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Serving the Teesside Business Community | 7
BUSINESS BITES
£ 70M REFINERY AND 100 JOBS BOOST Teesside has been chosen by Australian company Peak Resources as the preferred location for a £ 70 million investment in a rare earth refinery following a global search.
Based on the Wilton International site near Redcar, the proposal is for a refinery, which expects to start production in 2019, to create around 100 new jobs.
The product will ultimately be used in a range of products, including mobile phones, wind turbines and for the automotive sector.
FIRMS URGED TO SIGN UP FOR FULLY-FUNDED STEM INITIATIVE
Employers in the Tees Valley and North- East are being invited by a national campaign to open their doors to schools to help tackle the current UK STEM skills crisis by offering students an insight into the world of work.
Your Life, the government-backed STEM( Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) campaign, is looking for volunteer companies across the region to host inspirational school trips for local students.
Your Life’ s ambition is to increase the number of students studying Maths and Physics at A Level by opening their eyes to the variety of career opportunities in the future that these subjects will unlock.
Research indicates that more than 50 % of teenagers across the North-East have never had an interaction with a STEM employer.
The campaign’ s Best School Trip initiative helps to raise awareness of career opportunities in STEM and links skills to subjects, therefore assisting the current skills gap. After attending, 84 % of students say they would now consider taking Maths A Level and 74 % Physics.
Best School Trips are designed and delivered to offer young people first-hand experience of the STEM career possibilities available in their local area as well as offer businesses the chance to engage with their future workforce and forge lasting links with local schools.
Your Life fully funds the initiative making it free of charge for businesses and schools.
Your Life’ s communications director Toby Hicks:“ Seeing the world of work first hand can have a transformative impact on future possibilities for young people.
“ Research shows that the more employer encounters the students have, the more prepared they are for their working life.
“ We know that there is a challenge in the North-East to get more students into businesses.”
He added:“ The good news is that we can help tackle this issue working with businesses across the region. Best School Trips are‘ resource-light’ for host companies, with us managing the process from start to finish. Who knows, you could have the chance to meet your future CEO?”
For more information please contact the team on: info @ yourlife. org. uk, 0207 243 9321 or go to yourlife. org. uk
David Robinson to leave Teesport for new role
One of the most high-profile business personalities on Teesside is leaving the region for a new role.
PD Ports CEO David Robinson is to become director of operations for the port’ s parent company, Brookfield.
Robinson, who was the cover feature in the Winter 2016 issue of Tees Business, has also been named chairman of PD Ports.
PD Ports has also revealed two promotions to the board as well as changes to the senior executive structure.
Frans Calje will take over as CEO, with full responsibility for leading the overall performance of the business with and through the executive and management teams, reporting to chief operating officer Roberto Marcogliese.
Jerry Hopkinson, who along with the other senior executives will report to Calje, will become chief operations officer and vice chairman.
POUNDWORLD OPENS NEW TEES STORE Poundworld, one of the UK’ s leading value variety retailers, has opened a brand new store in Middlesbrough town centre, creating up to 15 new jobs.
The 4,700 sq ft store, in the Cleveland Centre, will replace the company’ s existing store on Linthorpe Road in the town and is spread over three units on Cleveland Centre’ s central mall, close to the Corporation Road entrance, new Disney pop-up store and former BHS site.
ESTATE AGENTS MARK £ 20K CHARITY MILESTONE Award-winning Teesside estate agent Hunters is celebrating its links with the local community after reaching the £ 20,000 charity milestone since forming just six years ago.
For the second successive year, Hunters has donated £ 5,000 to Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation.
Along with the firm being generous patrons of the charity, Hunters staff have also taken part in numerous fundraising events including the Great North Run and the New York City Marathon.
Lisa Preston, general manager of Hunters Teesside, was joined by Jordan Clayton, head of Hunters’ student lettings department, on the recent New York City Marathon, raising over £ 3,500.
NEW TEES CROSSING ON AGENDA A new crossing of the River Tees moved closer following an announcement that a proposal by the Tees Valley Combined Authority to develop a detailed business case has been endorsed by the Government.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling has agreed to help accelerate the development work to build a business case for a new Tees crossing to boost access to Enterprise Zones and ease congestion on the existing A19 crossing, which carries 96,000 vehicles a day at the point it crosses the Tees.