Address process sector issues says chairman

Oct 14 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

THE man charged with leading a review of the process sector at Wilton admitted today that the industry needed to own up to its problems but said that didn’t mean talking down Teesside.

Bob Coxon, former Synetix chief, now chairman of the North East Science and Industry Council, said he had set the challenge of “getting the right people around the table and talking through the issues” - and fast.

He said the recent unravelling of what had been integrated operations at Wilton had been seen coming “for many, many years”.

“But the recent economic downturn has exacerbated the trend. What we have to do now is sit down and talk about not so much long-term plans - because we know that’s a transition to a knowledge economy type chemical industry - but what’s going to happen in the shorter term and promote what we have got.”

Referring to a meeting last week of industry chiefs following an exchange of letters between Teesside’s chemical cluster and Lord Mandelson, Mr Coxon said it was clear that any initiative had to be private- sector led. But government also had a role to play in creating a framework that made that process easier.

“It’s about private industry deciding what it wants to do with existing assets or how we find other private investment to give us the future we want,” said Mr Coxon.

However, he did not rule out discussions with Lord Mandelson over wider issues, including employment policy.

“Wage subsidies are one area we might want to look at,” he said.