Partner Article

Bid for Tees Valley enterprise group reaches deadline

JOB creation, business growth, skills development and the regeneration of towns across the Tees Valley are at the heart of a bid by Tees Valley Unlimited (TVU) to form a Local Enterprise Partnership for the area.

Today marks the Government’s deadline for submissions by business groups and local authorities to form Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) as part of its review of economic development across England.

The bid is being made by TVU on behalf of the five councils in Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton and the local business community.

It sets out specific details on how the area intends to sustain and build the process sector, renewables and low-carbon industries and wider manufacturing businesses across the Tees Valley as well as increasing the number and variety of firms that create employment for local people.

Sandy Anderson, the private sector chairman of TVU said: “The LEP concept allows us to formalise a way of working that has existed in the Tees Valley for many years and which has resulted in cooperation between the five local authorities and involved local businesses and the third sector in shaping our future.

“But now the government is offering places like the Tees Valley the chance to have a greater say and greater autonomy to pursue our own economic agenda, which is a significant opportunity.

“Our LEP bid also recognises that the Tees Valley’s economy is quite different from other places in the North East and indeed the UK, with its own challenges and opportunities. For example, when you consider the larger chemicals companies based at Wilton on Teesside, they are competing with the rest of the world for investment and so we need a planning system and approach to energy supply that will give us that competitive advantage.

As part of its bid TVU is also strongly supporting the Association of North East Councils and the Northern Business Forum’s proposal to form a strategic regional body responsible for the North East.

The bid for a North East Economic Partnership aims to focus on six functions based around inward investment, managing European Funding, sector development, access to finance and innovation and will complement the activity of the Tees Valley LEP.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .