Our Durham Story continues to gain momentum as partners from across the county gathered for the fourth Durham Champions meeting at Auckland Tower.
The event, which took place on Wednesday, 29 April, brought together ambassadors committed to sharing the Durham Story, in an exciting new ‘Team Durham’ approach to raising the county’s profile and appeal with key audiences for economic success.
A key focus of the event was some of the exciting developments and projects taking place across the county, hearing first-hand from speakers who are leading them, and and sharing insight into their work and how collaboration is key to driving success across the county.
Lisa Mullen, Interim Cluster Manager at Space North East England, opened the session by highlighting the region’s rapidly growing space sector. Based at NETPark, a leading science park based at Sedgefield, the initiative is bringing together businesses, academia and institutions to drive innovation and collaboration. Lisa’s presentation demonstrated how the county is playing a key role in the UK’s space ambitions, creating high-value jobs and positioning the region as a centre for cutting-edge research and development.
Next, Michelle Gorman, Managing Director at Visit County Durham, shared insight into the strength and evolution of the county’s visitor economy. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Visit County Durham continues to lead on destination management and is recognised as one of the first Local Visitor Economy Partnerships accredited by VisitEngland. Her update highlighted the importance of partnership working, strong storytelling and strategic promotion, which has resulted in the value of the county’s visitor economy doubling since the inception of Visit County Durham in 2006.
The final speaker, Anna Warnecke, Chief Executive Officer at 11Arches, inspired attendees with an update on the future of cultural attractions in Bishop Auckland. Having played a key role in the success of Kynren, Anna shared an update on Kynren: The Storied Lands, a bold and ambitious new day park set to be unlike anything else in the UK. Her presentation reinforced the role of culture-led regeneration and communities in transforming places and driving long-term economic impact.
Shaun Hope, Principal & Chief Executive of Bishop Auckland college hosted the event and said: What really stands out from today’s meeting is the passion people have for the county. From space innovation at NETPark to world-class culture in Bishop Auckland, there’s so much happening here and when we come together as Durham Champions, we can amplify that story even further. It’s all about collaboration – working together for the prosperity of the place, which in turn will create further opportunities for our residents and young people, and build pride in the place they call home.” The Durham Champions programme places people at its heart, empowering stakeholders from across sectors to become advocates for the county. As the session closed, attendees were encouraged to continue spreading the word, using #OurDurhamStory on social channels, to help further build the county’s image, identity and reputation as a great place to live, work, invest, visit and study.
The next Durham Champions meeting will take place in July, with further details to be announced soon.
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