Month: May 2024

It’s great to see that exciting things are happening down at Teesworks – the UK’s largest industrial zone – with the enormous SeAH Wind Ltd factory going up at pace.

DTW was invited on a tour of the site as part of a supplier event organised by Teesworks and Decerna, supported by Tees Valley Net Zero and Tees Valley Supply Chain.

It was a great day, giving local businesses the opportunity to network and see first-hand the progress that’s being made on the Teesworks site, with the SeAH Wind factory already stretching 800m, with another 100m still to be built.

Work is also progressing to get the site ready for BP’s blue and green hydrogen plants, along with the installation of British Steel’s electric arc furnace at Lackenby.

The potential for the Tees Valley jobs and skills market is huge. The investment will lead to the creation of thousands of jobs in the long-term, along with business opportunities for thousands of people involved in the supply chain.

The career possibilities for our young people, who are currently at school, college or university, and those who are even younger, are going to be significant.  

Investment on this scale doesn’t happen overnight, so it may be a while before we reap the full benefits, but it certainly looks like progress is being made on site.        

Thanks to Decerna for the great presentation and advice about the importance of sustainability in any business growth plans, along with information about applying for a free carbon reduction plan and £2k grant to improve the carbon emissions of businesses in the Tees Valley. We certainly plan to take advantage of that.

The annual Sustainable Aviation Fuel Supply Chain conference may have been held at the QEII conference centre overlooking Westminster Abbey in London – but there was another location that stood out at the event – the Tees Valley.

DTW were at the event as part of the Tees Valley Supply Chain, exhibiting alongside the Tees Valley Combined Authority and other businesses based in the area keen to expand their role in the sector.

Last year the government provided almost £40m of funding to five Tees Valley based firms who are looking to lead the way in creating Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

All five were in attendance talking about ambitious plans for the future on sites ranging from Billingham through Wilton and on to Teesworks.

It’s clear from last week’s event that there is interest in the area from other operators who are looking at sites for projects, so that number could grow.

There is no doubt the sector is scaling up massively to help the UK and the global aviation sector meet what is a huge Net Zero challenge.

With Government ministers attending, and high-level commitment and investment from Boeing, Airbus, Virgin, BA as well as government, this event showed how vital the SAF sector is to the future of the aviation industry.

There is clearly the potential for Tees Valley to play a huge part in meeting the government target of SAF making up 10% of all aviation fuel used by 2030. The message from industry was clear – the UK Government’s Jet Zero Strategy and funding is hugely welcomed, but in order to meet the national targets it’s just the start.

Action is needed in terms of the appropriate legislation being passed, clarity is needed on the SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism, and, on Teesside, access to the developing CCUS project is hugely important.

Big thanks to the Tees Valley Combined Authority and the RTC North team, who run the Tees Valley Supply Chain programme, for inviting DTW to be part of the team at the SAF event.

Tees Valley’s attractiveness in terms of skilled labour, manufacturing heritage, available land, a proactive combined authority, the developing CCUS network and a supply chain full of expertise and passion that is ready to engage make this an exciting time to be involved.

There is a real win-win opportunity here for the SAF sector and the Tees Valley to both benefit from jobs and investment as the UK tackles a key part of the Net Zero challenge.

What will be key for businesses coming to the area is engaging effectively with stakeholders of all kinds – potential employees, suppliers, partners as well as politicians and the media.

Want to find out more?

You can read more about our seven simple principles for effective community engagement, and if you’re looking for comms professionals who know the infrastructure and regeneration sector, then drop us a line by emailing letstalk@dtw.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help.

Awards season is upon us (well the shortlisting at least) and I was thrilled to be invited to join the judging panel for the @PRCA HQ Dare Awards this year.

Armed with my trusty spreadsheets and a whole lot of fantastic entries, I got down to the challenge of sorting through each category and picking out and scoring the best of the best. It was no easy feat – the competition was fierce!

But I was proud to be a part of the judging team for some pretty exciting categories, like Large Consultancy of the Year, Public Sector Award, Rising Star of the Year, and Team Culture and Community Award. And the entries did not disappoint.

There were some great examples of creativity, innovation and dedication to employee well-being, business growth and impact across a number of entries. It was clear that there are plenty of teams who are pushing boundaries and helping set the standard for excellence in the industry.

The rising star entries had impressive individuals who are set for great things within the PR industry – the future looks exciting!

To all the entrants across all categories – good luck! You’ve already achieved so much just by being a part of these awards. We know how valuable it is to win awards, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you all.

Thanks for letting me be part of your awards journey.

Lorna.