New Teesworks factory set to create 2,000 jobs in "major vote of confidence"

A global offshore wind manufacturer has today announced that it is set to create 2,000 Teesside jobs with a multi-million pound factory.

GE Renewables Energy has struck a deal to be the blade supplier for Dogger Bank wind farm, with its new factory to be based on Teesworks.

The factory is set to create more than 2,000 jobs in the area, and has been called a “major vote of confidence” for the Teesworks site.

This comes less than a week after it was announced in the Spring Budget that Teesside would become the UK’s largest Freeport.

Mayor Ben Houchen, who led the campaign for the Freeport, commented: “This monumental deal reached today with GE Renewables Energy, to bring their multimillion-pound manufacturing facility to Teesside and creating more than 2,000 local jobs, is a major step forward for my plan to bring skilled good-quality jobs to local people.

“Having a global manufacturer with the calibre and reputation of GE Renewables Energy, in the UK’s largest freeport with the skills and expertise we have in the region, shows just how far we’ve come with our plan to regenerate a site that sorely needs it.

“The closure of the steelworks in 2015 was a blow that some people thought we’d never recover from.

“When I was elected Mayor, I made a promise to local people that I would breathe new life into the former steelworks site. I had a plan that would see the site become home to good-quality well paid jobs for local people and I pledged that brighter days were ahead.

“Since then, we’ve taken back control of the site, we’re demolishing and clearing land ready for new investment as part of a vast regeneration programme, and we’ve created over 500 construction jobs as part of my plan to get the site ready, with hundreds more to come.

“Just last week our plans to regenerate the Teesworks site were turbocharged when the Chancellor gave the green light to the Teesside Freeport – the UK’s biggest freeport.

“But this is just the beginning. There’s still a long way to go to fulfil our plans, but if we continue on this path – soon the entire Teesworks site will be home to thousands more jobs and Teesside will lead the UK in net zero manufacturing, energy and innovation.

“The mark of the Infant Hercules can still today be seen and felt across the world, but this is not our past. It is our today and our future. With this new beginning we will continue to build a new, clean, green and brighter world.”