Serving the Teesside Business Community | 7
/NEWS
Semborp’s UKPR deal gives the Tees
firm an additional capacity of over
1,000 megawatts in the UK, where it
currently supplies energy, centralised
utilities and services to industrial
firms on Teesside.
BUSINESS BITES
AWARDS FOR TEES LEADERS
Sembcorp acquires UK’s largest energy
generator for £216m
S
embcorp Industries has reached an
agreement to acquire the business
and assets of Solihull-based UK
Power Reserve (UKPR), the UK’s
largest flexible distributed energy generator,
for £216m.
The deal gives Sembcorp an additional
capacity of over 1,000 megawatts (MW) in
the UK, where it currently supplies energy,
centralised utilities and services to industrial
firms on Teesside.
UKPR’s highly-flexible distributed energy
generating assets are spread across 32
locations in England and Wales and comprise
533MW in operation with a further 480MW
in construction and development expected to
come online by 2019.
They include small-scale, fast-ramping
power generation units and the development
of 120MW of rapid response battery storage
– one of the biggest portfolios in Europe.
The move gives Sembcorp an important
foothold in distributed energy generation
– the fastest-growing sector in the UK
power market – and also strengthens its UK
merchant energy capabilities.
The addition of UKPR to Sembcorp’s
UK portfolio will create a strong integrated
energy business, poised for further growth.
UKPR’s merchant energy capabilities,
together with Sembcorp’s existing business
on Teesside, will allow Sembcorp to better
meet the needs of a fast-changing energy
market.
Nomi Ahmad, head of Sembcorp’s UK
utilities business, said: “This deepens
our presence in the UK considerably and
provides major opportunities for further
expansion.
“UKPR and Sembcorp’s existing Teesside
business will form a strong integrated
energy business in the UK, combining
centralised services at Wilton with multiple
flexible assets across the country along with
expertise across the full spectrum of UK
energy markets.”
Sembcorp UK currently has 210MW of
generation capacity at Wilton International
industrial site, comprising combined heat
and power, steam power and renewable
generation to service energy-intensive
industrial and commercial customers.
Sembcorp UK is also seeking planning
approval to develop two combined cycle gas
turbine units of up to 1,700MW at Wilton.
“We are committed to supporting the UK’s
power needs in line with Government policy
and the acquisition of UKPR does exactly
that, as would our proposed new power
station on Teesside, if approved,” added
Ahmad.
Sam Wither, UKPR’s current chief
commercial officer, who is taking over as
head of UKPR, said: “Sembcorp’s coming on
board as UKPR’s key shareholder is a vote of
confidence in our company and team.”
ARE YOU PREPARED TO FACE THE MEDIA?
M
edia interview training courses run by
Tees Business co-editor Dave Allan have
won praise from Middlesbrough Council.
Two of Teesside’s biggest companies, who
between them employ around 1,300 local
people, have previously hired Middlesbrough-
based DNA PR & Publicity to freshen up
the media interview skills of their senior
management team.
Having already run two courses for PD
Ports, Dave – assisted by his Tees Business
co-editor Martin Walker – is set to run a third
course for chemical giant SABIC, following
a recent success with newly appointed
managers within Middlesbrough Council’s
Economic Growth management team.
Debbie Ingoldsby, the council’s investment
and growth manager, said: “The training was
excellent.
Media interview training - DNA’s Dave Allan.
“It was relaxed and informal and, whilst
we were all nervous from the outset, Dave’s
easy-going and professional approach made
it a really enjoyable and worthwhile training
session.”
For more details about DNA’s media
training courses, contact Dave on 07711
02500 or email [email protected].
Steve Cochrane, founder of the iconic
Tees fashion retailer Psyche, was awarded
the MBE for his services to the economy
and regeneration in Middlesbrough in the
Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Jim French, PD Ports’ director of
portcentric logistics and former Road
Haulage Association chairman, was also
awarded the MBE for services to young
people in the transport industry.
DIGITAL BOOST FOR NINE
Nine new digital businesses are being
developed in the Tees Valley, thanks to the
support of DigitalCity.
The latest cohort of innovative
businesses on the DigitalCity Fellowship
Accelerator includes a social enterprise
games studio, a vlogging platform, an
online revision tool and a drone company.
The Fellowship Accelerator is designed
for early-stage digital tech companies who
have been trading for less than 12 months.
STOCKTON BUCKS
NATIONAL TREND
Stockton town centre bucked the national
trend last year with shop openings
outstripping closures, a new report has
revealed.
And the report, from the Local Data
Company, found Stockton was the only
town centre in the North-East to see a
positive net change.
The report comes just 16 months after
Stockton High Street was crowned the
‘Rising Star’ of the Great British High
Street of the Year Awards.
EXPORTS UP 6.2%
North-East exports of goods rose by 6.2%
to £13bn for the year ending March 2018,
compared to the previous 12 months,
according to the latest HMRC figures.
The national picture shows that exports
of goods from England increased by 6.5%
to £ £244.6bn.
The figures for the first quarter of 2018
(Jan-March) show that the North-East is
home to more than 2,000 exporters, an
increase of 4.3% when compared to the
first quarter of 2017, with an average value
per exporter of £1.6m.
Such is the global success of fashion
boutique Psyche that online sales are
expected to outstrip sales at its flagship
Middlesbrough store when it launches its
new US website later this year. Annual
turnover is now approaching £9m.
#TalkingUpTeesside