Kielder Community Enterprises Limited is the trading arm of Kielder Limited and was formed in November 2000. Kielder Limited is a Charity whose charitable aims are the well being and the maintaining of Kielder Village as a thriving community.

Garage

The company was tasked with the reopening of the Garage in Kielder in order to provide a service of petrol and diesel for the villagers. The need for this is because the nearest fuel is 18 miles away during the week and 30 miles away at the weekend. Thus this is an important and necessary service, especially for the elderly who do not get out of the village on a regular basis. The garage was purchased in 2001 and after complete renovation was opened for business in December 2001.

Sale of Outdoor Clothing and Equipment

This income stream is ideal as the area is well patronised by walkers and cyclists during the summer months. This income stream is run in conjunction with the Scottish outdoor company and id ideal in that the items are supplied on a sale or return basis and consequently are not paid for until they are sold. The company earns a commission on every sale and this has proved to be a significant income stream.

Transport

In addition there was a need for some form of public transport as the only public transport was the Post Bus (serving a route to Hexam every day but Sunday) and Snaiths school bus services. These services are very limited and there was a call within the village from the more senior villagers for better services (more extensive cover of area, particularly to Hawik). Consequently a Minibus was purchased and a regular bus service to Hawick and Bellingham was started in 2002. This has been successful in terms of passengers and is now regarded as an essential service for the village.

Local Property

The company has also taken on the running of Kielder Campsite on behalf of Forest Enterprise and whilst it is early days yet, this looks to be a significant and useful addition to the income of the company.

Also, with the help and co-operation of Tynedale Council, the company is managing on their behalf the six workshop units, recently built to provide local workspace for which it receives an annual fee.

Woodchip

The most fascinating project taken on by the company has been running and management of the district-heating scheme that has been installed in the village. This scheme by Tynedale Council in co-operation with the Forest Enterprise and KCEL is a renewable energy district heating scheme using an automatic self fed combustion boiler, fed automatically with wood chips from the felling waste from Forest Enterprises forest operations and providing a source of very hot water which can be pumped around the village. The initial scheme covers and provides heating for the six community houses, the workshop units, youth hostel, the school and Forest Enterprises Kielder Castle Visitor Centre. The scheme has now been running since August and the company is confident that once the initial startup problems have been solved it will contribute to the overall prosperity of KCEL.