More than 100 jobs were saved after a County Durham dairy packaging business was bought out of administration.
Administrators were called in last months to iTEC Packaging, which has operations in both Chester-le-Street and Mansfield, employing more than 200 people across the two bases, which makes packaging for major food manufacturers and distributors across the UK and Europe. Latest accounts from iTEC Packaging (Chester-Le-Street) Limited, covering 2021, show how the business was significantly impacted by the pandemic – and was then excluded from a major group deal.
The accounts for iTEC Packaging – previously called Paccor UK Limited – covering 2021 show how its losses widened from £2.9m to £7.4m as the pandemic continued to have a significant impact on activity levels. The accounts also detail how shareholder Lindsay Goldberg had signed an agreement to sell Paccor Group in a major deal to Danish group Faerch, but that the UK business was not part of the deal.
Read more: £4m invested into Tyne Dock Enterprise Park
A Newcastle company is aiming to transform organ transplant procedures across the world, aided by a £1.5m boost in funding to drive its pioneering technology.
ScubaTx Limited is a pioneering healthcare spin-out from Newcastle University and Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, whose prototype organ transportation device extends the time that human organs are viable for. The kit could ultimately revolutionise the global organ transplant system and ScubaTx is now looking to enhance its designs and develop its device following the funding, which includes investment led by the GMC Life Sciences Fund by Praetura and grant funding from Innovate UK.
ScubaTx is looking to obtain the permissions to sell its products worldwide, with a specific focus on the UK, US and mainland Europe – with an initial eye on pancreatic procedures for patients with diabetes. Founded in 2020, ScubaTx’s device taps into tech called ‘persufflation’ to deliver advanced organ preservation.
A North East business for patients dealing with hair loss through illness has been named the sole supplier to deliver the service to hospitals across the region. Founded by hairdresser Nicola Wood, The Wonderful Wig company is the exclusive supplier of wigs to hospitals in Durham, Darlington, North Tees and Hartlepool. Ms Wood, who was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2016, set up the firm in 2018 after she saw that existing hair loss services were limited on the NHS, with high-quality wigs only available to those with the means to pay for them.
After winning an initial tender in Sunderland, the business has gone on to be been named on the supplier list to NHS hospitals and trusts, including Newcastle, Northumberland, Gateshead and South Tyneside, as well the latest deal that extends services within the region. The business, based in Ouseburn, Newcastle, has grown from one to 21 team members spread across five sites and its efforts have positively impacted over 10,000 individuals, with 1,200 of those being children.
Ms Wood said: said: “After extensive research nationwide, I noticed that good quality hair loss services were not readily available to people on the NHS, and quality provision was usually reserved for those who could pay privately. In the beginning, I dedicated a lot of time to hair loss training and understanding the tender process to apply to support hospitals across the North East of England, so I am delighted that it has paid off."
County Durham digital marketing professional Shane Parkins is aiming to build on the fast start he has made to running his own business with the help of a five-figure investment.
Shane Parkins set up his agency in Shildon 18 months ago, using his own name as the company name, after spending 14 years working in a number of North East agency and in-house roles. He and his team provide search engine optimisation, pay-per-click and related digital marketing services to a range of clients both across the UK and overseas.
He has now worked with regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers to obtain the £20,000 investment from the North East Small Loan Fund, which is being used to bring in the resources needed to manage growing client demand. Three staff have already been taken on, with further jobs expected to be created as the business grows. The firm is on track to hit his target of breaking the £1m turnover barrier within five years.
Mr Parkins said: “Our growth has been based around using the SEO services that we provide ourselves, which are bringing in significant numbers of new leads and which demonstrate the measurable impact that we could have on potential clients’ marketing activity.
“We’re passionate about doing the best possible job for our clients, which feeds into the ongoing relationships that we’re building with many of them and which in turn underpins our commercial success. This investment gives us the resources we need to bring in the staff required to manage growing client demand and is allowing us to give young people from our area the training they need to begin to build their own careers in our industry.
Newcastle biotech firm HexisLab has secured significant funding to develop its work manufacturing sustainable ingredients for the cosmetics, personal care and pharmaceutical industries.
HexisLab, which is based in the Catalyst building at Newcastle Helix, has been awarded £490,000 from Innovate UK as part of a collaboration with Teesside University and BiBerChem Research. Together, they will develop HexisLab's research in creating environmentally friendly ingredients as alternatives to synthetic or animal-derived products.
The firm brings together scientific expertise and technology, including its artificial intelligent (AI) discovery platform, HexisPro.X, to create its own products and deliver contract research for global brands. Its process can rapidly identify novel sustainable ingredients, reducing the time and cost of developing a new product, particularly for the skincare industry.
Dr Olusola (Sola) Idowu, founder and CEO of HexisLab, said: "We are thrilled to have secured this funding from Innovate UK, which will enable us to further advance our research into sustainable ingredients using synthetic biology. This collaboration with Teesside University, led by associate professor Dr M. Safwan Akram, an expert in synthetic biology and BiBerChem Research, led by Prof Bernard Golding, a synthetic organic chemist, brings together our complementary strengths and expertise, and we are excited to see the results of our joint efforts in this important area."
Prominent seaside hotel The Sea Hotel has been sold out of administration after racking up debts of nearly £2m.
The Sea Hotel in South Shields had been put up for sale with a £1.65m price tag last year following the business' collapse in the summer of 2022. Since then, the venue, which had been owned by The One Collection Leisure Ltd - previously part of the failed Newcastle-based High Street Group of companies - has been traded by administrators at RSM who say losses of £117,000 are likely to have been incurred since their appointment.
Now, the venue has been sold for an as yet undisclosed sum to Yorkshire-based Resource Medical (UK) Limited, which runs a number of hotels and a pharmacy business. The firm has plans to invest and continue running the 34-bedroom hotel, which includes a restaurant, bar and self-contained function room, and underwent a £750,000 upgrade in 2018.
RSM said a "small number" of redundancies among the hotel's 95-strong team had been necessary to reduce costs. A core team of staff had been retained to keep the venue running as real estate specialists Colliers were brought in to market it to prospective buyers.
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