Member Article

North Tyneside named top for inward investment

North Tyneside has been named as one of the best locations for business and industry, in the country.

The borough has just been identified as the top district for inward investment, based on its environment and infrastructure, following analysis by The Local Futures Group.

The survey looked at all 335 local authority areas in England, and was carried out by Local Futures for its Inward Investment Guide to England, in partnership with the Municipal Journal (MJ). The top ten local authority areas for overall best environment and infrastructure were revealed today (14 February).

Elected Mayor for North Tyneside, Mrs Linda Arkley, said: “I am pleased that North Tyneside’s huge potential for inward investment and growth has been quantified and recognised in this way. This is the vision that I have been working towards for the last three years and I am delighted that it has come to fruition.

“I believe that North Tyneside is a borough of opportunities and we are focussed on creating the right conditions to attract new businesses and industries, despite the national and global picture.

“Our superb environment and infrastructure is a key feature of my ambitious vision for future economic growth, with our existing manufacturing infrastructure, skilled workforce, experienced supply chain and committed local leadership all working in our favour.

“Because of the huge amount of work we have carried out with businesses and with the Enterprise Zone we have been able to attract new businesses and people to the borough.”

The judgement was based on five key measures: connectivity, cost base, quality of life, commercial floorspace and growth in commercial and industrial floorspace.

North Tyneside has an employment catchment of 1.1million and is home to over 50 business and industrial locations, where space costs up to 50 percent less than in many other parts of the country.

Two of North Tyneside’s prime River Tyne North Bank sites have been included in the North East Low Carbon and Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise Zone; one of those sites - the former Swan Hunter shipyard site, which is owned by the council - has just recently secured £13.6m including £6.8m ERDF funding, to invest in extensive infrastructure improvements, matched by funding from Homes and Communities Agency and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership.

The River Tyne North Bank area has also been included within the North Eastern Centre for Offshore Renewable Engineering (CORE); making it one of six centres identified by government across England which will enable rapid growth in the offshore wind sector.

Other business sites in the borough include the UK’s largest office park at Cobalt, plus Quorum Business Park, both attracting global organisations including Procter & Gamble, Accenture, Orange EE, Santander and Tesco Bank.

Average wages in North Tyneside are also around 12 percent below the national rate.

For more information on the findings of the Local Futures and MJ survey, visit www.themj.co.uk/mjfutures.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by North Tyneside Council .