The current copy of Private Eye magazine, Edition No.1665, contains a story about Phil Forster, the managing director of Teesside Airport, and his recent involvement with a local property company.
Conflict of Interest
In addition to running the publicly owned airport, Forster is also on the books of Michael Flacks, an investor who tried to buy the airport in 2024. Flacks also owns 500 acres of land at Urlay Nook, on the edge of the airport,
Company news
The property company in question is Eaglescliffe Land Development Ltd. It’s worth a closer look. It was founded as Elementis Eaglescliffe Limited on 10 July 2023, but there has been a flurry of activity recently:
New directors
On 14 October 2025, one of the directors and the company secretary resigned. Dunja Simic took over as a director and Claudia Arjona became company secretary. Both are Croatian, but they are based at Flacks Group headquarters at 1450 Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida.
Change of name
The company name was changed to Eaglescliffe Land Development Ltd on 3 November. On the same day, Elementis Uk Limited ceased as a “person with significant control” to be replaced by Eaglescliffe Industrial Property Llc. The latter is a limited liability company, based at Flacks Group headquarters in Miami.
Phil comes aboard
Phil Forster was appointed as a director of Eaglescliffe Land on 18 November 2025. Forster and Dunja Simic are the only directors of the company. According to Private Eye, Forster was also made “senior advisor, UK environmental opportunities” at the Flacks Group.
Change of address
The registered address of the company was changed on 9 December. The new address is given as Long Newton Land, Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, LS22 0QG. There are two problems with this address. That should read Long Newton Lane, not Land. The prefix to the postcode would indicate a Leeds address, but the postcode itself doesn’t exist. The correct postcode is TS16 0QG. I’ve notified Companies House of this sloppy work.
Staying put
The previous registered address was The Bindery, 51-53 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8HN. That’s genuine. “Bindery” is a reference to Faber & Faber publishers, who are based on the ground floor. Despite being based in Florida, Dunja Simic and Claudia Arjona list The Bindery as their correspondence address.
Coming to America
Private Eye reported that Phil Forster recently flew to Florida on a private jet. The flight was courtesy of an aviation company based at Teesside Airport. Fortunately, a family holiday coincided with an important business meeting in Florida.
Elementis
The Flacks Group created a splash on Teesside in March 2024, when it announced plans to develop the 500-acre former Elementis industrial site. The site, formerly known as British Chrome & Chemicals, is located at Urlay Nook, between Stockton and Teesside Airport. Michael Flacks made his bid to buy Teesside airport two months later.
Everything but the kitchen sink
Flacks Group says that “it is developing a plan for the (Elementis) site which includes the creation of mixed-use spaces, residential and commercial areas, revitalization of green space and delivering of renewable energy projects suitable for the 21st century.”
Toxic legacy
The company buys “often where assets are financially distressed or carry legacy issues such as chemical spills, abandoned hazardous waste, asbestos, or other contamination”. In a March 2024 interview with the Northern Echo, company CEO Michael Flacks confirmed that a small portion of the Urlay Nook site was still contaminated with chromium.
Amazon?
The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), provided some sparse information at the time of Flacks’ announcement: “In 2019 the site received approval of a reserved matters planning application for 450,000 sq ft”. In his newspaper interview, Michael Flacks mentioned the possibility of an Amazon warehouse.
But the details remain vague
However, the investment type, timeframe and project value are still to be confirmed. Flacks Group hasn’t yet applied to the local authority, Stockton-on-Tees Council, for planning permission,
Financial burden
Meanwhile, just over on the other side of the A67, Teesside Airport continues to lose money. It is now in debt to the TVCA to the tune of £155mn. It has never repaid any of its loans, and £26.8mn in interest is unlikely to be repaid. This will probably be written off as bad debt.
Slow take off
In March 2023, Tees Valley Monitor reported on a prediction from consultants ICF on the future of the airport. The prediction contained three scenarios. The most optimistic of these included the setting up of an airport base by a major low-cost carrier (LCC) such as Ryanair. This has not happened. But, even without a LCC, the ICF was predicting 357,000 annual passengers in 2025 in its next best scenario. The latest figures from the Civil Aviation Authority reveal an annual rolling total of just 257,000.
Plan B
Tees Valley Monitor also reported on another plan, this one from JK Property Consultants. “Plan B” will come into effect if the airport fails to turn around its fortunes by 2029. It’s closer than you think. Plan B entails the sale of the airport land for housing, more specifically a garden village. One of the airport joint venture partners, Martin Corney, has got form on this. He’s already trying to build a garden village at Skerningham Woods on the edge of Darlington, about 5 miles away from the airport.
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It could happen here
So, if Flacks Group completes the remediation of the Urlay Nook site, could it ditch the idea of an Amazon warehouse and plump for a third garden village between Darlington and Stockton? Property development is a topsy turvy world.
The definition of insanity…
Meanwhile, 70 miles south of Teesside Airport, nothing has been learned about wasting money on failing airports. Doncaster Council and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) have just agreed to spend £193mn between them on reopening their local airport. Once known as Robin Hood Airport, it closed in 2022 after all but one of the operators pulled out.
This looks familiar
There are similarities between Teesside and Doncaster airports. Both are former RAF bases, and both have been managed by the Peel Group. The group still owns Doncaster airport, and will be leasing it to the new operators. The company intends to build 1,400 homes on the edge of the airport. This option isn’t available at Teesside. Peel sold the majority of its stake to the TVCA in 2018 for £40mn. Neither airport has ever flourished. Doncaster experienced a 1.4mn peak in passenger numbers in 2019. Teesside peaked at 918,000 users in 2006.
Left behind
The Social Mobility Commission has just cited Doncaster as one of the “left-behind” communities of Britain, blighted by 50 years of deindustrialisation. One in four of the children live in poverty. Doncaster residents must be questioning the wisdom of handing more cash over to poor destitute souls such as Michael O’Leary. If I was the airport operator, I’d avoid the “Robin Hood” name tag this time.
Thanks to James Waterson for contributing to this article
