Heritage-led investment is set to create more than 420 jobs and pump £20m a year into a County Durham town.
The prediction comes from top accountancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) which has looked at the potential financial impact on Bishop Auckland of the combined £100m developments at Auckland Castle and the spectacular new Kynren by Eleven Arches open-air night show, which opened on 2 July.
The Field of Dreams report was commissioned by the charitable Auckland Castle Trust, which cares for the former Palace home of England’s only Prince Bishops.
It reveals that with the opening of the new Hitachi Rail Europe manufacturing and assembly plant at nearby Newton Aycliffe, this area of South Durham is currently benefitting from £340m in private sector regeneration – one of the largest investments of its kind currently underway in the UK.
Once the redevelopment of Auckland Castle and associated projects is complete, the EY report predicts it will put the tourist destination at the heart of a heritage-led investment corridor, which includes Durham Cathedral, Locomotion, Crook Hall, and the Beamish Open Air, Bowes and Killhope Mining Museums.
Other headline figures from the EY report presented include:
– £5m-plus total economic impact per annum on the local economy as a result of the changes to Auckland Castle alone
– 190,000 expected annual visitors to the Auckland Castle destinations by 2020 as a result of the multi-million pound investment
– 430,000-plus visitors annually by 2020 drawn by the combined Auckland Castle and Kynren by Eleven Arches projects and other improvements to Bishop Auckland
– 107-plus new full time posts and up to 320 additional indirect jobs created in Bishop Auckland as a result of the Auckland Castle projects
– 1,700 staff and volunteer training opportunities created in key areas by the Auckland Castle Trust’s developments
– 7,935 heritage skills and training opportunities produced as a result of the Auckland Castle Trust’s activities
This is the first time the expected economic impact on Bishop Auckland of the developments at the Castle and its associated projects has been weighed in this way.