NEEF: North East businesses can help fuel poverty

Dec 5 2008 By Andrew Mernin

BUSINESSES in the region have been urged to play their part in dragging the North East from the bottom of the fuel poverty league.
 
Delegates at today’s North East Economic Forum (NEEF) said the fact that the region has the highest levels of fuel poverty in the country should be seen as an opportunity by firms in the energy and housing sectors.
 
One North East board member Ruth Thompson said: “This is a business oportunity. Premises need to be made energy efficient. We have got the potential to build skills and we could bring in new technologies which we are developing in this region."
 
Meanwhile, in a panel debate at the event in the Gosforth Marriott Hotel, One North East’s chair Margaret Fay was challenged over the possibility of upgrading the A1.
 
She said: “The region can't afford to undertake the dualling of the A1 on its regional budget.
 
"If we did it, there would be nothing left for the rest of the region. We are trying to get Governments to acknowledge that the A1 should be of national strategic importance."
 
For more on the NEEF see tomorrow’s Journal.