Process industry -thekey factors

Feb 3 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

The average age of an operating processor is 54.

The average age of a supervisor is 56.

The sector represents 30% of the region’s industrial base and its three main pillars - pharma, chemicals and polymers - contribute 60% of Teesside’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The 500 companies represented by the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) directly employ 40,000 people and impact indirectly on the income of a further 280,000.

Each year NEPIC works with around 450 schools across the region and gives 20,000 school children an insight into science, engineering and industry.

Bio-fuels, a new green strand to the sector, is forecast to be worth £1bn to the North-east over the next 20 years.

Big daddy to the process industry on Teesside, ICI used to employ 30,000 people at its height. Akzo Nobel, as it now is, employs less than 100.

In the Tees Valley, the sector includes pharmaceutical, biotechnology, speciality, polymer and rubber, petrochemical and commodity chemical sub-sectors.

The Centre for Process Innovation is aiming to create a world-class fuel cell technology hub in the Tees Valley.

The “hydrogen village” would include energy-efficient homes, vehicles and filling stations.

Around 35-40% of the UK’s hydrogen reserves are stored in the region.