Member Article

County Durham business centre strengthened with three new tenants

A County Durham business centre has welcomed a range of new companies to its high-quality office complex within the last 15 months.

Since early 2020, three businesses have taken units at St Stephen’s Court in Willington, Crook, which is managed by Business Durham, the business support service for Durham County Council.

The companies who have all now moved into their units at St Stephen’s Court include online furniture store Rightworx Ltd, plumbing and heating engineers Buston & Maughan Ltd and high-performance loudspeaker brand Kudos Audio Design.

Rightworx Ltd, which also occupies an industrial unit at Harvey Court, Low Willington, is planning to develop on land in the area as part of their expansion plans. The company is using its offices at St Stephen’s Court for its contact centre.

Buston & Maughan Ltd, which supplies high-quality, full-service heating and plumbing solutions across the North East, took up office space in March 2020 after previously being a Business Durham tenant at Crook Business Centre.

Kudos Audio Ltd is one of the fastest growing high-performance loudspeaker brands in the UK. It designs and makes its hand-built loudspeakers in its industrial space at Harvey Court, Low Willington. The firm required additional space for its sister company Kudos Audio Design in November 2020 and is using its unit at St Stephen’s Court as a demonstration and design suite for its products.

Derek Gilligan , managing director at Kudos Audio said: “St Stephen’s Court was the ideal choice for us being a modern and pleasant location to bring our international clients to and has the added benefit of being adjacent to our main factory.”

St Stephen’s Court opened 13 years ago, and provides quality, modern office space for small and medium sized businesses. Nine companies from a range of sectors occupy the building’s 14 units, which range from 678 – 1163 sq ft.

As Business Durham tenants, each of the companies will be supported by its experienced business development managers and will be able to apply for a number of support programmes to help discover new opportunities.

Sarah Slaven, interim Managing Director of Business Durham, said: “We’re delighted with the latest lettings at St Stephen’s Court, which are testament to its many strengths including the semi-rural location, the high quality of its office space and its value for money rental rates. It is the perfect location for small and medium sized businesses to grow and thrive.

“We pride ourselves in working with all our tenants to understand their needs and to connect them to other support and services from Business Durham, the wider council and business support providers across the county. Our Business Engagement team works closely with businesses across the county to help them identify opportunities which can enable them to develop products or services and expand into new markets.

“We are also committed to continually investing in property portfolio in the area including the recently refurbished Crook Business Centre to help create a stronger, thriving, successful and sustainable business community.”

Cllr Elizabeth Scott, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: “It is great to see that three local independent businesses have settled into St Stephen’s Court and are using this excellent space to grow and expand their business opportunities.

“We are committed to helping local traders thrive within their market which in turn helps to boost and support our county’s economy. The team at Business Durham provide a high level of support and a range of services tailored to help local entrepreneurs meet their business aspirations.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellie Lyall .