£1.65m will help process industry’s rise in Europe

8:24am Saturday 17th May 2008

THE North-East's process industry has taken another step towards its target of increasing by 50 per cent by 2015 with a £1.65m grant.

The funding has been given to the North-East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic) by regional development agency One North- East (ONE).

The process industry in the region, particularly its Teesside hub, is developing rapidly, with £9bn invested in the sector and more earmarked.

It employs 34,000 people across the North-East and indirectly makes work for a further 280,000 people.

The sector, with a gross domestic product of £10bn, accounts for almost a quarter of the regional economy.

The £1.65m investment, which follows a £1.4m grant from the agency, will help the sector to achieve its target of being worth £13.3bn by 2015.

It came a week after the creation of a partnership, between Wilton-based Nepic and North- East Biofuels, to support the region's first biofuels strategy.

Ian Williams, director of business and industry at ONE, said: "The process industry is making a massive contribution to the region's economy, with 20 per cent of the UK's production capacity based here and five of the world's leading speciality chemicals companies with significant assets here.

"Nepic plays a central role in support of the development of the industry in the region.

"The organisation is expecting the sector to grow by 50 per cent, to £13.3bn, by 2015 and create 12,000 jobs.

"The impact Nepic has made since its launch in 2005 has been substantial, helping position the Tees Valley and the North-East as a leading location for companies in the sector. This additional funding will allow even more growth, further boosting the region's economy."

Nepic provides more than 500 of the region's pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical and support companies with a network to share best practice.

It allows its members to work together to generate investment, attract more science-based companies into the region, and raise the chemical industry's profile.

Stan Higgins, chief executive of Nepic, said "The success of Nepic arises from the industry leadership of all its activities.

"By focusing our actions towards the growth needs of the sector, creating a learn-together culture and building the trust to share experiences, we have enabled our sector to demonstrate its potential to be the power house of the North-East economy.

"We have been able to identify a portfolio of £9bn of potential investments for the region.

"Industry leaders have advised us that this would not have been achieved without the creation of the cluster.

"We have been supported tremendously by ONE and are proud to have been awarded a further three years of funding to continue our work towards building the region into the premier location in Europe for this sector."

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