IN this era of austerity and financial cutbacks, the prospect of a substantial pot of money from the Government to empower a town, city or specified area is not to be sniffed at, writes Rachel Anderson

of the NECC.

The Tees Valley City Deal secured £12million allocated directly and a further £22m worth of programmes.

Spearheaded by the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership, it was a fantastic achievement with success being attributed to the bid focusing on regional strengths and opportunities presented by newer industries like green energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

City Deal provides a freedom from Government red tape for investment, it has empowered the area to not only recognise potential opportunities, but to seize on them and nurture and develop them into industries that could one day provide our economic bedrock.

It is particularly important for businesses involved in the manufacture of chemicals, the development of renewables and the ground-breaking work being carried out in the Tees Valley in biologics. City Deal will provide a tremendous amount of support to the process sector, a major contributor to the North East’s exporting performance, and help organisations such as the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) to bring new products and processes to market.

Teesside incredibly well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by CCS. City Deal will help take it forward and will hopefully have the knock-on benefits of using excess heat for complementary industries, which would make production on the Tees much cheaper and more attractive to new investment – a major plus for the energy intensive companies in the area.

However, it is not just our manufacturing businesses that will feel the benefit. Construction should also see a hefty rise in the development of potential new industrial sites, with City Deal providing a degree of planning certainty and the ability of local authorities to push ahead with development rather than see projects held up in regulatory purgatory. This speed of movement is seen as being key to attracting foreign investors.

And all of these things are just the “big picture” projects – the important knock-on effects will be felt throughout the regional supply chain with jobs and training places being created, particularly in high-end manufacturing.

The Tees Valley demonstrated with its winning bid that it could work together for the greater good of the area. By carrying on in this vein, we have the potential to demonstrate to the Government just what we can do with a little independence.