Doxford International is a 125 acre (50 hectare) business park located at the A19 / A690 interchange on the outskirts of Sunderland, in the
North East of EnglandNorth-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Tees Valley. The historic name for North-East England is Northumbria and whilst a few regional bodies still use this name, it is rarely used in...
. Previously a
greenfield siteGreenfield land is a term used to describe a piece of previously undeveloped land, in a city or rural area, either currently used for agriculture or landscape design, or just left to nature. In contrast, brownfield land is an area that has previously been developed, such as the site of a gas...
, it was designated as an
Enterprise ZoneIn the United States, Urban Enterprise Zones , also known as Enterprise Zones, encourage development in blighted neighborhoods by offering entrepreneurs and investors tax and regulatory relief if they start businesses in the area. It is an area where companies can locate free of certain local,...
in 1990 in response to the decline of the area's former
ship buildingShipbuilding is the construction of ships. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history....
and
coal miningCoal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal. Coal that is used to create coke for steel manufacturing is referred to as coking or metallurgical coal...
industries. A partnership between
Sunderland City CouncilThe City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
and Goodman Property (formerly Akeler Developments Ltd.) has seen the creation of . (125,000 sq.m.) of high specification offices, with the private sector partner investing around £200 million.
Doxford International is a 125 acre (50 hectare) business park located at the A19 / A690 interchange on the outskirts of Sunderland, in the
North East of EnglandNorth-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Tees Valley. The historic name for North-East England is Northumbria and whilst a few regional bodies still use this name, it is rarely used in...
. Previously a
greenfield siteGreenfield land is a term used to describe a piece of previously undeveloped land, in a city or rural area, either currently used for agriculture or landscape design, or just left to nature. In contrast, brownfield land is an area that has previously been developed, such as the site of a gas...
, it was designated as an
Enterprise ZoneIn the United States, Urban Enterprise Zones , also known as Enterprise Zones, encourage development in blighted neighborhoods by offering entrepreneurs and investors tax and regulatory relief if they start businesses in the area. It is an area where companies can locate free of certain local,...
in 1990 in response to the decline of the area's former
ship buildingShipbuilding is the construction of ships. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history....
and
coal miningCoal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal. Coal that is used to create coke for steel manufacturing is referred to as coking or metallurgical coal...
industries. A partnership between
Sunderland City CouncilThe City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
and Goodman Property (formerly Akeler Developments Ltd.) has seen the creation of . (125,000 sq.m.) of high specification offices, with the private sector partner investing around £200 million. The first buildings were completed in 1992, providing accommodation for a range of businesses that have played a key role in the regeneration of the City.
At the entrance to the development stands the award winning sculpture Quintisection by the sculptor Robert Erskine FRBS. Standing 26 ft in height and 14.5 ft wide it is made in wrought stainless steel, and is based upon a huge cross-section of an ocean liner. Commissioned by Doxford International Business Park, Quintisection was awarded by the Royal British Society of Sculptors the Sir Otto Beit Award for the most outstanding public sculpture, world wide for the year 1993-4. Quintesection is the first landmark sculpture to mark the ship-building industry of the North East, a region whose communities are famous for 700 years of ship-building.
The availability of telecommunications and a skilled workforce has been instrumental in the success of Doxford International, which is now one of the UK's main locations for corporate HQs and contact centres serving the financial and customer service sectors. Around 8,000 people are now employed by a range of blue chip companies.
One business that located on Doxford International is mobile phone operator
T-MobileT-Mobile is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom and belongs to the FreeMove Business alliance.T-Mobile is a group of mobile phone corporate subsidiaries that operate GSM and UMTS networks in Europe and the United States. The T stands for Telekom. T-Mobile also has financial stakes in mobile operators...
, part of
Deutsche TelekomDeutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
, which has a customer support centre that now employs around 1,000 people. The site operates as a switching centre, underpinning the company's network between Leeds and Edinburgh.
Also on Doxford International, EDS has established a secure data centre. Citifinancial - part of the USA-based
CitiGroupCitigroup Inc. , is a major American financial services company based in New York, NY. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group on April 7, 1998.Citigroup Inc...
- was one of the businesses that has reinvested in Doxford International, with an expansion project that brought additional jobs to Sunderland.
CitiGroupCitigroup Inc. , is a major American financial services company based in New York, NY. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group on April 7, 1998.Citigroup Inc...
no longer have a presence at Doxford, leaving the site in 2009.
Doxford International has been at the forefront of developments in business property. For example, the award-winning . (3,600 sq.m.) Solar Building makes extensive use of photo-voltaic technology to minimise
energy consumptionEnergy consumption is the consumption of energy or power. It is covered in the following articles and categories:* World energy resources and consumption* Domestic energy consumption* Transportation energy consumption* Efficient energy use...
. The 25,500 sq ft (2,370 sq.m.) Regus Centre offers offices and meeting rooms, including
broadband accessBroadband Internet access, often shortened to just broadband, is a high data rate Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56k modem....
. The most recent development at Doxford International is Signature House, which was developed in 2007 to provide a new HQ for Wilcomm Homes, and incorporates speculative office suites for small businesses.
A specialist training facility operated by
City of Sunderland CollegeCity of Sunderland College is one of the largest Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges in the UK based in Sunderland.The college is a multi-centre establishment, with sites throughout North East England. The main centres of the College are the Bede Centre, Hylton Skills Campus, the Shiney Row...
known as the North East Contact Centre Academy is located among the businesses on the site, offering employer-led training in customer service, call handling and line-management, as well as technical skills such as administering
IP telephonyVoice over Internet Protocol is a general term for a family of transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over IP networks such as the Internet or other packet-switched networks...
and voice and data cabling.
EDF EnergyEDF Energy is a vertically integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, with operations spanning electricity generation, electricity distribution and the sale of gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the United Kingdom...
has based it's main contact centre at Doxford, originally trading at the site as London Electricity.
Doxford International has been developed to provide an attractive working environment for employees. As well as small retail outlets such as Greggs the bakers and a
SubWaySubway may refer to:* Subway, an underground rapid transit system also known as a metro, underground, T-bane, MRT , tube, or U-Bahn** For a list of individual subway systems, see the list of rapid transit systems...
outlet, the Sunderland Health & Racquet Club operated by Esporta provides leisure facilities. Whilst highways access is an asset for the site, there is also
public transportPublic transport comprises passenger transportation services which are available for use by the general public, as opposed to modes for private use such as automobiles or vehicles for hire.Public transport services are usually funded by fares charged to each passenger, with varying levels of subsidy...
, with buses reaching the heart of the business park.
Financial Services
- Barclays plc (UK, Banking)
- More Than (Royal & SunAlliance) (UK, Insurance)
- Northern Rock plc (UK, Banking)
Contact Centres
- 2Touch (Acxiom Corporation) (USA, Outsourcing Fulfilment)
- EDF Energy plc (France, Customer Service Centre)
- Royal Mail (UK, Contact Centre)
- T-Mobile (UK) Ltd. (Deutsche Telekom) (Germany, Customer Support Centre)
- Sunderland City Council (Local, Contact Centre / ICT)
Head Offices
- 4Projects (Local, Business Software)
- Arriva plc (Local, Public Transport)
- Desco (Design & Consultancy) Ltd. (Local, Consulting Engineers)
- Gentoo Group (Local, Property Development)
- Wilcomm Homes (Local, House Builder)
Other Companies
- Bowmer & Kirkland (UK, Contractor)
- EDS (Electronic Data Systems) (USA, Secure Data Centre)
- Manitowoc Cranes Group (USA, Mobile Cranes)
- Northern Gas Networks Ltd. (UK, Customer Service Centre)