We’re flying the flag

Nov 13 2007 by Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette

THE National Skills Academy for the Process Industries will put Teesside at the heart of national development of the sector.

Stan Higgins, above, chief executive of the North East Process Industry Cluster, said: “Teesside is the fastest growing location for the process industries at the moment.

“The more profile Teesside has the better. We must constantly market the benefits of our infrastructure to the wider world to capture investment and to convince people to bring the new technologies to our region.

“Having the National Skills Academy locate here is another flag for us to fly to say what a great place this is if you operate in this sector. It adds to the image of Teesside as a leading global location for a massively important industry.”

Major investment is under way on Teesside, or is set to come in the years ahead.

Mr Higgins said £7bn of investment is targeted for the region in the next eight years.

“Our region has more than 60 speciality and fine chemical companies, with all the top five largest players in the world based in our region,” he added.

“In newer industries such as renewables and biofuels we have made a fantastic start in being the leading location for those.”