The Banks Group is a family owned energy and property development business headquartered in Durham, but working across Scotland and the North of England, established in 1976. The Banks Mining division is active in open-cast or surface coal mining. In 2012, Banks completed construction of Northumberlandia, a huge, award winning, land sculpture in the shape of a reclining female figure near Cramlington, Northumberland. Banks Group and the Blagdon Estate jointly financed the £2.5m cost of the work, as planning gain for Banks' adjacent open-cast Shotton Surface Mine, which was approved in 2007. The mine was approved in 2007 despite 2,500 objections and previous refusal by Blyth Valley Council.