Serving the Teesside Business Community | 69
/ REDCAR & CLEVELAND NEWS
PM LAUNCHES 25-YEAR
VISION FOR TEES SITE
Prime Minister Theresa
May revealed a 25-year
vision to “transform”
the South Tees site,
including the former SSI
steelworks in Redcar.
A
25-year vision to create thousands
of jobs and transform a 4,500-acre
site which includes the former SSI
steelworks has been launched by
Theresa May.
During her visit, the prime minister officially
launched the South Tees Development
Corporation (STDC), which has been working
on plans to redevelop a 4,500-acre stretch of
land on the south bank of the River Tees.
As the first Mayoral Development
Corporation outside of London, the STDC
will become a flagbearer for major business
growth across the region and will work with
industry to take advantage of opportunities in
the area – part of which was formerly the SSI
steelworks.
Mrs May said: “I want every part of the UK
to reach its full potential and the regeneration
of South Tees is a crucial step to
stimulate economic growth across Tees
Valley.
“The South Tees Development
Corporation – the first of its kind
outside of London – is a prime example
of how placing power in the hands of
local communities can drive growth.”
The corporation will publish its draft
plans, outlining that it will work with
investors and cutting-edge industry
from across the region to transform
South Tees and the wider area.
Teesport is the largest exporting port in
England and is also the deepest on the east
coast of the UK. Placed in the heart of Tees
Valley’s industrial zone, the area already
enjoys unique exporting potential and the
STDC plan will seek to further spur these
opportunities.
Chaired by Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen,
the project is a key part of the Tees Valley’s
Devolution Deal.
Through the deal, powers have been
handed from Whitehall to local leaders and
coupled with hundreds of millions of pounds
of government investment into the Tees
Valley Combined Authority over 30 years,
these plans aim to help bring about a lasting
economic boost to the area.
A full masterplan detailing the corporation’s
aims is expected this autumn.
Heart’s the
right place for
expanding salon
Staff at a new salon that outgrew its
former premises are settling into their
new home in the Redcar and Cleveland
Leisure and Community Heart.
The Salon, which started life at Tuned
In!, has taken up space on the ground
floor of the Heart to help expand the
business, which was full-to-capacity at
Tuned In!.
Sophie Chedzey, the owner of The
Salon, said the good relationship she
had built up with Redcar and Cleveland
Council’s Strategic Assets team meant
the move from one council-owned
building to another was an easy
decision.
COMPASS LEADS THE WAY
SSI couple inspired
to create new ballet
business
A Saltburn couple, who both worked at
the former SSI site, have created a new
business thanks to support from the SSI
Task Force and their daughter’s passion
for ballet.
Anne-Marie Tyler, 37, and husband
John, 44, found themselves out of work
following the closure of SSI, but their
12-year-old daughter’s budding dance
career inspired them to set up their own
business.
Anne-Marie had worked at SSI
for more than 12 years, in different
departments including HR, records,
facilities and the visitor centre while
John worked for five years as a shift
fitter engineer.
Amelia (pictured), a talented ballerina
who won a scholarship to attend a ballet
school in Birmingham, complained about
the lack of good equipment for practicing
at home, leading John to make a ‘pro
stretch’ for her.
Redundancy has opened up new
opportunities for a chartered engineer, who
set up his own business with the help of
the Tees Valley Business Compass Start Up
Programme.
Lynas Engineers, owned by Rob Lynas,
who has 20 years’ civil engineering
experience mainly in highway design
and maintenance, traffic engineering and
project management, has won several
significant contracts since its launch.
Lynas, one of four people who lost
their jobs when their employer closed
its regional office, decided to pursue the
self-employed route by forming a civil
engineering design consultancy.
With help from Business Compass
partners, the Materials Processing Institute
and Five Lamps, Lynas was given the help
and guidance necessary to set up Lynas
Engineers, based at the Wilton Centre, near
Redcar.
CONSULTANTS
LOOK TO RECRUIT
Recruitment consultants who opened a
North East office on Teesside less than
a year ago have seen demand grow so
fast that they have now doubled their
office space to accommodate a growing
team.
Kevin Edward Associates set up in
UK Steel Enterprise’s Innovation Centre
on the Kirkleatham Business Park in
Redcar.
The company, already well
established in London and Liverpool,
specialises in executive recruitment for
a growing number of companies across
the UK and internationally.
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