These first 3 months of Dome have flown by, they really have! I thought now would be a useful time to reflect on those first 3 months.
The business was established to provide a focussed and genuine value adding service to clients. I am delighted with the progress made in the first 3 months, but as with all things in life lessons are being learned every day.
Dome is providing project management services on two very exciting and diverse projects. At NETPark, Sedgefield we are working on behalf of Clear Futures to provide project management support to them in their strategic partnership with Durham County Council and Business Durham. The next phase of development at NETPark will see over 250,000 sq ft of flexible office / technology space developed for a variety of science and technology companies. The project achieved a significant milestone in March 2022, with the granting of planning consent for the next phase of works. We are currently out to tender and will shortly appoint a principal contractor to work with the project team and develop technical designs. We aim to start on site later this year, and this is a fantastic project to be part of with a wonderful design team led by Ryder Architecture, and a great client team.
We are also working very closely with South Tyneside Council who are seeking to address several issues including an increasing older population, greater social isolation and a limited amount of the correct tenure of residential accommodation across the borough. We are providing project management services on a crucial programme of works to help the Council identify and appoint a Registered Provider (RP) development partner to develop 3 new Extra Care facilities on Council owned sites. This project is a real eye opener in respect of the issues needing to be addressed. We are now out to tender for initial expressions of interest and expect to have a shortlist of RP’s to begin a focussed Competitive Dialogue process with over Summer 2022. We will help the Council appoint a development partner later this year.
Alongside delivering services on these fascinating projects lessons continue to be learned in areas all new business start-ups will no doubt be familiar with. I do not profess to being an expert – but I certainly know a great deal more about business planning, company registration, professional indemnity insurance, tax planning, shareholdings and accounting than I did this time last year!
There are exciting plans in the pipeline for the further development of the business, so watch this space! Many thanks to all those companies and individuals out there who have provided guidance and support on this journey – hopefully this is just the beginning………