Government minister visits innovators at County Durham’s North East Technology Park

The North East is becoming a leader in the global security and printable electronics sectors, a Government minister was told as he visited two firms based at County Durham’s North East Technology Park (NETPark).

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Industrial Strategy, Lord Prior of Brampton, met with PragmatIC and Kromek at the Sedgefield science park to hear more about the companies’ work.

On a tour of PragmatIC’s facility at the Centre for Process Innovation led COO Ken Williamson, Lord Prior heard how the firm’s designs feature in products ranging from the intelligent packaging of fast moving consumer goods to wireless document traceability for security and identification.

Later he visited Kromek, originally a Durham University spinout, where he saw how its technology is used in the security, nuclear and medical markets, including bottle scanners that enable airports to accurately classify liquids in less than 30 seconds.

Lord Prior also spoke with Sarah Slaven, interim MD of economic development company Business Durham, which runs NETPark for the county council.

Ms Slaven said: “Lord Prior was genuinely interested in the growing technology sector in the North East and what it has to offer the world in terms of innovation and problem solving.

“It was great for him to see first hand how two of NETPark’s companies are leading the way in the field of security and printable electronics.”