Spread the word

May 1 2008 Evening Gazette

TEN business champions have been recruited to back a pioneering new initiative to boost skills and tourism in the Tees Valley.

The Tees Valley Top Ten is a partnership between Tees companies, visitTeesvalley and the local community to promote the area as a world-class destination.

At a launch yesterday held at the recently opened Wynyard Hall, visitTeesvalley said industry was as a fantastic ambassador for the area, helping to draw in visitors, which would help local companies to recruit and retain staff, creating a virtuous circle of benefits.

Head of visitTeesvalley, Julia Frater, said business was vital in the push to boost annual tourism revenues of around £0.5bn and visitor numbers of 15.2m.

“Every conversation we have, every corporate event we attend, we need to spread the word about what the Tees Valley has to offer,” she told delegates.

Keynote speakers at the event included Ms Frater; the Confederation of British Industry’s Liz Smith; Professor Cliff Hardcastle, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Teesside; and Geoff Hodgson, chairman of North East Tourism Advisory Board.

Mr Hodgson said: “The future of the tourism industry relies on human capacity. Skills are at the top of the agenda”.

Although Teesside’s tourism industry is a significant driver of the local economy, it has suffered from a chronic skills shortage - especially in traditionally low-skilled jobs, such as catering and hospitality, which has an annual staff turnover of around 85%.

Overall staff turnover in Tees Valley is around 30% per annum, double the national average.

Business champion Michael Poole, vice-chairman of the North-east branch of the National Association of Estate Agents, is an advocate of on-the-job vocational training.

He said he didn’t rely on government subsidies to fund staff development.

“It’s not an issue for me. I don’t mind paying if I get value for money,” he said.

Middlesbrough-based accounting, tax and business advisory group Vantis is another ambassador for the scheme. Location director Ray Priestman believes the awareness-raising programme is being undermined by ill-conceived opinions about the area.

“It doesn’t help when a national television programme labels Middlesbrough as the worst place in the country,” he said.

“It would be great if the national media concentrated more on our positive news stories, because there are so many of them.”