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Barnard Castle has the ‘vision’ to rekindle European link Barnard Castle is a town with a history going back to the Norman Conquest. The castle around which the town has grown up was built on land given by William Rufus, around the year 1093 to Guy de Baliol, who had come to England with William the Conqueror.

Today, more than 1,000 years on, there is a new “Barnard Castle Vision” which is rekindling those links with Northern France as well as The Netherlands.

“Barnard Castle Vision is a 20-year economic regeneration plan for the town,” said Anne Allen a member of the Barnard Castle Vision delivery team.

“We consider that the vision we have for the town is like standing in the Butter Market, one of the best known sites in the town, but looking outwards from it rather than the usual view which is towards the structure.

“The Vision is using a partnership approach, with One North East and Durham County Council the key players, to develop major capital and other projects to rejuvenate this historic market town.”

The new links with Europe came through a partnership with UK Trade & Investment. The Vision team commissioned an ‘Overseas Market Introduction Service’ (OMIS) report into three key European areas; France, The Netherlands and Germany. Now links have been established with the towns of Harfleur in France and Montfoort in The Netherlands.

The ‘French Connection’ for Barnard Castle is strong. Not because of the original castle but also because of John Bowes, builder of the Bowes Museum, who in the 19th Century journeyed to Paris, bought a theatre and married its leading lady Joséphine Coffin-Chevalier whom he brought back to the place of his birth.

Montfoort is a town of similar size to Barnard Castle close to Utrecht, which Anne Allen describes as being a little like Durham, but flatter!

“Barnard Castle is a traditional market town that now sees its market as global rather than just local,” said Anne.

“We are looking at our links with Montfoort and Harfleur to develop so that we can, for example, become part of an “invisible university” so that people here in Teesdale will be able to access higher education and job opportunities in France and The Netherlands as easily as they can in Teesdale or County Durham.

“We also see the use of Social Networking sites as important for linking not just young people in the three towns but also businesses looking to trade and network over a wider area. It is a little bit like bringing the old idea of pen friends into the 21st century digital age!”

Digital technology is another major area of work for the Vision and an early capital project will be the development of the “Digital Dale” which is looking to provide the next generation broadband coverage on wireless networks across Teesdale.

Also The Witham, an iconic building in the town is being refurbished to produce a conference centre which will be equipped with the lasted in digital technology, including simultaneous translations services and video conferencing facilities.

“Barnard Castle is about five years into its 20-year Vision project, our partners in France and The Netherlands also have similar ideas which they, too, are progressing,” said Anne.

“Over the next few years what we hope to start seeing is the ability of the three towns to work together on projects which will give us access to European Funding for more capital projects. The rules of this funding are that you need to have three partners in order to apply. With Barnard Castle, Montfoort and Harfleur we feel we have three strong partners which are keen to work together to help develop the links which have already been forged.”

For UK Trade & Investment working with Barnard Castle Vision has been a little out of the ordinary.

“Normally we are working with companies who are looking to export goods and services,” explained Geoff Charlesworth, an International Trade Adviser for UK Trade & Investment.

“OMIS reports are usually a means for companies to gain valuable information about potential export markets but in this case it allowed Barnard Castle to find like-minded partners in Europe.

“We are delighted that the early signs of success in these partnerships are starting to show and we hope that the UK Trade & Investment may be able to help in their future development.”

For more information about OMIS and the wide range of support services available through UK Trade & Investment to help your company succeed overseas call the North East International Trade Hotline on 0845 05 05 054 or email: enquiries@ukti.rito.co.uk.