Business owner Geoff Wallman praises community's generosity

Geoff Wallman was devastated when more than thirty years of work went up in flames in August last year.

The 45-year-old visited his rented unit at Newbiggin Hill Farm, near Hexham, locked up and noted 'nothing unusual' earlier that day.

The unit after the fire in August last year (Image: Geoff Wallman) "In the middle of the night, I got a call from the farmer whose unit it was to say there was a fire. We rushed over there and you could see the fire from a few miles away."

A spokesperson at the time from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service said six crews responded to the fire at 2.56am on August 19 2023, coming from Hexham, Allendale, and Prudhoe.

Everything in the unit was destroyed (Image: Geoff Wallman) Teams from Tyne & Wear Fire & Rescue Service and Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service assisted.

Geoff set up a GoFundMe page to help him and others with rented units affected by the blaze get back on their feet, raising around £5,000 and enabling him to keep his engineering business, Intelligen, afloat.

Intelligen's solar-powered, light electric vehicle charging stations (Image: Geoff Wallman) Intelligen's main focus is designing and manufacturing light electric vehicle charging stations for e-bikes, scooters and electric wheelchairs.

Geoff, who lives in Hexham, said thanks to the GoFundMe keeping the business going, Intelligen secured funding from Connected Places Catapult at the start of this year, to create zero-carbon, solar-powered charging stations in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Intelligen's powerpods at Carlton Marshes, Lowestoft, which charge light electric vehicles including ebikes (Image: Geoff Wallman) Intelligen, which is now based in Haltwhistle following the fire, has successfully hired three new people in the last two weeks and is building its charging network across the UK. 

Its next project is working with the NewcastleGateshead Initiative which is leading the tourism campaign, Destination North East England.

"The initiative is trying to encourage people to explore the [North East] region using active travel. We're putting in another network of zero-carbon stations from as far north as the Alnwick Garden down to the Quayside," Geoff said.

Visitors will get signposted to Intelligen's various charging stations and can explore the region sustainably.

"It will mean, probably more than any other region in the UK, that you can explore it all in a zero-carbon way." 

Geoff founded the business while studying for his PhD at Newcastle University in 2015.

"The idea was that Intelligen would look at providing energy solutions for the poorest in society, including refugees, displaced people or those suffering from natural disasters. We started off working for the National Grid, then Oxfam in Bangladesh," Geoff said.

Intelligen was nearly destroyed in the blaze in Hexham but received a 'huge amount of generosity' from the public, he said.

Geoff's unit contained tools, everything he used for his business and sentimental items he had collected since he was a child.

"There were tools I'd bought as a kid to things we'd invested in as a company, like CNC machines (computer numerical controlled machines).   

"I'm so grateful for what everybody did in Hexham and further afield to get us back on our feet."

Geoff said the donations raised by friends, neighbours and strangers allowed Intelligen to finish installing an electric vehicle charging project it had been working on at Vindolanda before the fire.

His work van, which contained all tools and equipment needed to complete the project, was destroyed in the blaze, stopping Intelligen from fulfilling its existing jobs.

"The fire stopped the whole business - everything we'd invested in and every tool we needed to carry on was completely destroyed. We lost all stock. The GoFundMe let me buy a drill again and solar panels to finish the Vindolanda project. We could not have carried on if it wasn't for the generosity of people. I'd spent all my savings and everything I owned to get the business running.

"I think we were just working up to a point where we were getting our charging stations out in the world and things were going well," he said.

He thanked everyone who has supported him in any way, particularly Emily MacDonald, Anthony Scott from Scott Automotive in Hexham, Julie Gibbon from the Haltwhistle Partnership and Chris Sharp. "Without them," Geoff said, "Intelligen wouldn't exist today.

"It did look like it was all over and there was nothing left," Geoff said, but people's generosity kept the business alive. 

"The dream is that there is a zero-carbon solar-powered travel network of charging stations for electric vehicles, which you can plug into one of our stations.

"I still can't quite believe a few months ago we started with a bag of donated tools and a table made from scaffolding, in an empty building thinking 'okay, what happens next?'

"From the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful to everyone who donated - just a huge thank you to everybody. So many people did so much, they don't even think they did. It made it manageable because it felt so huge at the time. 

"It's through that generosity and community spirit that still exists, in Hexham and along the Tyne Valley, that makes it such a special place. It's a wonderful place to be," Geoff added.