On the road to expansion
A Durham business and IT firm is one of the first to move into an area set to play a key role in creating thousands of jobs.
Waterstons is moving to Durham County Councilowned Northumbria House at Aykley Heads, in Durham City.
The council recently announced its ambitions to attract more than 6,000 new private sector jobs to the area, creating a new business district and bringing a £400million boost to the county’s economy.
Waterstons’ move from its current offices at Belmont Business Park has been sparked by growth of nearly 30 per cent in the 2017 financial period, with planned growth at about another 20 per cent.
The company, which also has offices in London and Glasgow, employs 133 staff and expects to hire another 30 people over the next 12 months.
It is also looking to expand overseas, possibly in the Asia Pacific region, and see its 16/17 turnover of £9.4million top £11million.
Chief executive officer Susan Bell said: “We are very proud to maintain our head office in Durham.
“We are enjoying excellent growth, with aspirations to grow further in the North East fuelled by our long-term relationships and partnerships with clients and prospects in the region.
“The new office will provide much needed additional capacity and enable us to work more effectively together. The vision for Aykley Heads as a high-growth business district for professional services is extremely attractive and we are thrilled to be relocating at the start of the redevelopment of the area.”
The company, which was established nearly 24 years ago, delivers services to a large number of clients ranging from manufacturing, AEC and education to the food and drink industry.
It is likely to make the move to Aykley Heads in the autumn following an office refurbishment and is working with North East companies GT3 Architects and Identity Consult, as well as a cross section of its own people, to make sure that the new offcie space reflects the long-term needs of the business.