TEES VALLEY
Busy times – A rare moment of reflection for Ben Houchen at Teesside Airport ’ s Skybar .
“ Later this year we ’ ll be announcing new holiday flights for summer 2024 and we ’ ve already got another destination secured , which I can ’ t discuss yet – and there will hopefully be more to come .
“ So , if you look at what ’ s happened at Doncaster with the closure of their airport , and look at us as a not dissimilar direct comparison in terms of scale and previous ownership , you find that with a well-run plan , you can make an airport successful and it can be a gateway into the region that demonstrates we ’ re open for business .”
Less than 20 miles from the airport is Teesworks – the vast former Redcar steelworks site which , with the Teesside Freeport alongside , is set to bring thousands of jobs back in double quick time .
Reeling off four major Teesworks projects that are either underway or imminent – a SeAH wind monopile factory , the Net Zero Teesside carbon capture and power station project , another big offshore wind investor and US company Circular Fuels ’ plans for a huge LPG plant – Mr Houchen admits : “ It ’ s gone incredibly well and much quicker than I thought it would .
“ There ’ s now a real possibility that by the end of the year , more than half the site will be signed up and legally committed , and half the site will be under construction .
“ The plan in 2017 was to create 20,000 jobs over 25 years – this will now be delivered in the next five to seven years , which is incredible . That site is going to power the economic regeneration of the whole region .”
The plan in 2017 was to create 20,000 jobs over 25 years – this will now be delivered in the next five to seven years , which is incredible .
Other major projects include a £ 140m redevelopment of Darlington Railway Station that will transform it just in time for the 2025 bicentennial of the world ’ s first passenger railway , between Stockton and Darlington . And the statistics for the SeAH wind factory are staggering – 8,000 piles in the ground and a building that ’ s 40m high to the eaves and the length of four Riverside Stadiums .
There ’ s more to come , too , with several major investors interested in an 80-acre site next to SeAH and Teesworks set to establish itself as the UK ’ s centre for net zero technologies .
Mr Houchen said : “ It ’ s a more difficult stage than before . The stage before was putting us on the map , making certain businesses , people and politicians aware of the region and I think it ’ s fair to say Teesside hasn ’ t been talked about on the national stage as much as it has over the past two years . Now , because we ’ ve generated that huge amount of interest , it becomes very commercial .
“ But we are on the edge of making this thing self-fulfilling . We only need another two or three investments to start construction – and they will be in different industries to the ones we ’ ve announced – and all of a sudden , the whole thing will take on a life of its own .
“ It will have its own momentum that will be very difficult to stop . At the moment , we ’ re probably six months away from that . But if we get to the end of the year and what I think will happen happens , well … for example , I ’ m up for election next May . Even if I were to lose , what we ’ ve set in train will continue by itself – it will have a life of its own at that stage .”
Sky ’ s the limit – Ben Houchen at Teesside International Airport .
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