South Tyneside business park secures £500k for new Manufacturing Zone

A new Manufacturing Zone in South Tyneside is set to to support local businesses in the advanced manufacturing and offshore energy supply chain.

South Tyneside Council has been awarded almost £500k from the Government’s Local Growth Fund through the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), to develop the Manufacturing Zone within Jarrow Business Centre.

The zone, which will comprise around 800 sq m of re-purposed manufacturing space, aims to provide incubation support for high growth potential SMEs operating in the advanced manufacturing and energy sectors.

Andrew Moffat, chair of the investment board at the North East LEP, commented: “One of the aims of the Local Growth Fund is to support the development of economic infrastructure in the region.

“The Manufacturing Zone at Jarrow Business Centre will offer high quality advanced manufacturing space.

“This will provide the ideal base for smaller businesses wishing to serve larger tier 1 and tier 2 manufacturers across a range of manufacturing sectors, enabling them to benefit from manufacturing supply chains operating from two of the North East’s strategic economic assets, the River Tyne, and the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) in South Tyneside and Sunderland.”

Cllr John Anglin, lead member for regeneration and economy, added: “The North East is a leading location in England in the offshore energy sectors, particularly offshore wind which is where the future lies.

“With its River Tyne location, the Manufacturing Zone at Jarrow Business Centre is suitably placed to support local supply chain SMEs to benefit from the significant opportunities in the offshore wind sector including the eagerly awaited Equinor and SSE Renewables Operations and Maintenance base for Dogger Bank Wind Farm in South Shields.

“The refurbishment of the space will provide SME businesses from within and outside the borough with the affordable, high quality manufacturing space they need, while providing new job opportunities to the residents in the region in the key sectors of advanced manufacturing and offshore energy.”