Partner Article

Employment park to create 7,000 jobs

PLANS for a new employment park in the North East could create up to 7,000 jobs in the region.

The proposed site would be built near Junction 61 of the A1 by First Industrial Developments and will span 540 acres.

The employment park would become one of the UK’s largest and would consist of a business park, hotels, offices and a rail freight interchange.

There are also plans for houses to be built at the site and talks are already underway with Taylor Wimpey.

Durham County Council’s Stuart Timmiss said that the employment park was still at the discussion stage but that the council were working with the developers ’to secure long-term sustainable jobs for Durham.

Graduates from all of the major campuses in the North East would stand to benefit from any new Durham graduate jobs that the employment park would create.

Managing director of First Industrial, Matthew Byrom, said: “With a catchment of over 2.4 million people within a 20-minute drive time, the location should appeal to occupiers seeking a quality workforce.

Our aspiration is that the park will support a new generation of business that will not only re-energise the local economy, but also offer quality jobs to graduates from the region’s five major universities.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .