Man calls for apology over airport naming dispute

Chris Joseph bought the naming rights to Teesside Airport in 2015

The man at the centre of a long-running airport naming rights saga has called for an apology from the Tees Valley mayor.

Chris Joseph and the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) have been in a years-long debate over the intellectual property rights to the name Teesside Airport.

Mr Joseph said he received threats of physical violence from the public due to the way Ben Houchen talked about him.

A Tees Valley mayor spokesperson said "the name was rightly changed to Teesside International Airport" in 2019.

Mr Joseph, who was raised in Stockton, bought the rights to the name Teesside Airport in 2015 when the site was still called Durham Tees Valley Airport and owned by Peel Group.

In 2019, the TVCA bought the airport for £40m. That same year, the TCVA made Mr Joseph two offers for his intellectual property rights to Teesside Airport.

The first offer was for £20,000 in March 2019, and the second offer was for £1 in July 2019.

Mr Joseph rejected both offers.

"They didn't even negotiate," he said.

The businessman had been seeking £250,000 for the rights. This led to Mr Houchen publicly saying Mr Joseph was holding Teessiders "to ransom".

'Threats'

Mr Joseph said the characterisation by Mr Houchen led to threats from the public.

“Everywhere I went, there were people screaming and shouting at me in my face,” he said. “Online, one person threatened to stab me."

“The people around me got very frightened,” he added.

Mr Joseph said he took a step back from the whole issue in 2019 to “alleviate the paranoia”.

In July 2019, the airport was unveiled with the name Teesside International Airport.

Legal action

Mr Joseph has reignited the debate in recent weeks, as time is running out for him to make a civil claim about the issue.

He has sent the TCVA a letter calling for £45,000 for his not-for-profit dispute resolution firm, as well as an apology from Mr Houchen for the distress Mr Joseph faced.

He said he was considering legal action if the TCVA did not negotiate a deal.

A spokesperson for the mayor said the name was changed to Teesside International Airport following "overwhelming public support" in summer 2019.

"We’ve seen the airport go from strength to strength since, with new flights, new businesses investing millions of pounds and creating good quality well paid jobs for local people," they said.