NECA announces £14bn pipeline to be unveiled at UKREiiF
Phil Witcherley, director for economy, innovation, and culture at the North East Combined Authority. spoke at the recent Shaping the Region seminar to unveil the programme’s five key missions and the specific sectors it will be targeting for rapid growth.
Published at the end of March, the LGP outlines the following five key missions that aim to make the North East realise its full potential over the next 10 years: a growing and vibrant economy; the green energy revolution; a hub for global trade; a place for real opportunity; and finally, to be ‘a North East we are proud to call home’.
Focusing in on specific sectors that will be targeted, Witcherley said: “We’ve selected these sectors because they’re the ones where we think we have the strongest potential for rapid growth.
“These are: offshore wind and energy transition, because of the links we’ve got to ports and the proximity of Dogger Bank; Advanced Manufacturing, particularly linked to things like Nissan and the automotive sector; the creative industries and content; life science, pharmaceuticals, and process industries; tech digital, and AI; and one that we’ really, really pushed for, is defence, security, and space; and of course, knowledge intensive, professional services, which I know many of you in this room are from.”
He noted a £14bn pipeline of inward investment and growth opportunities that NECA will be unveiling at UKREiiF in Leeds at the end of May, including numerous development sites such as Forth Yards in Newcastle, set to provide 2,500 homes.
Commercial opportunities mentioned include the Durham Innovation District and the Investment Zone (RHS).
The plan highlights the development of a £1bn+ affordable housing fund, involving housing providers, government, and the private sector.
He also noted how the Combined Authority is about to invest £70m into the creation of a new access-to-finance fund, and is seeking private sector co-investment of £170m.
The event, which was sponsored by Turner & Townsend, Muckle, and Lichfields, took place in Newcastle’s Helix area, itself an example of the innovation on offer in the region.
Witcherley said: “There are lots of positives in the region. We’ve got three deep water ports. We’ve got four universities, and nine further education colleges. We’ve got the metro. We’ve got great connectivity to the rest of the UK…
“And against that, as a region we also have a lot of challenges. Too often, the North East is at the bottom or near the bottom of league tables. This Local Growth Plan is about turning that around, by thinking about the priorities and ‘what are the things we are going to champion?'”
Among the specific projects mentioned was Sunderland’s Crown Studio, the supercomputer in Durham, and Energy Central in Northumberland.
Speaking about life sciences, he noted: “We need to do a few things, one of which is to keep the really successful businesses in the region and ensure they don’t leave the region as they grow, and support the scale-up and university spin-outs of those life science businesses, and make sure we’re a great place to start businesses in that sector…
“[In terms of] tech, AI, and data, we must work with government to make sure we have AI that builds on the strength of Newcastle, the supercomputer in Durham, and various things across the region…
“We think we have a unique set of strengths in an area of the country that really needs it, but what is really important is that we make sure we don’t just end up as the place that just has the data centres and not the high value jobs.”
Moving onto the creative industries, Witcherley once again stressed the importance of the development itself for retaining jobs and making the region more attractive.
“the majority of talent leaves, as the jobs are in London and the South East. It’s really important we bring that talent home and grow the sector in the North East… [Crownwork Studios] is a huge opportunity for the wider creative industries.”
