New College Brand

Bishop Auckland College Group has announced a dynamic rebrand, marking a new era after more than 17 years with its previous logo.

New College Brand

The updated look reflects the College Group's evolution, encompassing Bishop Auckland College, South West Durham Training, Durham Gateway and Bishop Auckland College Nursery. The Group has worked in partnership with Durham-based marketing agency The Social Co to mark the start of a new era.

Shaun Hope, the College Group’s Principal and CEO, said: “It is exciting times at Bishop Auckland College Group. We have many new developments taking place. “Whether that is the transformation of the Grade II listed McIntyre Centre in the heart of town or our newly-proposed 3G football pitch and fitness suite, to go alongside the developments we have made in health and science, things are moving in the right direction.

“Such changes set the Group up for further improvements and we feel now is the right time to have a new brand to reflect that.” The previous brand for the Group was created in 2007 when the College moved into its new build on Woodhouse Lane and has remained the same since. Mr Hope said: “During those 17 years the College has moved from being a standalone further education college to a College Group. “As well as the College, the Group includes South West Durham Training, a specialist engineering provider, Durham Gateway, an alternative education provision for 14-16 year-olds, and Bishop Auckland College Nursery.” The new logo is designed to represent those four elements of the College Group and display continuity, regardless of whether you are associated with the College or one of its other arms.

The College’s traditional red remains part of the branding, but is no longer the primary colour, as a nod to the history of the town and the ‘blues’ Bishop Auckland is known for. That includes the two blues worn by Bishop Auckland Football Club, a strong partner of the College. The rebrand is the latest carried out by The Social Co, an award-winning social media and marketing agency that has worked with clients such as Newcastle United, Lusso and Hotel Indigo, among others.

Adam Dawson, Senior Graphic Designer at Social Co, said: “It has been a great experience working alongside the team at Bishop Auckland College Group to create the new brand guidelines. Giving us freedom on the project, as well as their input to get to a final stage of the new brand was an enjoyable process.” And Mr Hope added: “This is just the start of the rebranding process and how we will market ourselves to our current and future students. “Our new look reflects an exciting period for Bishop Auckland Group. I encourage people to come and see how our College is evolving to meet the demands of local and regional skills’ needs to provide opportunities for our students to make positive change through education and learning.”