Serving the Teesside Business Community | 7
/NEWS
SNF Oil & Gas has spent more than seven years
redeveloping the 60-acre former ICI site in a project that
has secured more than 100 jobs to date.
BUSINESS BITES
TEESPORT’S FINE FINNISH
Teesport has been awarded Terminal
Operator of the Year by Finnish shipping
and logistics group Containerships.
It’s only the third time they have
recognised a terminal and PD Ports’
Teesport follows on from awards to St
Petersburg and Klaipeda in 2016 and 2017
respectively.
Containerships and PD Ports have
been working together for more than 40
years and this latest award recognises
their commitment to service levels and
productivity at Teesport.
£100m inv estment gets former ICI site
geared up for manufacturing
A
new emulsion polymer production
plant has come online in Billingham,
after a £100m investment to prepare
the former ICI chemical site for its first phase
of manufacturing.
Polyacrylamide specialist SNF Oil &
Gas has spent more than seven years
redeveloping the 60-acre site in a project that
has secured more than 100 jobs to date.
This first phase of construction has centred
on the redevelopment of two thirds of the
brownfield site.
The first of three lines in the main
production building is now operational with
future lines set to focus on products for
application in the North Sea.
A production facility for bio-acrylamide –
the main building block in every SNF polymer
– will also be online by the end of 2018.
SNF’s laboratory, control room, warehouse,
gatehouse, tanker bays and office facilities
have already been completed.
As a subsidiary of French-headquartered
SNF Group – the world leader in
polyacrylamide technology – SNF is an
established player in the chemicals industry.
But the new site marks the team’s first
venture into UK-based manufacturing.
“Billingham represents a significant
expansion to SNF’s production capabilities in
Europe and signifies a key strategic decision
to support our growth plans,” said SNF’s
operations director Andy Helliwell.
“A UK manufacturing presence provides
greater supply chain security, shorter lead
times, cost savings and reduced carbon
footprint benefits to our clients in this
country.
“Given the high propensity of talented
labour in the local area, and Teesside’s
rich chemical heritage, the development
of this site made perfect business sense.
We’re looking forward to cementing our
manufacturing presence here.”
The project was aided greatly by the
support of Stockton Council and the
Government’s Regional Growth Fund.
As a group, SNF has more than 300,000
clients in 130 countries worldwide. With six
primary factories and a further 23 industrial
sites, the company has dual manufacturing
capabilities on each of its operational
continents and employs more than 5,000
people.
WEEK-LONG CELEBRATION OF LOCAL FOOD
M
iddlesbrough’s annual celebration of
the best of local dining returns this
May, with a variety of special menus
and prices to tempt diners.
Restaurant Week 2018, which runs from
Monday May 7 to Sunday May 13, is set to
be the biggest yet, offering more choices and
better value than ever before.
There’s an offer to suit all tastes, from the
finest ‘Frenglish’ at Bistrot Pierre to Japanese
at Umi, and Italian at firm family favourite Al
Forno.
In addition to celebrating the exciting food
offer currently available in Middlesbrough,
Restaurant Week encourages diners to
try something new whilst supporting local
business, driving footfall to the town centre
and surrounding areas.
Other local businesses such as bars and
pubs may wish to provide a complementary
offer during the week – these can be
promoted through Love Middlesbrough social
media accounts by emailing marketing@
middlesbrough.gov.uk.
For more information, please visit www.
lovemiddlesbrough.com/restaurantweek
NICE GIG FOR BIG NASTY
A tech start-up founded by Teesside
University graduates has signed a major
contract to develop an innovative digital
sales platform for a multinational chemicals
company.
Big Nasty Studios successfully pitched
to win a contract to work with paint and
performance coatings manufacturer
AkzoNobel NV to design an app to
showcase the company’s specialty
chemicals used to prevent fouling on boats
and marine structures.
Big Nasty Studios was formed with
the help of a DigitalCity Fellowship and
is based in Teesside Launchpad, the
university’s start-up incubator.
BESPOKE GROWTH
A pioneering Tees-based mortgage and
protection specialist has celebrated its
rise to become one of the region’s leading
financial firms just three years after
starting.
From a standing start in 2014, Bespoke
Financial Services is now ranked in the top
10 of the First Complete group’s UK-wide
network of around 800 firms.
Bespoke, who moved from
Middlesbrough to Stockton’s Gloucester
House last year as they continued their
rapid expansion, is already the network’s
number one operation across the north of
England.
Currently under construction, Sirius
Minerals’ £2bn polyhalite mine on the
North York Moors near Whitby is one of the
largest of its type in the world. Once up
and running, the mineral will be transported
to Teesside via an underground tunnel for
processing at Wilton before exporting from
a River Tees harbour site at Bran Sands.
#TalkingUpTeesside