Tees Business LIVE : November 2024
EVENTS
PICTURES : TOM BANKS
Tees Business LIVE : November 2024
THE BALLROOM , WYNYARD HALL
SPONSORED BY
Inward investment – the Tees Business LIVE panel consisted of ( from left ) Womble Bond Dickinson ’ s Peter Snaith , Sembcorp ’ s Gillian Baker , host Bob Cuffe MBE , Katmex ’ s Lee Cranston and Middlesbrough College ’ s Gary Potts .
THE BIG PICTURE
Business leaders name the Tees projects exciting them most
The massive SeAH Wind factory and the UK ’ s first decarbonised industrial cluster , Net Zero Teesside ( NZT ), have been hailed as “ incredibly exciting ” by business leaders .
Both developments were highlighted at the November Tees Business LIVE event – sponsored by law firm Womble Bond Dickinson – which was held at Wynyard Hall and saw an expert panel discuss inward investment on Teesside .
The discussion was hosted by Bob Cuffe MBE in his last event as non-executive director of Tees Business ( see pages 68- 69 ).
And for the panellists , SeAH and NZT stood out among a raft of exciting developments .
Peter Snaith , head of the manufacturing group at event sponsor Womble Bond Dickinson , said the SeAH monopile manufacturing facility was “ strikingly exciting ”.
SeAH ’ s £ 900m project on the former Redcar steelworks site now known as Teesworks is currently 90 % complete . The 40-metre-high building will see the production of up to four monopiles per year – the structures that form the foundations of offshore wind turbines . Peter told the meeting : “ I have a connection in that I did the contract for
the port for the handling of the last slab of steel that came out of the SSI steelworks , so it ’ s quite exciting that our team will do the first monopile to go out of the SeAH Wind Factory .
“ It is pretty exciting , especially when you see the scale of what they ’ re doing . Words can ’ t describe how big it is – it is absolutely huge .”
Lee Cranston , MD of Teesside steel fabricator Katmex , said SeAH could have a similarly beneficial effect on the supply chain that Nissan did for Sunderland .
He added : “ We ’ re very hopeful about the opportunities such inward investment will bring to ourselves and others to supply into the likes of SeAH Wind – and hopefully it will be the catalyst for others to join them and invest in the area .”
And with an eye on future technologies , Gary Potts , vice-principal for business , innovation and community partnerships at Middlesbrough College , felt Net Zero Teesside would be a “ game-changer ” – from the construction phase and beyond .
He said : “ I ’ m already involved in conversations with the combined authority , contractors and sub-contractors who ’ ll be involved in it , alongside other educational institutions , because we want to ensure the benefit for local people is maximised .
“ We don ’ t want to miss any opportunities the project is going to bring so we ’ re already thinking about what it can mean for apprenticeships – how many , what will they be , how will we provide them , how will we get new entrants into the project , what training do they need , when and how do we deliver it ?
“ Those conversations are starting early – we ’ re already thinking about how this significant project can get as many local people into jobs as it possibly can .”
And Gillian Baker , head of commercial – new business at Wilton-based energy company Sembcorp , admitted that of the many ambitious projects on Teesside , including various hydrogen schemes , NZT was probably the one that excited her most .
She said : “ If you look at the carbon capture and storage aspect , NZT represents the anchor project we need for the region to get connected to the Northern Endurance Partnership .
“ Once that ’ s here , it will bring a multitude of other projects that want to connect into CO2 pipelines and to come in and utilise CO2 as a feedstock for eFuels projects .
“ It becomes that anchor that establishes Teesside as a CO2 hub .”
Sponsorship opportunities for Tees Business LIVE events in 2025 are now available . For details , call 01642 450255 or email info @ teesbusiness . co . uk
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