Tag: chester-le-street

What’s On? October Roundup

By on 1st October 2015in What's New?, What's On?

Haven’t picked up your copy of this month’s In & Around magazine yet?

Straight from the pages of the North East’s favourite monthly publication, here’s your handy guide to the region’s top events this month!

 

Every Tuesday
Local Food, Produce and Craft Market
South Causey Inn, County Durham
Support our local traders! Our resident band plays from 11am-1pm, great to listen to whilst you have a coffee and a scone. Purchase the best fruit and veg, speciality cheeses, locally sourced meats, gourmet pies, craft stalls, vintage items & antiques.

Tuesday 6th October
Durham Book Festival
Various Venues In And Around Durham City
The North East’s biggest book festival returns this October for twelve days of author talks and new commissions in Durham City and beyond. The festival brings big name authors to Durham, as well as celebrating our home-grown talent with a feast of inspiration and entertainment for curious minds.

Friday 9th October
Milky Way Night
Hamsterley Forest
There’ll be no moon, meaning dark skies! Come and see our very own galaxy stretched across the night sky. Tickets should be bought from the cafe in advance. £6 per ticket. In the event of poor weather, the event will go ahead indoors with a presentation and simulated stargazing. Food and drinks will be available at each event from the cafe. Remember to dress warmly!

Friday 16th – Sunday 18th October
Pickering Wartime & 1940s Weekend
Pickering
Pickering steps back in time to the Second World War. 1940s clothing, vehicles, music, and events take over for the weekend.

Saturday 17th October
Antarctica: Explorers, Heroes, Scientists
Palace Green Library
This winter, Palace Green Library’s Durham exhibitions consider the Polar Regions, focusing particularly on the discovery, exploration, and ongoing work taking place in Antarctica.

Saturday 24th October
Halloween Half Term
Hall Hill Farm
Are you brave enough to come to Hall Hill Farm between 24th and 31st October for a ghoulishly good time? Activities include making your own scarecrow, carving a pumpkin lantern, having your face painted, and seeing the puppet show, plus all the usual activities of donkey rides, tractor and trailer rides, and the Barrel Train. Also open 1st November 2015. There are small additional charges for pumpkins, donkey rides (£1.00), and the Barrel Train (£1).

Thursday 29th October
Lumley Castle Halloween Party
Lumley Castle
The evening includes a three course banquet feast and entertainment by the friendly Ghosts of Lumley. Fancy dress competition and a goody bag for all children attending. Dungeon Bar opens at 6.30pm, banquet at 7.00pm, and finishes at 10.30pm. Fancy dress encouraged!

Friday 30th October
Murder Mystery: Too Much At Stake
Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham
Join us for the 5th Annual dinner of the S.P.O.O.C (Society for the Preservation of Old Cinema) Horror Convention. Examine the crime scene and solve the clues as ‘Too Much at Stake’ is played out throughout the three course meal. Who has it in for one of the celebrity guests? Tickets are £35.00 per person. To book contact our Events Team on 0191 372 7200 or email events.durham@radissonblu.com.

Friday 30th October
Festival Of Remembrance
Empire Theatre, Consett
From 7pm in aid of The Poppy Appeal. Advanced Booking Advised, tickets are £1 each and are available from the Empire Theatre Box Office. Call 01207 218171.

Saturday 31st October
Grown Up Halloween
Crook Hall
Crook Hall, Durham City’s oldest and spookiest house, provides a perfect scary setting for what promises to be eerie evenings of frightening fun. Mulled wine, ginger cake and ghostly tales and appearances. £9.50 pre-booking essential.

Saturday 31st October
All Hallows In The Park
Auckland Castle
Mischievous tales of Bishop’s past and present mixed with local fables will play out along a riveting 45 minute trail meandering through the Castle’s parkland. Young performers from Jackass, Wolsingham and W.A.S.H. Youth Theatres have created a series of unique drama sketches that will be performed at 20 minute intervals throughout the evening. Plenty of layers, warm coats and walking shoes or wellies essential! BRING ALONG A TORCH TOO! A great way to enjoy a festive autumn night with stilt walkers and drumming too! Walks will start out from Auckland Castle’s coffee shop, with the first walk for families with children under 5 setting out from 5.30pm. Subsequent walks for all ages start from 6.30pm (approx. 6 in total). Tickets £4.

Two New Appointments At Lumley Castle Hotel

By on 30th September 2015in Local Biz, What's New?

One of the North East’s leading luxury hotels has strengthened its team with two new appointments.

Lumley Castle Hotel, Chester-le-Street, has welcomed Ashley Small to the position of Meeting and Events Manager, and Adele Lockey to the role of Meetings and Events Coordinator.

Ashley, 30, from Gosforth, Newcastle, brings more than 10 years experience in the hotel and event industries to the role, having held key sales positions with both Marriott and Holiday Inn.

She joins four-star Lumley Castle Hotel from Newcastle-based hotel booking agency Accommodations UK, where she looked after the Conference and Exhibition departments.

As well as consolidating 73-bedroom Lumley Castle Hotel’s reputation as one of the region’s favourite wedding and event venues, Ashley will be tasked with raising its profile within the business and leisure communities both regionally and nationally.

She will be supported in her role by Adele, 31, from Consett, who also has strong sales background having worked at De Vere Slaley Hall Hotel and, latterly, at Allout Adventures; an activity centre based in the Hexham hotel’s grounds.

“I am delighted to welcome both Ashley and Adele to the Lumley Castle Hotel team,” said General Manager, Christine Gott

“The hotel is unique in terms of the style and variety of its event spaces, which is why it is such a popular destination for everything from weddings and parties to conferences, gala dinners and meetings.

“I am confident that, not only will Ashley and Adele be able to consolidate its existing client base, but also expand it, by introducing the hotel to a whole new audience.”

For more information call 0191 389 1111 or visit www.lumleycastle.com.

Jak Inc MD Receives Goldman Sachs Award

By on 29th September 2015in Local Biz, What's New?

Managing Director of design & marketing agency Jak Inc, Andrew Knowles, has been awarded the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Award, following his involvement with the global investment banking firm’s entrepreneurial initiative.

 

Jak Inc, based on Station Road in Chester-le-Street, specialise in boosting the profiles of other small businesses, organisations, and events. Comprising a marketing agency and a print supplier, they are known for high-quality marketing campaigns, web design, and print products.

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative is an investment to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing greater access to education, capital, and business support services.

Andrew says, “I was extremely pleased to be accepted into the programme. It’s given me immense practical education, and the business support that every business leader needs to create opportunities.”

He goes on, “The programme arrived at a perfect time for Jak Inc, as I had just been made Managing Director, and I needed the extra support to take the business to the next level.”

 

Jak Inc is currently in its tenth year of operation, and is currently undergoing a period of expansion and great success. Making use of the Business Growth Plan developed under the supervision of the Goldman Sachs initiative, Andrew is taking the company from strength to strength.

“The award will take pride of place in my office, alongside the 32-page business plan. All of us in the company are aware of our shared vision, and we look forward to our future here with great anticipation.”

Recent Jak Inc work includes campaigns for a number of national charitable organisations, along with a great deal of local businesses in the North East region. You can keep up to date with their work by following the Jak Inc Blog, or visit their website for contact details.

Grandslam Madness: Suggs Spills The Beans

By on 16th September 2015in Entertainment, Music, What's New?

Gavin Martin catches up with Suggs, who says he and the band are very excited about the forthcoming tour…

 

GM: The summer is pretty well mapped out for you. Grandslam Madness is an outdoor tour, the likes of which have never been seen on these islands. How will you keep yourself match fit?

S: It’s like preparing for war. A war of fun, y’know? A war of fun and frolics but, unlike the Romans, we are going to unleash heaven. I have a suspicion that if I didn’t have a few tequila shots before I went onstage I wouldn’t be quite as lubricated in the joints. Tequila and orange juice is the secret of keeping those limbs loose! I suppose our rituals are now so ingrained that I don’t notice what the rest of the band are doing!

Plus, we can change the setlist nightly if we wish. The main thing is to keep it exciting for yourself. That’s the way to ensure the audience is kept excited too.

GM: How do you keep the feeling of it being fresh?

S: Traditionally, we don’t tour for months and months. We gave up on America, and they probably gave up on us. Touring for years on end is what drains the lifeblood out of a lot of acts that I see. Each tour we do, we try to make unique and special. This one’s special because no one has ever done something like this – as big as this – at sporting venues like this. It’s a Madness madcap idea and we know people will respond to it.

 

GM: I guess in the early days of travelling with Madness, the greeting wasn’t always warm, and as a band you must have felt rivalry similar to your football days.

S: There was few incidents. It was a very tribal time. Because there was seven of us and a few of our mates in a van, we would turn up to a town, word would go around, and all the local chaps would turn up thinking you were like something from football. We had a few incidents being chased – or indeed chasing – other people up and down the road outside venues.

GM: Are you looking forward to this tour?

S: Of course! It’s great to do something new. Something not done before. It really feels like a tour of the people in places where they can have fun – where we can have fun.

Get more Madness news on their official site.

Risk-Free Fundraising? Local Artist Has A Suggestion…

By on 10th September 2015in What's New?

Charities have been in the news a lot recently, though often for less-than savoury fundraising campaigns which bully old and vulnerable people out of their savings. So, I was pleased to hear about an arthritic 89-year-old pensioner by the name of David Hughes, who has come up with a novel way for charities to raise money whilst also giving something useful to the donor…

Jak Inc: Introducing Our £500 Small Business Grants

By on 8th September 2015in Local Biz, What's New?

 

According to the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills, as many as two million sole-traders and small companies missed out on £1.5bn sales in a single weekend last year. But yet, online retailers had their best year ever, as consumers spent £1 in every £4 online.

Jak Inc want to redress this balance by helping SMEs start selling online. We’re pledging £50,000 of web development grants for up to one hundred North East startups and small businesses.

To applicants, we’re offering a free one hour consultation, and a £500 grant towards the development of a Jak Inc e-commerce web shop. Only 100 places are available, and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Managing Director Andy Knowles says:

“We’re offering the Small Business Grant because we want to give small businesses an opportunity to globalise their brands. We’ve always championed the benefits of taking business online, and now we’re able to make those benefits achievable for everybody.

From our wealth of experience in digital marketing, we know just how big a difference an effective digital presence can make, so we’re keen to share that knowledge. It’ll be amazing to tell the stories of how we helped some really fantastic businesses reach their full potential.

I always sign off my own blog posts with the phrase ‘anything is possible’, and with the introduction of our Small Business Grant, it’s truer now than ever before.”

So if you’d like to take part in our Digital Revolution, book your consultation today! For more information, send an email to hello@jakinc.uk, or call us on 0191 3882 698.

Our Ts and Cs are as simple as can be:

  • Grant can only be used towards a Jak Inc e-commerce shop, or a website using an e-commerce element.
  • Maximum amount that can be attained is £500.
  • Maximum of one grant per customer.
  • Managing Director’s decision is final.
  • Grant offer may be withdrawn at any time without notice.

For more info on the exciting products, services, and opportunities that Jak Inc offer, subscribe to their blog!

You’ll get all of their latest news direct to your inbox, plus industry insider tips and tricks for everything marketing, design, and social media.

Plus, they’re on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Follow them!

 

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