NEPIC Update
NEPIC’s work intensifies with TVIP
The Tees Valley Industrial Programme (TVIP), builds on NEPIC’s 10 Point Plan, Tees Valley Unlimited’s North South Tees Study and the range of investment by One North East and Government in the process industries. It is designed to accelerate industrial transition in Tees Valley and seize the emerging opportunities in low carbon and advanced manufacturing.
NEPIC is a key member of the TVIP Advisory Group - with Stan Higgins and members John Shipman of Huntsman and Paul Booth of Sabic on the Group. NEPIC staff and members are fully engaged in TVIP, across a wide spectrum of interests and have been very actively working on all but one of the TVIP work streams.
In the Investment workstream, NEPIC’s Stan Higgins and Richard Tweddle have worked with One North East and partners to move forward the development of key projects, ensuring that NEPIC companies seize the opportunity to bring forward their investment plans. Pyreco, GrowHow, Greenstar, Impetus and Ineos Bio have all benefited from this work.
As part of the NEPIC 10 Point Plan, Paul Butler of NEPIC has also worked with colleagues from PD Ports and Neil Kenley from TVU as well as a wide range of companies from the sub region to identify improved marketing strategies for Tees Valley to industrial investors.
In the Infrastructure workstream, Paul Gavens of Sembcorp and Mark Lewis of NEPIC have worked with One North East, John Leer of TVU and partners to collate a definitive list of the projects needed by industry. Work has just started on understanding how to develop an Energy Hub concept for the Tees Valley. This is supported by Mark Lewis and NEPIC members, including Ineos Nitriles, Simon Storage, Sembcorp, BOC Linde, Growhow and SABIC.
Ian Findley is working with John Shipman of Huntsman to contact member companies about energy efficiency opportunities, and the TVIP Energy Efficiency Capital Grant. A number of latent projects have been identified that companies have not been able to progress in the current climate and several are being reviewed for potential funding. This has also identified several potential integration opportunities linking waste energy to energy users.
In the Apprenticeships workstream, Ian Findlay also worked closely with George Ritchie of Sembcorp and NEPIC members such as Robin Davison of Wolviston Management and colleagues from the National Skills Academy for the Process Industry to win funds to secure the apprenticeships of up to 150 local apprentices at risk due to the closure of Corus and others in the process sector. This will not only seek placements within current employers of apprentices, but will also provide an opportunity for other employers, particularly SMEs to experience the advantages of employing apprentices with limited outlay and it is hoped that this stimulate demand for the future.
NEPIC last year worked closely with TVU to develop the North & South Tees Study, leading on workstreams in the energy, infrastructure and logistics areas. This work highlighted the low carbon opportunities for the Tees Valley. NEPIC’s Technical Manager, Mark Lewis, and members such as Paul Booth of Sabic and Phil Bailey of Lucite, have worked with One North East to ensure the needs of the process sector are brought in to the upcoming national competitions to take forward Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
In the Engineering Diversification workstream, Paul Gotts of NEPIC and Phil Stevens of Tees Valley Engineering Partnership have also undertaken a study of engineering maintenance companies to identify how they can better access business support to diversify their businesses on behalf of One North East. This work is now being used to influence business support delivery.
There remains a number of ways in which NEPIC, One North East and our partners can offer support to companies in the Tees Valley, so I would encourage all those looking for support to contact us or click here for information on TVIP.
