A pioneering technology company at one of the region’s leading science parks has announced a major expansion.
Engineered graphene technology firm SEEDS will be moving into a new dedicated facility at NETPark, as part of Durham County Council’s £100 million expansion of the site.
Taking on the new unit will enable SEEDS to move from research development to commercial production, positioning the company to supply its advanced graphene technology to major international manufacturers across the global aerospace, energy, semiconductors, and automotive sectors.
The growth of industry leading science and technology companies like SEEDS has been enabled by the expansion of NETPark, which now offers an increased capacity of more than 285,000 square feet of flexible, high specification laboratory and advanced manufacturing space. With the expanded site now fully operational, it is expected to create 1,250 skilled jobs on site and contribute £625 million to the local economy over the next decade.
SEEDS’ growth reflects the strength of NETPark’s innovation. Working alongside the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), Durham University and the council’s business support service Business Durham, the company has transformed ground-breaking research into a commercially scalable process.
CPI has been a key partner in this journey, helping the company test and refine its ideas and providing the support needed to move SEEDS from early research into practical, scalable production.
The company’s partnership with Mitsui is also now helping to accelerate its commercial reach. SEEDS formally signed its agreement with Mitsui in November, and the collaboration is already enabling introductions to major microelectronics manufacturers and opening access to global markets that would otherwise take much longer to reach.