NEWS
£ 90M TEES QUAY WILL BUILD WORLD ’ S BIGGEST WIND FARMS
Plans have been unveiled to develop
a new £ 90m quay at South Bank on the River Tees to help make Teesside the UK ’ s premier offshore wind location .
The new South Bank Quay will completely transform a 1km area along the river , providing global firms with direct access into the heart of 500 acres of development land , and thousands more across the wider Teesworks site , straight from the North Sea .
The quay , which will support 100 jobs in the construction phase , will provide access from the Tees to the 4.5m sq ft of manufacturing , storage and office space on
Awards were a turning point , reveals Tees charity head
Few who were present will
forget the outpouring of emotion as Cath Devereux collected her trophy at the 2019 Tees Businesswomen Awards .
She says it was a turning point for the charity set up in memory of her muchmissed husband .
Cath won the Inspiring Others category in recognition of her work with the Russ Devereux Headlight Project , a charity she
South Bank , which is hoped could be used for the production of offshore wind turbines for some of the biggest wind farms in the world , strengthening Teesside ’ s position as the UK leader in clean energy .
Work is due to begin in August 2021 , with completion expected by the end of 2022 , in time for exporting wind turbines to the Dogger Bank Wind Farm , which will become the world ’ s largest offshore wind farm .
Phase one will see 450m of the new quay facility built at one of the deepest ports along the east coast . The second phase of works will see an additional 600m of quay being developed .
set up to honour her late husband , who tragically took his own life in May 2018 .
Cath ’ s business , Devereux Consulting Employment Law & HR , is sponsoring the champagne at this year ’ s awards , which this time will be held virtually .
See pages 14-19 for more about the 2020 Tees Businesswomen Awards .
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
While the year 2020 will
be forever remembered as one of the worst in history , we have to take heart in the fact there is light at the end of the tunnel .
Covid-19 has been an emotional rollercoaster for everyone – from a business point of view , but also largely on a personal level .
Some of our business naturally paused at the start of the first lockdown . We had to furlough 24 of our staff , which was one of the hardest things I ’ ve ever had to do . It was really tough .
Work gradually started coming back online and we limped through the lockdown with skeleton staff .
We eventually brought everyone back in the summer , and our commercial and residential work over the last quarter has never been busier .
Our staff have been a huge credit to the business . Everyone has something going on in their lives – nobody has been untouched by the virus – but our staff have risen to the challenge , and it has at times lifted team spirit .
Covid-19 has taught us all many lessons , for good and bad . I ’ m a very social person and around the end of the year I ’ ll go to two or three corporate functions a week . Not having to go to all of those – and some of them I miss dearly – has given me time to reflect , and enjoy more family time at home .
It has also given us all time to sit back , look our businesses , explore ways to broaden our horizons and to diversify .
There will be tough times ahead with an ongoing recession , but there isn ’ t a lot we can do , other than to keep working hard , focus on the positives and keep reminding ourselves there ’ ll be better times ahead .
We at Punch Robson wish all businesses across the Tees Valley a healthy and prosperous 2021 .
Elaine McLaine-Wood Managing partner , Punch Robson Solicitors
The voice of business in the Tees region | 11