You’ve heard these names before. Four property developers who stitched up a deal to take over Teesside’s steelworks regeneration programme and pocketed £126mn in profits. But that was just for starters.
One for you, two for me
If you don’t know the millionaires behind the Teesworks scheme, the names are:
In a series of articles, I’m going to describe the activities of the Gang of Four, and their incessant drive for wealth accumulation. How this drive is translated into an unending search for the next property deal, and how a weak planning system allows them to get their way when it comes to development proposals.
Martin Corney
I’m going to start with Martin Corney. He is the driving force behind Skerningham Garden Village (SGV), a gargantuan plan to build 4,500 homes in 1,200 acres of countryside north east of Darlington. This is a view of Skerningham woods from the historic Ketton Bridge over the river Skerne:
The long game
The SGV project has been a long game for Martin Corney, dating back to at least 2001. But Darlington Council will soon decide on the planning application for SGV. But first, a bit of background on Martin Corney:
Media Profile
Unlike his Teesworks Joint Venture (JV) partner Chris Musgrave, Martin Corney keeps a low media profile. Musgrave has his own website; Corney doesn’t. However, since the publication of the Tees Valley Review into Teesworks’ activities, Corney has appeared in more of the company’s promotional work. He now appears as part of “Team Teesworks” on the company website.
Companies House
Corney has two profiles on the Companies House register. Why would somebody have two profiles on Companies House? Who can tell? Between these two profiles, Martin Corney lists 51 appointments. These fall into two main categories, housing developments and industrial property.
House building mania
Corney’s first Companies House profile lists 29 appointments, mainly related to housing developments in partnership with his stepfather, Ian Waller. Most of these companies feature variations on the Theakston Land/ Estates theme. For example, in 2019 Theakston Land successfully overturned a planning refusal by Redcar and Cleveland Council to build 400 houses in Normanby. Over in Yarm, Theakston Estates Ltd had a similar success when the Planning Inspectorate overturned a decision by Stockton Borough Council to refuse a 300-home development in 2021.
Who lives in a house like this?
Waller’s address, an enormous 19th Century villa known as Southlands in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton-on-Tees, appears frequently as the correspondence address for Martin Corney’s companies. The other frequently-occurring address is Martin Corney’s own mansion Elstob Hall, a Grade II listed building at Great Stainton, near Darlington. Elstob Hall is about three miles from Martin Corney’s former residence at Skerningham Manor, which was put up for sale in January 2023. Skerningham Manor can be seen in this April 2026 photo:
Chris Musgrave
Martin Corney’s second Companies House profile lists 22 appointments, mainly related to joint venture partnerships with Chris Musgrave. These focus on their cash machine, Teesworks Limited and their longer term plan for Teesside Airport business park. There are nine appointments related to Teesworks activities and four related to Teesside Airport. Corney has extracted at least £44.8mn in profits from Teesworks, as detailed here.
Teesside Airport Business Park
In March 2020, a month after the Teesworks Joint Venture was approved by the TVCA, another one was approved for Teesside Airport Business Park. Tees Valley Mayor Ben ‘Electric Arc’ Houchen had already arranged a loan of £23.6mn from the TVCA to the business park in December 2019, Teesside International Airport Ltd would enter into a joint venture with business partners Theakston Land Ltd (Martin Corney) and Wynyard Business Park Ltd (Chris Musgrave).
How many jobs, Mr Mayor?
At the time that the business park loan was granted, Ben Houchen’s press release spoke of 4,400 jobs to be generated there. As of April 2026, the park has one tenant, vehicle repairer ABL 1Touch, employing about 20 people. Houchen’s inflated job promises are notorious, but this one was particularly egregious. Bizarrely, ABL 1 Touch’s website says that its Teesside Airport outlet is located in Middlesbrough. I won’t be asking them to fix my SatNav.
Bad and doubtful debt
Despite the business park loan having been advanced more than six years ago, no repayments have been made. The outstanding balance on this loan, as of April 2026, is £27.2mn. This loan will almost certainly never be repaid, with the public purse bearing 100% of the cost of the write-off. The usual terms and conditions will apply: It won’t cost the two property multi-millionaires a penny.
Long term planning
A ten-year business plan for the Teesside Airport was agreed in 2019, so it’s due to expire in 2029. The plan contains a contingency in case the airport fails. As of April 2026, the airport owes the TVCA £158mn in respect of its main loan. The airport has never been paid any interest on this loan. The TVCA’s Interim Group Director of Finance and Resources, Jo Moore, has just set aside a £26.4mn bad debt provision in respect of these interest payments. Just as with the business park, both the capital and interest on the main airport loan are likely to be written off at some stage. Who will bear the cost of this? Yes, you got it.
Profit and Loss Account
In December 2025, Ben Houchen declared that Teesside Airport had made a £1.1mn profit in the financial year 2024/25:
Loss Account
However, finance chief Jo Moore has since admitted that a grant payment of £10.1mn shouldn’t have been counted as operating income. So, in fact, the airport made a loss of £9mn in 2024/25.
So what happens in 2029?
A report from JK Property Consultants, commissioned as part of the 2019 business plan, noted that ‘the client has indicated that, if (the airport) is not successful, land can be developed for housing in the character of a Garden Village’. Bingo – I bet it can. One thing that would help in the development of a garden village would be a separate road entrance to the airport. And this is exactly what has happened. The original plan was that entry to the business park would be via the existing road network within the airport. But, as built, the new road, Mynarski Way, links directly from the A67 to the business park. Footpaths are optional on Mynarski Way:
Digging for victory
The idea of a garden village is always music to the ears of prolific house-builder Martin Corney. He’s been working on an even bigger one only four miles away since the turn of the century. That’s Skerningham Garden Village (SGV), of course. In the next article, I’ll begin the story of the twists and turns of SGV as it heads towards possible approval by Darlington Borough Council. I’ll start with the saga of the Darlington Northern Link Road, and its intricate connection to the SGV project.
