Work is under way on the £61m expansion of a North East science park which could create more than 1,250 highly skilled jobs.
Durham County Council’s North East Technology Park (NETPark) at Sedgefield is now entering its third phase with the potential to deliver £625m to the region’s economy over the next ten years.
The authority is investing a multimillion-pound sum into phase three while further funding has been provided by the North East LEP. The start of work follows the appointment of construction group Kier to deliver the latest phase.
Plans are also in place for a fourth phase of NETPark with potentially more to follow, with additional land designated for development that would take the number of jobs at the site to between 3,000 and 4,000.
NETPark Phase Three is designed to offer opportunities for high growth science, engineering, and technology companies to design and build premises to grow, scale-up and commercialise their operations at the Sedgefield site, which already provides bases for science, engineering and technology businesses including Kromek, PragmatIC, the CPI, Wootzano and Filtronic.
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The development will provide space for existing companies to expand, as well as those looking to relocate their businesses to County Durham, while giving access to talent at the region’s universities as well as regional infrastructure.
An event was held yesterday at NETPark’s Space Enterprise Lab to celebrate the start of the work, where business and authority leaders hailed the opportunities that the third phase is set to serve up for the North East.
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Leader of the council Coun Amanda Hopgood said: “It is really exciting to have started work on the third phase of NETPark and to have appointed Kier to deliver the project.
“We are delighted to be making a significant investment in the expansion and grateful to the North East LEP for its support, which is in recognition of the fantastic employment opportunities that NETPark presents our region.
“The prospect of the further 1,250 skilled jobs worth £625m, and the potential for NETPark to ultimately host 3,000 to 4,000 jobs in total, is proof that we are delivering on our ambition to create more and better jobs for our residents, as set out in our Inclusive Economic Strategy.”
This latest phase will include up to 232,000sqft of new laboratory, office and production space, and will cover an initial seven hectares of land, rising to 16 hectares.
As well as the potential 1,250 new direct jobs, the expansion has the potential to provide an additional 2,200 in the supply chain. Skilled jobs will be created across a range of specialties, such as scientists, technicians, administration, accounting, marketing, IT and logistics.
In addition to the council’s investment, the North East LEP is providing funding that will enable sustainability and low carbon measures in phase three. This is on the back of a previous Local Growth Fund grant, also from the North East LEP, which allowed highway infrastructure to be put in place to open up the land for development.
Lucy Winskell OBE, chair of the North East LEP, said: “NETPark has undoubtedly been one of our region’s biggest economic success stories. Home to three national innovation centres, as well as a community of science and technology companies that have helped grow key sectors across the North East, NETPark has proven its ability to secure investment into our region and create jobs.
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“The expansion of the science park will bring further business growth to the North East and create more than 1,000 highly skilled jobs in emerging and growing sectors of industry including health and life sciences, space, engineering, and technology.
“The North East LEP has supported the growth of NETPark through the Local Growth Fund since 2015, and this latest investment has ensured work can now progress on phase three; helping to deliver more economic growth and more jobs for the North East.”
Daniel Doherty, regional director of Kier North and Scotland, added: “This is an exciting project for Kier which represents the ongoing importance of the North East as an area of growth for us, as well as our commitment to delivering outstanding projects in the science sector. We are looking forward to delivering a project befitting of Durham County Council’s vision and which will leave a lasting impact on the local community for years to come.”