Roundtable: Winds of change blowing across South East Northumberland

Creating a new industrial and economic legacy across South East Northumberland 

South East Northumberland is alive to the sound of regeneration, with headline education, energy, manufacturing and transport moves leaving an area that contributed so greatly to the first industrial revolution primed to play an equally pivotal part in tomorrow’s commercial world.

Here, in an exclusive roundtable event held at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s Digital, Autonomous and Robotics Engineering Centre, in Blyth, and hosted by North East Times Magazine alongside Advance Northumberland, Bernicia, Northumberland College and Port of Blyth, business leaders discuss the region’s promise in detail, highlighting areas of great potential and measures needed to maximise growth momentum.

SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND STANDS AT THE PRECIPICE OF SIGNIFICANT RENAISSANCE. WHAT ARE THE HEADLINE DEVELOPMENTS PROMISING A FRESH ERA OF PROSPERITY?

South East Northumberland can be a bracing place, the bite of its North Sea breeze stinging the senses of all but the initiated.

Amid the whipping chill, though, something else is stirring.

Fresh winds of social and economic change, driven by momentous transport, manufacturing, education and regeneration projects, are gathering pace across former coal heartlands.

And, said Tony Quinn, director of technology development at ORE Catapult’s National Renewable Energy Centre, in Blyth, their potency promises to deliver an altogether new regional climate. 

Highlighting the £90 million Government and local authority-backed Energising Blyth programme, which is working to catalyse fresh prosperity across the coastal venue, he said: “We have the bones of a really strong industrial growth plan.

“The programme covers skills, investment, infrastructure and the development of a supply chain, which are all key tenets for industrial independence.”

John Johnston, chief executive at housing association Bernicia, echoed the positivity, shifting focus northwards to Ashington.

Hailing the potential of the revived Northumberland Line rail link – which is earmarked to reopen next summer – a new town centre Northumberland College campus, and Government, council and North of Tyne Combined Authority investment to deliver a Portland Park-based cinema and Wansbeck Square revamp, he spoke of a “very exciting” future. 

He said: “The Northumberland Line – so important for Ashington, Blyth and surrounding areas for connectivity – will provide a massive boost, as will the college campus and projects to create a much more high-quality public realm in Ashington.

“To have a college right in the town centre, alongside the Northumberland Line, is going to deliver a real knock-on effect for footfall.”

John Hildreth, head of economic growth at Northumberland County Council’s regeneration company Advance Northumberland, agreed, underscoring the rail line’s capacity to extend commercial links far beyond North East postcodes.

He added: “We are in a really exciting place, with development and opportunity coming forward at a very significant scale.”

 

THOSE OPENINGS INCLUDE A NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL VENTURES ACROSS THE RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR. HOW EQUIPPED IS SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND TO PLAY ITS PART IN THE GREEN REVOLUTION?

From miners cleaving new coal seams to ORE Catapult helping unearth fresh technological advances, innovation runs through South East Northumberland in the same way letters line the inside of seaside rock.

And as operators continue to radically redraw their environmental commitments, Tony said such prowess means the region is ably positioned to spearhead change.

Highlighting ORE Catapult’s work with Wallsend subsea robotics engineer Soil Machine Dynamics and underwater power line maker JDR Cable Systems, the latter primed to complement a Hartlepool factory with a £130 million, 170-job Cambois-based plant, he said: “We’ve always been early adopters of new technology.

“Industrial transformation requires simultaneous development of technology, industrialisation of products and capacity.

“The world is struggling on all three dimensions, but our offer is different because we’ve been through it before.

“We understand power generation, having led the first industrial revolution through coal, and we understand large-scale fabrication from the days of shipbuilding.

“And we’re now experts in subsea technology.

“We’ve used our dry docks, for example, to help Soil Machine Dynamics create a much more powerful and manoeuvrable remotely operated underwater vehicle, which uses an electric drive we helped develop.

“JDR will make a new product at Cambois we helped develop about six years ago, and our testing facilities also helped GE Renewable Energy gain investor confidence in its Haliade-X wind turbine blade, which is now being used on the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank.”

He added: “How you connect innovation and research to industrial transformation is incredibly important; it gives any nation competitive advantage – and we do it very well here.”

John Hildreth agreed, using Northumberland Energy Park, the multi-million-pound venture launched by Advance Northumberland, and supported by Port of Blyth, Northumberland County Council and ORE Catapult, through the Energy Central partnership, to reiterate the region’s innovative pedigree.

Referencing the North Sea Link project, the renewable energy power line that trails the seabed beneath the UK and Norway, hitting British shores at Blyth, and Britishvolt’s – and latterly Recharge Industries’ – electric vehicle battery factory plans for ex-coal store space, he said the area is once again ready to lead watershed change.

He said: “Within the energy park’s footprint is the former Blyth coal-fired power station site, which provides a nice transition story that is already coming to fruition with JDR Cables’ new factory.

“But that is just one part of the story.

“One of the things that has raised interest at the park is the access to clean energy. 

“The North Sea Link, for example, was partly driven by our energy heritage, with developers wanting to utilise the existing grid structure that survived from the power station.

“It is also what attracted the battery firms, with access to road, rail and sea, as well as 400MVA of clean power, a real jewel in the park’s crown.

“And it means we can deliver battery making right here in South East Northumberland, with on-site production matched by a supply chain in areas like the enterprise zone at Ashwood Business Park, and Cramlington’s West Hartford Business Park and Northumberland Business Park.”

Paul Parry, Port of Blyth business development manager, added his support.

Using the trade conduit’s transition from the ‘black gold’ of yesteryear to clean power – emphasised recently by RWE’s siting of a construction base at the hub to service its Sofia offshore wind farm – he said the region can pilot the green revolution.

He added: “The port is building on its energy past, from being a coal exporter to being the very first location for offshore wind in the UK.

“Following significant investment in low-carbon technology and the redevelopment of the Bates Clean Energy Terminal, the port has transformed from one of the largest coal exporting terminals in Europe to a leading offshore energy support base, well on its way to achieving net-zero by 2040.”

“We want to be a flexible landlord, and are looking at old energy industry infrastructure and how we can develop it for today’s needs, while building bigger and stronger quays for larger vessels.”

A ROBUST SKILLS PIPELINE IS CRUCIAL TO INDUSTRIAL GROWTH. WHAT MEASURES ARE BEING TAKEN TO ENSURE SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND HAS A TALENT POOL DEEP ENOUGH TO SERVICE FUTURE DEMAND?

“I liken the situation to waking up on Christmas morning, and opening up your new robot,” said John Hildreth.

“It’s great, but if you haven’t got the power to make it work, then you’re missing a trick.”

To ensure such a situation is avoided, significant moves are underway to strengthen the area’s educational framework. 

They include the £13.6 million, Port of Blyth-based Energy Central Learning Hub, which will provide STEM, vocational and work-based green sector training from late 2024 onwards, and its sister Energy Central Institute, which is set to deliver higher level skills, research and innovation from 2026.

Steve Rutland, project manager at Energy Central Campus, the umbrella name for the developments that are being delivered through a Northumberland County Council, Port of Blyth, ORE Catapult and Advance Northumberland partnership, said: “Both are a direct response to employer need for growth and development across the clean energy sector.

“And they will be a significant plus in a national cluster of resources that are a real driver for economic development.”

Equally transformational, said Gary Potts, principal at Northumberland College, will be the education provider’s new Ashington-based campus.

Swapping a multi-storey building on the town’s College Road for a 5.7-hectare site on Wansbeck Business Park bought from Advance Northumberland, the base will operate as England’s first so-called ‘gen-zero’ college of its type, delivering carbon neutrality across both construction and operation, with biophilic design creating direct and indirect links to nature.

It will also include a centre capable of providing young people with dedicated social, emotional and mental health support, to ensure nobody misses their chance to access education.

Gary said: “Skills are an enabler; inward investment will not happen without the right skills.

“We have to make sure we are providing opportunities for all, and this campus will do that.”

 

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT RELIES ON STRONG RELATIONS BETWEEN EDUCATION PROVIDERS AND INDUSTRY. ARE SUCH TIES SUITABLY STURDY IN SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND?

According to recent findings by the Offshore Wind Industry Council, the UK needs 70,000 more renewable sector workers by 2030 to meet expected demand.

And such sobering numbers, said roundtable members, will only be assuaged if education and industry are bound more tightly together.

Gary said: “We need to collaborate to maximise our opportunity. 

“Getting the right facilities in place is one thing, but we need the right curriculum to ensure the right skills are delivered. 

“We are always conducting horizon scans to provide a career-focused curriculum, which employers help inform, but we need to be better, as a whole, at joining the dots between education and industry.

“Because, if we don’t suit up as a collective and make sure we’re delivering high-quality routes into employment – whether they be internships or apprenticeships, for example – for absolutely everybody, then we’re disadvantaging our young people.”

Steve concurred, referencing a catalogue of work carried out by Energy Central to forge links between education and industry from primary school age onwards.

He said: “It’s important employers influence curriculum content, so people leaving education are ready for the culture of the industry they are entering.

“We work with employers to better understand their needs and transmit them to key providers, building on such with advice and guidance sessions with schools and colleges, and events involving engineers and technicians.

“The latter are so important, because it is 20 times more impactful listening to someone doing a job, rather than listening to a teacher tell you about that same job.

“And we’ve trialled new things, like an internship for 17-year-olds that allows students to work for a month across the summer holidays, wherein they are paid, gain experience and produce a project that helps their progression.

“The notion of doing something once for everybody, rather than everybody doing something once, is so important.”

John Johnston agreed, referencing the work of Housing Employment Network North East (HENNE), the partnership overseen by a number of the region’s housing providers that has helped 15,000 people into work and supported a further 5000 with training over the last year.

He said: “Our education institutions do a fantastic job, but what HENNE can do is ramp up partnership work.

“We can come to the table as a collective and say, ‘if you want to increase the number of rented social homes you need, at the right place and the right time, we can bring our joint strengths together and help you do so’.”

Tony cited the importance of “seamless” relations between research organisations and higher education. 

Revealing Northumbria University has donated a wind tunnel to ORE Catapult’s new Technology Development Centre, in Blyth, which will see elements of courses delivered at the site, he said: “The universities are a really important part of the equation.

“To truly industrialise renewable technology, we need a talent pathway that covers the full spectrum, from school to college, apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships, degrees and PhDs, so students can step off at any point.”

WHAT ABOUT RESKILLING? IS SUFFICIENT OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO PIVOT CAREERS?

While scouring the distance for tomorrow’s talent, Richard Hogg, founder and chief executive at STEM-focused specialist recruitment and outsourced talent services partner Jackson Hogg, warned companies to avoid neglecting the employees of today.

He said: “We have people that have worked at companies like Black & Decker, for example, but have seen opportunities move away, and so are looking at areas like the offshore sector.

“However, when they go to an interview, they’re met with questions like, ‘hang on, you’ve designed a Dustbuster, how is that relevant?’ 

“But with the right coaching, they can do it.

“Just because they went in a different direction at the start of their career doesn’t mean they can’t change their route now.

“Employers need to be more flexible; there is a lot of latent talent in the market that could be accessed through reskilling.”

Reiterating HENNE’s potential, John Johnston said the venture has great scope to return individuals, many who have fallen to the very margins of the skills continuum, to the talent pool.

He said: “We can touch some of those who, through no fault of their own, are the furthest away from the job market, providing them with the skills, training and confidence to get them into the new technologies and jobs we need.”

Jeff Hope, head of manufacturing at paint maker AkzoNobel’s Ashington plant, took the discussion further, pointing to the importance of reskilling in a market where companies are increasingly seeking to modify service relationships to reduce carbon impact.

Revealing the firm’s ability to dip into a high calibre workforce has helped make the Dulux manufacturer’s Northumberland factory a flagship global base, with further expansion in the pipeline, he said: “We’re looking at the region and the culture of the workforce we have, and the development of the education system.

“And there is no reason why more of our supply chain cannot be here as well.

“For a long time, we’ve had big companies doing business with big companies, and leveraging scale.

“But that is changing because of where we need to go with looking after the planet – and that provides a big opportunity for re-evaluating the supply chain. 

“Why can’t we retrain and reskill, and enter into strategic partnerships with other companies?”

 

HOW IMPORTANT IS HOUSING TO INDUSTRIAL GROWTH ACROSS SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND?

Businesses, as the refrain attests, are nothing without their people.

But without attractive and, more crucially, affordable places to live, delegates warned South East Northumberland’s regeneration plans could be stymied.

Paul Fiddaman, group chief executive at housing association Karbon Homes, referred to the statistic that around 45,000 people are presently waiting for a property across the region – a figure, at current levels of building, he said would take two-and-a-half decades to resolve.

Using further numbers, this time from the North of Tyne Combined Authority, on the economic impact of the Northumberland Line, he said affordable housing must be more widely factored into developments.

“The authority is running three scenarios, which range from ‘as is’, to ‘catching up’ and ‘levelling up’,” said Paul, who sits on the regeneration organisation’s housing and land board.

He added: “The latter scenario drives a range of related infrastructure requirements, which would have a massive economic impact. 

“They talk about an additional 12,500 homes within two kilometres of the key hubs on the Northumberland Line, as well as 400 hectares of industrial premises.

“A kick-start to the construction sector on such a scale could deliver £5 billion to £6 billion of GDP, and would also make sure the area has access to the labour and skills it needs to drive its endeavours.

“And we really need to think about affordable homes as part of that infrastructure because one of the barriers to economic growth is the lack of a good quality and affordable housing offer,” added Paul.

He found support from John Johnston, who highlighted the promise of a fresh North East housing partnership, which aims to pool financial and intellectual skills to help the combined authority meet targets around areas including sustainability, placemaking and social inclusion.

He also spotlighted commitments by the Conservative and Labour parties to revise planning regulations, saying the region’s housing providers stand ready to “de-risk” developments.

He said: “We need more rented social housing.

“And as a collective, if we worked with a private housebuilder, for example, they would know they’d have an end user for a fair chunk of stock.”

 

HOW MUCH OF A FACTOR WILL THE NORTH OF THE REGION’S £4.2 BILLION DEVOLUTION DEAL BE TO SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND’S SUCCESS?

From the ashes of regional development agency One North East have risen numerous regeneration ventures, from local enterprise partnerships, combined authorities and more between.

But none, said roundtable members, have ever held the same promise as the north of the region’s impending £4.2 billion devolution deal.

Primed to come into force next spring under the guidance of a publicly-elected leader, bosses say the North East Mayoral Combined Authority will spur fresh opportunities, thanks to billions of pounds ringfenced for skills, transport, housing and commercial improvements.

Calling for a united backing of the endeavour – which will replace both the North of Tyne Combined Authority and North East Combined Authority – John Johnston said it stands to be a defining chapter in the region’s growth story.

He said: “We need to be punching above our weight and, to do that, we need to get behind the devolved organisation.

“If you look at any combined authority’s trajectory, as soon as they have a delivery track record, there are very positive conversations with Government around additional funding, workstreams and autonomy.

“If we make a success of it now, it will lead to more local decision-making. 

“And if that happens, money gets spent on the right things.”

John found support from Paul, who urged sector specific lobbying be melded with wider industry collaboration to harness greater strength of message.

He added: “Politicians find it confusing when people knock on their door individually.

“But there is a new breed of leader in the public sector now, who is very much wedded to the concept of partnership and recognises the importance of working with colleagues across other sectors.

“We need that one voice.”

 

THE POTENTIAL IS PALPABLE, BUT DOES SOUTH EAST NORTHUMBERLAND NEED TO BE MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT ITS STORY – AND ITSELF – TO MAXIMISE FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES?

For a region whose industrial feats have resonated the world over, the North East has long spoken in hushed tones about its achievements.

But, said Gary, if South East Northumberland is to truly fulfil its potential, it must rid itself of the introversion that has hung cloak-like across generations past. 

He said: “There is a lot of ambition here, but we need to shout about it from the rooftops.

“We’ve all probably been brought up with a level of humility, which is almost ingrained in us being from the North East, but the time has come to turn up the volume.”

He was backed by Paul and Jeff, who cited the dexterity and determination of the area’s workforce, and John Johnston, who called for greater acknowledgement and celebration of South East Northumberland’s many complementary assets.

Paul said: “Our story is the opportunity, whether it be Nissan or all the things the North East has built in the past.

“Whatever companies want, this region, and the collective will of its people, will make it happen.”

Jeff said: “The workforce, and the way communities come together and really stand for something here, is outstanding.

“This region is a sleeping giant.”

John added: “We have the coast, the castles, the ports, the rivers, the parks, the workforce and the land to grow and develop housing and industrial sites. 

“This is a land of opportunity.”