NETPark

Science park in County Durham, England

NETPark

Location of NETPark in County Durham

Address| NETPark, Sedgefield, County Durham, TS21 3FD
Coordinates| 54°40′13″N 01°27′03″W﻿ / ﻿54.67028°N 1.45083°W﻿ / 54.67028; -1.45083
Opening date| 2004; 21 years ago (2004)
Manager| Business Durham
Owner| Durham County Council
No. of tenants| 40 (2023)[1]
No. of workers| 700 (2023)[1]
Website| www.northeasttechnologypark.com

NETPark, or the North East Technology Park, is a British science park in Sedgefield, Durham. It is owned by Durham County Council and run by Business Durham, the business support service of the council, with strategic partners Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Durham University.[2]

NETPark hosts three national catapult centres: CPI was a founding partner of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult in 2011 and are joined by the North East Centre of Excellence for Satellite Applications and the Space Enterprise Lab NETPark, part of the Satellite Applications Catapult, and the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult North East. CPI also manages three national innovation centres at NETPark: the National Formulation Centre, the National Printable Electronics Centre and the National Healthcare Photonics Centre.[3] It is also home to Orbit, Durham University's enterprise zone, and the university's Centre for Advanced Instrumentation.

NETPark was opened in 2004 by the local Member of Parliament for Sedgefield and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair.

## History

[edit]

The Plexus sculpture at NETPark

The NETPark site, the former Winterton Hospital, was transferred from the National Health Service to Durham County Council in 2000, and the NETPark project was officially launched in May 2001 as a development by Durham County Council and Sedgefield Borough Council in partnership with Durham University, the National Health Service and the One NorthEast regional development agency.[4]

The first building, Durham University's NETPark Research Institute, was opened by Tony Blair in July 2004;[5] Blair returned in December 2005 to officially open the science park.[6] The first company – Kromek, a Durham University spin-out – then moved on-site in 2006, with other companies also moving in that year.[7]

In 2008, CPI started work on their first innovation centre at NETPark, the Printable Electronics Technology Centre (now the National Printable Electronics Centre).[8] Later that year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Durham County Council, Durham University and CPI to work together to grow NETPark, on the first piece of thin film to be produced at the centre.[9] The Printable Electronics Technology Centre officially opened in 2009.[10]

IN 2011, the High Value Manufacturing Catapult was established with CPI as one of the founding partners, bringing the first catapult centre to NETPark.[11] CPI's Graphene Applications Innovation Centre was opened in 2016.[12][13] In 2014, the Satellite Applications Catapult opened the North East Satellite Applications Centre of Excellence, one of three centres of excellence across the UK, at NETPark.[14][15] The National Formulation Centre was opened in 2018,[16] followed by the National Healthcare Photonics Centre in 2019.[17]

In 2021, Durham University's enterprise zone, Orbit, opened at NETPark.[18][19] This was followed a month later by the announcement that the Satellite Applications Catapult would be opening a Space Enterprise Lab at the park.[14][20]

Prince Charles (now King Charles) visited NETPark in April 2022, receiving a guided tour of the Kromek plant and unveiling a plaque to officially commission their 154-furnace Brinkman Cadmium Zinc Telluride Growth Facility.[21]

In 2023, the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult established its north-east centre at NETPark,[22] and work commenced on a £63 million expansion. This will open up another 10.5 hectares (26 acres) for development and is projected to support 1,250 new jobs.[23][1]

NETPark was named as part of the North East Investment Zone by the UK Government in 2024.[24] This included £11.3 million to support the phase 3 development.[25]

## Significant tenants

[edit]

* Durham University Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, which built some of the optics for the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRSpec instrument at NETPark[26]
* Filtronic, a maker of satellite communications, 5G and radar equipment[27]
* Kromek, a Durham University spin-out that is now a multinational company with US subsidiaries, making detectors used in airport scanners and nuclear security[28]
* PolyPhotonix, which makes photonic medical devices, having initially used CPI's facilities at NETPark to develop a commercially viable product[29]
* Pragmatic Semiconductor, a University of Manchester spin-out making flexible, non-silicon integrated circuits[30]

## See also

[edit]

* List of science parks in the United Kingdom

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "NET gains of County Durham science park expansion showcased to government minister". The Northern Echo. 14 September 2023.
2. ^ "NETPark". Retrieved 2 October 2023.
3. ^ "Our National Centres". CPI. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
4. ^ "Netpark safely off launch pad". Northern Echo. 10 May 2001.
5. ^ "Blair opens hi-tech development". BBC News. 23 July 2004.
6. ^ "Blair pays tribute to technology". BBC News. 23 December 2005.
7. ^ Graeme Whitfield (12 June 2015). "NETPark in Sedgefield is driving innovation in the North East". Chronicle Live.
8. ^ Sophie Walton (14 July 2023). "Impact in places". CPI. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
9. ^ Owen McAteer (14 October 2008). "Joining forces to expand major technology park". Northern Echo.
10. ^ "CPI launches Printable Electronics Technology Centre". CPI. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
11. ^ "Our history". High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
12. ^ "CPI and Business Durham Partnership Drives Innovationn". CPI. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
13. ^ Callum Bentley (16 February 2016). "New graphene development centre opens in County Durham". The Manufacturer.
14. ^ a b Joseph Christiansson (8 October 2021). "The Space Enterprise Lab Opens At NETPark, Sedgefield". Durham Magazine.
15. ^ "Space Enterprise Labs". Satellite Applications Catapult. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
16. ^ "The CPI's National Formulation Centre Opens". High Value Manufacturing Catapult. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
17. ^ "CPI Officially Launches National Healthcare Photonics Centre". High Value Manufacturing Catapult. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
18. ^ "Orbit opens new facility at NETPark". The Northern Echo. 7 September 2021.
19. ^ "New £1.4m enterprise zone at NETPark opens". Durham University. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
20. ^ Stephen Chapman (7 October 2021). "Three Space Enterprise Labs to open in North of England". Prolific North. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
21. ^ "Prince Charles visits Kromek's Sedgefield facility". The Northern Echo. 5 April 2022.
22. ^ "CSA Catapult to establish a presence in the North East". Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
23. ^ "The North East Technology Park (NetPark) Innovation District, Sedgefield". Business Durham. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
24. ^ "Investment Zones in England". Gov.UK. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
25. ^ "Two energy projects to receive £16.8m investment". Durham University. 6 December 2024.
26. ^ Ashley Barnard (16 November 2021). "Major investment for space technology for Durham University".
27. ^ Tom Keighley (21 September 2023). "Filtronic scoops latest satellite tech contract with global customer". Business Live.
28. ^ CBI Economics. "Case study: Kromek". Institute of Physics. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
29. ^ Katie Allen (16 March 2014). "UK inventors face fight to turn brilliant ideas into reality on factory floor". The Guardian.
30. ^ Jonathon Manning (21 December 2017). "Coup for Durham as university spin-out moves to NETPark and creates 20 jobs". Chronicle Live.

## External links

[edit]

* NETPark

*[No.]: Number