In the business of adding value to County Durham companies

And, as a board member of Durham County Council’s business support service Business Durham, he is also well-placed to have a wider perspective on what’s needed to help local business through the latest economic storm.

Michael is more than a year into his tenure as CEO of business and tech consultancy Waterstons, and he can look back with pride at the way the business has continued to grow, despite the challenges created by the pandemic being immediately followed by soaring energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis.

“There are tough times ahead for lots of people, but there are also definite opportunities for Waterstons as an individual business, and for County Durham’s business community as a whole,” he says.

“We have a lot of clever people in this area, excellent facilities for businesses, and first-class transport links. It’s about building on what we have, investing in innovation, and maximising the research and development capability of our university.”

Waterstons is a shining example of a County Durham business that has prospered through a passionate policy of putting people first: developing lasting partnerships with clients that need technology-based solutions to help improve their performance; and taking an enlightened approach as a caring employer.

The company was founded by Sally and Mike Waterston, who started the business in the basement of their Durham home in 1994. The couple still live in the city and remain shareholders as well as non-executive directors.

The business now employs around 280 people, working flexibly at its headquarters at Aykley Heads, Durham, and sites in London, Glasgow and Sydney. It has recruited 65 additional staff since the start of the year and the ambition is to double in size over the next few years.

A big part of that recent growth has been around cyber security, largely driven by companies needing to adapt systems to give staff the option of working from home, and Michael believes that is a trend that will continue.

“Everything we do is aimed at adding value to our customers,” he says. “We never do work just for the sake of it, because we know that integrity builds trust, and we want to keep clients for the long-term.

“When it comes to how we treat our employees, we completely understand that people have a life outside work, so if their kids are ill for example, they drop everything because that’s their priority.”

Waterstons’ growth plans will be music to the ears of county council leader, Councillor Amanda Hopgood, who has placed job-creation at the top of the authority’s agenda, with an Inclusive Economic Strategy being developed as a foundation for securing further investment.

“Business Durham did a brilliant job in supporting companies of all sizes during the pandemic and that’s continuing in the face of fresh economic challenges because we have to be a place where existing businesses get the help they need to grow, and new businesses know that County Durham is a great place to invest.”

The county council has also submitted a bid to the Government to create an Investment Zone across two sites – NETPark, at Sedgefield, and Aykley Heads, in Durham City, although whether such zones will be announced is currently uncertain with reports, following the recent autumn statement, suggesting the programme may not proceed. In addition, the authority recently gave approval for the second phase of the Jade Business Park, at Murton, providing a further 550,000 sq ft of floorspace, with an additional seven units, and the potential to support 1,000 more jobs.

“These are world-class sites, which are helping County Durham to embrace the future, so that we can create more and better jobs,” says Councillor Hopgood.

The Inclusive Economic Strategy consulted the business community on shaping the priorities for the county, and Waterstons is fully supportive of the council’s collaborative approach: “Working together to develop talent and skills is the key if we are to play our part in levelling up across the country,” says Michael, who came to North East to study at Newcastle University and never left.

Born in London, and raised in Bristol, he started his career at Procter and Gamble’s shared services centre, in Newcastle, at a time when the company was centralising accounting and implementing a new IT system. He went on to undertake a similar role with Elementis, at Eaglescliffe, before joining Waterstons as an accountant in 2006. He rose to become Company Secretary and was then made Finance Director in 2011, before being appointed as chief executive in June 2021, and succeeding his predecessor, Susan Bell, on the Business Durham board.

“It’s good for us to have that wider perspective on the council’s plans but being on the Business Durham board also gives us a voice,” he says.

And he credits Business Durham with being a good listener, citing the example of the efforts that were made to keep Waterstons in Durham when it was looking to move on from its original location at Belmont Business Park.

“We were considering Sunderland and Newcastle, but we didn’t really want to leave Durham because our roots are here, and Business Durham bent over backwards to make us feel wanted,” he recalls.

The result was a relocation to Northumbria House, at Aykley Heads, in April, 2019, to mark the company’s 25th anniversary, and Michael is looking forward to the county council’s plans to develop the wider Aykley Heads site coming to fruition.

“It’ll be great to see more companies being brought onto the site, giving it a bigger feel and leading to spin-off businesses, such as cafes,” he says.

Michael would particularly like to see more technology companies being attracted to County Durham, arguing that as well as providing healthy competition, it would help to attract talent.

“There aren’t too many IT companies in Durham, and it’s hard to find people who not only have the right tech skills but are more rounded. Having a bigger cluster of companies from the sector would increase the talent pool, so we’d all benefit.”

For Michael Stirrup – as CEO of a progressive company and an influential voice on the board of Business Durham – it’s clearly about seeing the big picture.

• Business Durham is the sponsor of the Small/Medium Sized Company of the Year category at the County Durham Together Awards at Ramside Hall Hotel on December 8.