Imports will sweep 800 jobs to Tees

Mar 27 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

MORE than 800 jobs will be created at an import centre to be built at the North East’s biggest port.

The 1.2 million sq ft centre at Teesport in Middlesbrough has been given planning permission by Redcar and Cleveland Council.

It will create at least 800 direct jobs as well as hundreds more during its construction over the next two years on 68 acres of brownfield land on the dock’s 700 acre estate. It is the latest boost for the rapidly growing port and comes just a month after the Government approved a £300m deep-sea container terminal which owner PD Ports says will create up to 5,500 jobs in total.

The Northern Gateway Container Terminal scheme (NGCT) will open up six times more capacity on the river and allow far larger vessels to berth there, rather than offload to smaller ships in European ports as now. The new centre will handle the extra volume created by the expansion.

PD Ports chief executive David Robinson said: “We are delighted to receive approval by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council of our plans for another major import centre at Tees Dock. This is another very important day for us and the whole region. This approval now positions Teesport as a major UK portcentric logistics hub. Our concept of portcentric logistics is gathering further momentum as UK supply chains seek further efficiency gains and are pressed to becoming greener.

“This latest approval comes shortly after the recent decision from the Department for Transport approving the final planning stage, known as a harbour revision order, for the Northern Gateway deep sea container terminal at Tees Dock. The cargoes passing through the import centre will go some considerable way to providing volume for the NGCT project.”

The centre will be constructed over two years but PD Ports plans to open parts of it by summer 2009.

It is intended to answer the growing needs of the port as the global shipping industry grows rapidly, driven by the industrial boom in the Near and Far East. PD Ports says it will be able to compete with rivals in the South of England which already have consent to expand.

PD Ports’ managing director Martyn Pellew today said: “We are yet to reach a final legal agreement. Once that is done we would be able to start work at the site. But planning approval is a good step forward.”

Redcar and Cleveland Council leader George Dunning today welcomed progress of PD Ports’ import centre saying it was “fantastic news not only for Redcar and Cleveland but for the wider Teesside and Tees Valley area”.

“PD Ports continues to expand creating much needed jobs for our area,” he added. “We look forward to even more job creation in the near future.”

Redcar MP Vera Baird added: “Alongside the Department for Transport’s recent approval of the planned container terminal, the new import centre will help put Redcar on the logistics map.”

PAGE TWO: Comment from the Evening Gazette.