district – a chance to add yet another layer to this astonishing county by diversifying the city’s economy and creating life-changing employment, skills and training opportunities for local people in a vibrant new quarter where people want to live, work, visit and relax.
If the past is stunning, just wait until you see the future.
As his young son watches his dad go to work each day as Portfolio Holder for Planning, Investments and Assets, Joe Quinn is driven by the idea that he can play his part in bringing such ambitious plans to fruition and providing places to gain an unmatched education, a long-term career in your home city and a place to bring up the next generation.
‘If my son came and worked here in a few years and I could tell him, ‘I was around while we did that,’ that would be a beautiful thing. It’s a stimulating thought – the opportunity to leave a real legacy.
‘This is the catalyst – the stepping stone from which the whole district will form, which is why Phase One of our vision for Aykley Heads will work and work well,’ he tells me in an office in the almost deserted County Hall, which is now closed.
Cllr Joe Quinn, portfolio holder for planning, investments and assets, chats to Mike Hughes of The Northern Echo (Image: Durham County Council)
His brief is wide – even daunting – but he has quickly identified the direction the county needs to take, with respect for the past and enthusiasm for what is to come.
‘My portfolio is planning, investment and assets. Any asset the council owns falls under me, from leisure centres to libraries to the building we are in now. We’re strategic in the way we run things, not operational, so what officers come to me for is decisions: do we do A, do we do B, or is there an alternative C?
‘I think from the CEO John Hewitt all the way down, everybody sees the potential we have. Members across the board, past and present, really know the potential, which is why our predecessors have pushed this. But now we are in control at this time and we get to push it forward at pace.
‘People have worked here at County Hall, they have met here, got engaged, got married, and brought their children into offices here. There are people that have worked in this building longer than I’ve been alive. But as a council, we don’t need a building of this size anymore and if we don’t move with the times, the times will leave us behind.
‘I know that an innovation district isn’t just about the big tenants. They are your anchors and investment magnets, but it is also about the smaller investors and innovators and the ideas and potential they have been building in garages and spare bedrooms and which can now be explored as part of this new cluster with collaboration and partnership at its heart.’
A computer-generated image of how phase one of development at Aykley Heads could look (Image: Durham County Council)
Phase One, before County Hall is demolished for Phases Two and Three, will be home to the first commercial innovation building, on land which has been occupied by the temporary accommodation for St Leonard’s School. A 50,000 sq ft high quality space would mark the first tangible step in development at Aykley Heads and be the launchpad for the whole project.
The building, which will lay the foundations for a ‘mixed innovation economy’ providing supported space for start ups and a ‘grow on’ facility for larger companies, has been designed to integrate with the Aykley Heads woodland. It will offer breakout spaces and links to Aykley Heads and Framwellgate Peth and a terrace area to the south to provide views over the meadow and playing fields. This is clearly about building a whole community, not just spaces to work.
The innovation district that will grow from this first phase will offer businesses access to talent, research, networks, and resources within a compact 62 hectare setting packed with high quality infrastructure and including new cultural venue The Light, the multi-purpose Milburngate development, Durham University Business School and Durham Railway Station along with businesses such as Waterstons and Swinburne Maddison.
‘The innovation district is more than just somewhere to come to work,’ says Joe.
‘It’s going to create an environment where you can come to work, but you can also come to play as well. You can walk from the train station, you can go for a meal, visit The Light – all within one compact area. We’ve got so much potential here that if it’s done right, the opportunities for big business to thrive, as well as little businesses and SMEs, are limitless.
‘If Apple can start in a garage, then why can’t something equally successful start at Aykley Heads?
‘NETPark is a really good example of what this place can become. You’ve got companies hiring a single desk so they can get registered and start getting funding, all the way up to big decision-makers in R&D and the space industry.
‘There, and here at Aykley Heads, tenants will want to progress up and we will provide a mix of private and public sector to meet the needs of businesses at all stages of their growth.’
Private sector investment
Beyond Aykley Heads, the county is already proving it is investment ready. Integra 61 is a prime example of private sector investment, with Citrus working closely with the council and pumping millions into the site because it sees a region developing for generations to come. Investors want to see a return, and County Durham is now high on their list of locations to secure that.
‘No-one can deny that County Durham has had and still faces economic challenges, and we recognise that we need to work hard to make sure growth and improvement reaches everywhere across the county. The county accounts for 25 per cent of the population of the North East and with that comes big responsibility.
‘County Durham has literally got it all. You can drive 20 minutes from here and be in blissful countryside, another 30 or 40 minutes and be at the seaside, then 30 or 40 minutes the other way and you’re at the Pennines. What we need to do now is attract more big companies, which will attract the little companies, and people will be flooding into County Durham,’ said Cllr Quinn.
‘If you’ve got a base in London, I reckon door to door, if you time your trains right, you could be from here to London in three‑and‑a‑half hours. And if you are house-hunting, for what you pay for a house in London and what you pay for a really nice house up here, you can get double the value.
‘Businesses come to invest here; they want places where their families and their workers want to be as well. People are going to want to relocate here because they’ll think, it’s got this massive site for my business and all of this on the doorstep.
‘I don’t like the phrase “I have to move away for work”, but unfortunately in County Durham people used to have to do that. We want to change that narrative. We want to keep our home‑grown skills and ambition.’
His enthusiasm and determination, in equal parts, are what will make this all happen.
‘You can go to school, go to college, go to university and live your whole life in Durham if you so choose,’ says Joe.
Blueprint for jobs
‘The one thing we were still searching for is opportunity for employment and this could be the catalyst to move all of that forward. So we need this blueprint to provide jobs for all our residents – whatever their skillset. There should always be an opportunity, for anyone able to get up, go to work and do a hard day’s graft.
‘All that hard work feeds the economy of the city and the wider county, because if you can work here and pop into the city for your lunch, it stimulates the whole place. That’s just one simple way this innovation district will be the exemplar of teamwork – a matrix of businesses feeding off each other and providing each other with the support we all need at key moments.
‘And a lot of that is governed by the County Durham Plan – the most important thing this council does, so we’re determined to get it right, and sometimes, if you go searching for businesses, it doesn’t work as well as if businesses are coming to you. Our job is to get this building down and get the new buildings up. Build it and they will come.’
As he points out, this is not something a council needs to bear on its own. This county has many needs, so the ideal route to innovation district success is public and private partnership to create, launch and direct.
To this end, the council is harnessing the expertise of a joint venture delivery partner in the shape of Muse while also tapping into the academic brilliance of the world-class Durham University.
The trio are bringing Aykley Heads and the innovation district forward together, backed by funding from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
That organisation has agreed to establish a Durham Mayoral Development Zone around Aykley Heads and the innovation district – bringing a further £27m of investment.
Cllr Quinn knows the value of collaborations like this and how they can help demolish any obstacles to limitless growth.
‘With an ambitious project of this size, collaboration with good solid partners like Muse and Durham University is invaluable. It’s a three‑way partnership and we’ve made sure everybody’s on board and we’re all going in the same direction.
‘We are bringing together the best of our partners and our longstanding capability in Business Durham to create something quite unique. For some businesses, the need is one person and a desk; then they grow into a full unit. So each of our key sites has to have different spaces and different sizes.
‘Now, perhaps for the first time for a while, I feel that we will soon be able to fulfil those needs for any business of any size.
‘I feel like we’re in a time where there’s just so much positivity going on – the stars are almost aligning. There is excitement and ambition and that is a powerful combination.’
Key sites being driven by Durham County Council
Integra 61 from Citrus
Integra 61 represents the largest logistics and manufacturing opportunity the North East has seen in a generation, including Connect, 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’.
Forrest Park, Newton Aycliffe
This new 48-hectare site at Newton Aycliffe is providing 1.7 million square feet of prime B1, B2 and B8 industrial floorspace. The development is fully serviced with a new signalised traffic junction and a 24M W substation. With planning permission in place, plans are proposed to bring forward an initial 830,000 square feet of speculative development.
Its specification includes 10 metre plus eaves, fully fitted offices, a secure yard and flexible design solutions.
Forrest Park is located prominently on the A167 to the south of Aycliffe Business Park and immediately adjacent to junction 59 A1(M). Darlington lies approximately six miles to the South East and Durham 13 miles to the north.
Jade Business Park
Seaham is the perfect place for this business park, offering 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.
NETPark at Sedgefield
The North East Technology Park has start-up, incubator, laboratory and office space through to established commercial laboratories and support offices. From 250sqft through to 32,000 sqft+, it offers companies the chance to be part of an established science landscape in a like-minded community.
One of the UK’s premier science, engineering, and technology parks, it provides a mix of infrastructure, collaborative opportunities and support for science, engineering, and technology companies. NETPark supports innovative businesses at every stage of their journey from concept to commercialisation with a wide choice of world-class laboratory, clean room, and office space.
NETPark is the only UK Science Park with three National Catapult Centres – The High Value Manufacturing Catapult, managed by CPI, the Satellite Applications Catapult through the Space Enterprise Lab and the North East Space Cluster development work, and the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult.
