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Schemes to boost inward investment and create 3,000 jobs in the region have today (July 24) been agreed by the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority Cabinet.

To spearhead economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic, work is under way to help deliver significant job opportunities and economic growth across a number of sectors.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and the Cabinet have signed off a £5.8million grant award in principle to help secure a project which has the potential to bring up to 3,000 jobs to the region by September 2022.

The investment requires a highways interchange improvement before it can go ahead.

The Mayor and Combined Authority have agreed to fund the improvement subject to a formal agreement from the potential investor.

To further showcase Tees Valley on the world stage, the Business Investment team has been working with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to highlight the opportunities for overseas investors in carbon fibre production in the region.

Informed by Teesside University, Sembcorp, technology information centre CPI and DiT, the area is now being marketed to global businesses as a unique base for large-scale manufacturing of carbon fibre for the UK’s automotive, aerospace and renewables sector.

Alongside this, the team has also submitted a proposal to market Tees Valley’s world-beating bioscience cluster, emphasising our key assets such as CPI, Fujifilm Diosynth and Teesside University’s National Horizons Centre and supporting our clean energy ambitions.

Mayor Houchen said:

“Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool have a huge role to play in rebalancing the economy following the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, not just locally, but across the entire UK.

“To do this, it’s vital we secure investment by getting the word out about our world-leading research centres, top-quality manufacturing sites and unrivalled expertise.

“When projects that could create up to 3,000 jobs for local people present themselves, we have to step in and do what we need to do to get these over the line and lock down the investment for our local people.

“There’s plenty more to come. There are spades in the ground at the South Tees Development Corporation site, with local companies already on site and benefitting from our transformation of the UK’s biggest investment opportunity today. And Teesside International Airport is once again opening its doors to the world ready for investment through its terminal.

“I’ve led the immediate response to support our economy and businesses during the first phases of the coronavirus pandemic, but now we can start to look to the future as we position the Tees Valley as a great, outward-looking place to do business.”