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Categories: General

Making a difference with dynamic ways of working »

Thanks to our creative office space in Darlington, our business community often feel inspired to find more dynamic ways of working. Only a few days ago, we held a great neighbourhood catch up with colleagues where ideas simply buzzed around!

Spring is making its presence felt at Lingfield

It’s not only our unique office space that can provide inspiration, we’re based within 107-acres of land brimming with art and  leisure. Mature gardens exist with picnic areas allowing our 2000+ employees  to feel closer to nature.

Always looking for how we can improve our customer experience, we joined forces with Integritas Landscapes last year.  Celebrating our first year anniversary of this unique partnership, we can honestly say this union has provided us with bucket loads of ideas helping creating our sustainable landscape of the future.

Outsourcing support of this nature is always a dilemma but we’ve been able to integrate new ideas with the knowledge of our existing team; introduce new techniques which build on our specialist knowledge of the unique gardens and land around the business park.

We see all our relationships as partnerships.  In this instance, the value Integritas has provided from ideas – bolting onto existing knowledge – has been great fun and we know that our customers will certainly be benefiting from the excitement created here.

Congratulations Colin!

With ideas come excitement and motivation and none more so than at Lingfield Point.  Colin Hinde,  our grounds maintenance professional has achieved his NVQ level 2 in horticulture through our partnership.  As part of the NVQ course Colin also undertook a first aid course and his Pa1 and Pa6 for pesticide handling and application.   We’re really proud of both our relationship with Integritas and Colin’s achievements – something we could never have delivered without Integritas Landscapes.

The maintenance and landscaping of our 107-acre neighbourhood is in safe hands which has allowed us time to think more creatively about our customer needs.

We love creating an atmosphere where our customers can relax; work and play.  This Summer, we’ll be introducing a wide range of trails around the park; masterclasses based around horticulture and even lawn games – thanks to the blossoming unique partnership between Integritas Landscapes and Lingfield Point.

 

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Categories: General

Plans now on show for exciting new phase of development at Lingfield Point »

Marchday, owners of Lingfield Point, welcomed Taylor Wimpey and leading architects, John R Paley Associates to canteen where plans for the first phase of residential development have been unveiled.

Exciting new homes proposed at Lingfield Point

Plans for the development of 270 homes in the first phase of the exciting £100million masterplan have now gone on show at Lingfield Point.  This first phase of homes will form part of 1,200 homes, sports facilities, a school, health services and plenty of green space for the local community to enjoy.

John Orchard, director of Marchday, said “This is the first phase of making the masterplan happen and it’s really exciting.  We want the new homes to be family-friendly and to use the lessons learned from some of the best housing schemes in Europe. Most people agree that we’ve created some outstanding office buildings at Lingfield Point, now we intend to create some truly outstanding homes too.”

Andrew Paley, from the team of architects supporting Taylor Wimpey said that the development team had visited similar projects in places as far away as Malmo in Sweden for design and inspiration.  The team want space between the homes to be as important as the buildings and added “This is not just a housing estate – the neighbourhood deserves its own character and we looked across Europe to see how we could improve life at home and build it into the plans at Lingfield Point.

“Its not often that the developer is involved in a scheme where design is such a high priority; it’s very exciting to be part it” said Andrew.

We couldn’t agree more!

To see plans for the first phase of our new neighbourhood, pop into canteen at Lingfield Point where plans are on show until 3 August or log onto www.jrpassoc.co.uk to view and comment.

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Categories: General

Cycling Back in Time »

  

IT was a trip back to the 1940s and 50s when a former Patons and Baldwins employee returned to Lingfield Point, Darlington.

For the first time in over 50 years Rose-Marie Taylor visited the site for a tour of the buildings and a trip down memory lane.

Now a mixed use community and business park the 107 acre site was once the home to Patons and Baldwins, Europe’s largest wool manufacturing plant.

Rose-Marie Newton, as she was then known, joined Patons and Baldwins in 1947 at the age of 14 as a filing clerk. She worked her way up the ranks, first promoted to ordering and invoicing, then production planning and finally to cost control.

Rose-Marie married her fiancé John Taylor in 1953 and carried on working at Lingfield Point until 1956 when she left to start her family.

Now widowed Rose-Marie, 78,continues to live in Darlington, the town she has lived in all her life and where she raised her children Christopher, now 55, Anthony, now 51 and Louise, 48.

The trip back to Lingfield Point brought back memories for Rose-Marie of her time working at Lingfield Point. “It was a fantastic trip back in time and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

“It was really impressive to see what they’d done to Lingfield Point, particularly to the Beehive. Beehive was where all the dances were held. But I only went to a couple of them because my fiancé was in the RAF and I didn’t like to go without him.

“What was really interesting was just how many of the original things were still there. I worked in Lingfield House and remembered the beautiful staircase and clock. And they’re both still there. We used to walk in, look up at the clock every morning and then dash up the stairs to clock-in on time!

“All around the place there are pictures of how it used to be, the factory and all the activities we used to do.

“It looks like a really lovely place to work.”

Rose-Marie was joined on her trip by her lifelong friend Dorothy Bolton, nee Oliver. The pair met in the 1950s when they were both working in the offices at Lingfield Point and have been friends ever since.

A photo of Rose-Marie and Dorothy cycling through Lingfield Point in the 1950s often appears in historical references to the town and is used around Lingfield Point to show the spirit of that era. But Rose can’t even remember it being taken.

She said: “I knew there was an old picture of us being used to show the history of Darlington and Lingfield Point but at the time all those years ago I didn’t even realise it was being taken – we were more focused on getting home at the end of the day!”

Rose-Marie’s family connection to Lingfield Point continues 63 years after she first joined Patons and Baldwins. Charlie Taylor, Rose’s granddaughter by her daughter Louise works for the Student Loans Company at Lingfield Point.

Charlie Taylor, 25 from Darlington said: “My gran’s often told me stories of her time at Lingfield Point so I was thrilled that she came back. The funny thing is that just like my gran I often have to dash in to work to clock-in. Some things must be in the genes!”

Eddie Humphries, estates manager at Lingfield Point said: “it was a real delight to show Rose and Dorothy around Lingfield Point. It’s not everyday that we have someone visit who knows more about the place than me!

“They were thrilled to see that we have stayed true to Patons and Baldwins and recycled the buildings in to spaces that businesses can use today.

“And of course the family tradition continues, with Charlie working here. Who knows, the Taylor’s could be here for generations!”

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