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Business Leaders Point to Bright Future for the Tees Valley

Business Leaders Point to Bright Future for the Tees Valley

Jul 04, 2019

Nomi Ahmad (second right) sat on a panel with (left to right Frans Calje, CEO of PD Ports, Daren Smith, Site Director SABIC Petrochemicals UK and Sharon Lane, MD Tees Components. Not in picture Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley.

Nomi Ahmad joined a distinguished and influential panel of speakers at a special event aimed at Teesside’s burgeoning business community. Along with Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, SABIC’s Site Director Daren Smith, PD Ports’ CEO Frans Calje and Tees Components MD Sharon Lane, Nomi was invited to “Talk Up Teesside” in a campaign organised by the media firm Tees Business.

The 90-minute question and answer session saw the quartet share their views on the region’s business outlook.

More than a hundred people flocked to the Wilton Centre near Redcar to listen to the panel discussion – billed by Tees Business as featuring “some the most influential business names in the region.”

Nomi gave an upbeat explanation of Sembcorp’s UK growth strategy in the context of the opportunities presented by a volatile UK energy market and also highlighted the fundamental strengths of the main industrial base on Teesside.

Both he and Ben Houchen listed a pipeline of projects with the potential to boost the economy of the area in the next few decades.

The audience listened carefully as the panel members talked about plans to regenerate the former steelworks site adjacent to Wilton; to secure Teesside as a centre of manufacturing excellence for the offshore wind industry; the attraction to investors of the deepest port in Eastern England and Teesside’s superb industrial infrastructure. They also heard how Teesside is ideally positioned to capitalise on its expertise in clean energy and lead the way in utilising hydrogen power.

Outlining the role Sembcorp is playing, Nomi said: “We see ourselves as a partnership with our customers – a provider of essential energy and utilities solutions. We aim to continue to invest in new and upgraded facilities as new customers come in. We’ll also work Ben and the South Tees Development Corporation to present a compelling proposition to investors and one that ticks all their boxes.”

The message from the whole panel was one of positivity – in particular for the skill set, knowledge, passion and innovation that already exists on Teesside.