A business breeding ground
IT WAS built in the late 1930s in response to the profound economic problems of the decade which had hit the North East particularly hard.
Since then, Gateshead’s Team Valley Trading Estate has played an integral part in maintaining the economic wellbeing of our region.
UK Land Estates director Keith Taylor has researched the history of the trading estate and here he tells the story of one of the North East’s most important business centres.
Team Valley Trading Estate is known today as one of the region’s largest and most vibrant hubs of economic activity.
With around 700 companies calling Team Valley home, supporting around 20,000 jobs, for decades the estate has been a fixture of our region’s business community.
The largest estate in UK Land Estates’ extensive portfolio of commercial property developments, occupiers include international household names such as Amazon, DPD, Greggs and WHSmith, as well as SMEs and start-ups emerging as a product of our rapidly expanding technology and advanced manufacturing economy.
The history of Team Valley goes back as far as the early 1930s. As the country began to rebuild after the First World War, unemployment levels in Gateshead increased rapidly.
As a result, the Ministry of Labour commissioned an investigation into local joblessness, with former serviceman and Conservative MP Captain D Euan Wallace concluding that the creation of a new trading estate would help to boost prosperity in the region.
By 1936, Team Valley had been selected as the ideal location for this new £2m estate, due to its close proximity to both the urban centres of Gateshead and Newcastle, and new road links for goods to be transported across the country.
Building work on the newlyformed Team Valley Trading Estate began right away, and on February 22, 1939, the estate was officially opened at a Royal ceremony attended by King George VI.
However, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the expansion of the site paused temporarily, with the land instead used to grow food as part of the important Land Army effort.
Team Valley was an important area for the North East’s war effort, with the Local Defence Volunteer Force – known today by its nickname Dad’s Army – using the estate’s roofs to watch the skies for German aircraft.
After fighting ended in 1945,
King George VI opens the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, February 22, 1939, and above, the estate pictured in 1960
scores of soldiers returned home, many of them determined to launch their own businesses and enterprises.
As a result, new factories and manufacturing companies formed to help rebuild post-war Britain, and over the next 20 years, Team Valley expanded rapidly.
By the mid-1960s, more than 16,000 workers were employed on the estate, with occupiers including popular menswear brand Lyle & Scott, the National Coal Board and advanced manufacturing firm Express Engineering.
The estate continues to go from strength to strength, even in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. It’s no secret that the region’s economy has taken a hit this year, but we’ve seen first-hand the resilience and adaptability of local businesses.
With a number of new developments scheduled to take shape over the coming years, Team Valley Trading Estate continues to reflect the strength and resilience of North East business, eight decades on.
■ Keith Taylor is managing director of UK Land Estates, which is this year celebrating its 30th anniversary. For more information, visit https://www.uklandestates. co.uk/