Member Article

Ebac’s Pamela Petty sees bright future in 'flourishing' Aycliffe businesses

Pamela Petty, managing director of Newton Aycliffe firm Ebac, which is bringing washing machine manufacturing back to the UK, is the latest business leader to highlight the positive vibe around Aycliffe Business Park, following recent developments.

Now Mrs Petty wants to see Aycliffe businesses shout about their successes at this year’s Make Your Mark event, an awards ceremony in November.

Hitachi Rail Europe officially opened its new £82m train-assembling factory in September, while construction of the new £10m University Technical College also started last month.

She said: “A lot of positive developments are happening in Newton Aycliffe. I’m not sure if that’s representative of what’s happening in the UK, or if there’s something really special going on in Aycliffe, but the park does seem to be flourishing.

“There’s a positive vibe and that seems to be breeding success. Businesses are coming in and there’s a real sense of growth. But we need to take care of the smaller businesses. That’s really important to me.”

She continued: “We’re a middle-sized business and we’re big and ugly enough to look after ourselves, almost wherever we’re based. But I think it’s important that we nurture some of the smaller businesses and help them in whatever way we can, because potentially they’re the big employers of tomorrow and they need to be able to grow and take on more people.”

Mrs Petty is vice-chair of the Aycliffe Business Park Community Steering Group, which is organising its second annual business awards event, Make Your Mark, at the Xcel Centre on Thursday November 26.

Ebac has won a number of awards in recent years, and Mrs Petty is urging businesses to get involved by nominating themselves and others for the 11 gongs which are up for grabs.

“What I like best about awards is that you can come back into the factory, and tell all the staff here that there’s recognition for all the hard work that we do,” she added.

“It’s nice for your customers, suppliers and bankers to see an independent voice saying how well you’re doing, rather than us telling them.

“It’s also nice to take a step back sometimes. We’re all faced with challenges every day. You focus a lot on your everyday business, so it’s good to just to take that step back once a year and give yourself a pat on the back.

“For us at Ebac, I’m really looking forward to next year, or the year after, when we will really be able to start shouting about our washing machines.

“Although we’ve already been recognised for a lot of the things that we do – we employ a lot of people and export a lot of goods – the washing machines have so far been all talk, it will be nice to get some recognition for actually selling washing machines in the near future.”