Contribution to Business

LINGFIELD POINT
Nominated by Derek Ross, deputy chief executive, Student Loans Company

IN 2001, the redevelopment of the former home of Paton and Baldwins woolmanufacturing factory was little more than a proposal on paper.

Less than a decade on, it is the thriving site of one of the region’s premier business parks.

The business estate houses a number of companies over its vast array of buildings, including award-winning designs.

As well as office space, there is a nursery, art space, and Futurescope, a huge public art project erected on the side of the building last summer.

Last year, Marchday Group Plc was also given approval to use 80 acres of land for an ecovillage including housing, a school, offices and shops.

Nominator Derek Ross says: “Marchday has brought a progressive attitude to dealing with occupiers, leading to increasing employment opportunities.

“They have decided that to be successful, Lingfield Point has to be plugged into the community, and they have provided support and leadership into local debates around sustainability and the economic outlook for Darlington and the Tees Valley.

“Their ambitious plans for the development of a sustainable community at the Lingfield Point site demonstrate their visionary commitment to the prosperity of the people of Darlington.”

GALLERINA
Nominated by Steve Pratt, The Northern Echo

AFTER a career in photography and as owner of a picture framing business, Richard Hindle opened Gallerina in 1998 in a small shop in Duke Street.

Three years later, the art gallery had trebled in size to three Victorian town houses.

Richard, who had been born and raised in Darlington, was moved to tears on opening day by the cards, presents and wishes he had received from clients. Gallerina displays art from across the world, but also helps to promote more local work.

Its commitment to the art world has not only earned Gallerina a reputation locally and nationally but now on an international scale.

It led to a feature on BBC2’s The Culture Show for its part in the Arts Council’s Own Art Scheme promoting people to build up their own art collection.

Nominator Steve Pratt says: “It’s great that Gallerina has been bringing art to the high street with the declared intention of making art affordable and accessible to all.

“Gallerina’s inviting, informal, exhibition space features an ever-changing collection of contemporary fine art, painting, prints, ceramics and glass by a variety of artists from this country and abroad.”

HARRISON EXTERNAL DISPLAY SYSTEMS
Nominated by Mike Toyne, Darlington Borough Council chief executive’s department for regeneration

AT the London 2012 Olympics, all eyes will be on the world’s elite athletes, but one family-run Darlington business will know it has played its own little part.

Harrison External Display Systems is the country’s biggest flagpole producer making more than 15,000 a year, many for the US, Middle East and across Europe.

Previous commissions have included the Proms in the Park, the Tour de France and the football World Cup.

In 2012, Harrison will be supplying flagpoles for the Olympics flag-raising ceremony when it will unveil its unique fan-powered flagpoles for the first time. The company was founded in 1969. It employs 40 people in Darlington – a number that will double when a plant in Sri Lanka is closed to return work to the North-East. Adrian Harrison, managing director, says: “It’s fantastic to inject the work back to the local community.

“We are defying the recession to see strong growth and are doing this by adapting to clients’ changing needs.”