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Applications invited for new role leading the North East’s transition to net zero.

Rob Hamilton, Chief Economist at the North of Tyne Combined Authority, and Helen Golightly, Chief Executive at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership,  invite applications for an exciting new role leading the North East’s transition to net zero.

Are you an outstanding professional with experience in delivering net zero projects? Are you passionate about the assets and opportunities that the North East has in energy and the contribution our region could make to national and global challenges and opportunities?

Then you could be the person we’re looking for – to play a major role in shaping the future of our region.  

We’re looking to appoint a Principal Officer for Low Carbon Growth and Net Zero. This is an exciting and challenging role that will provide the leadership, vision and direction for the North East region at a critical and exciting time as we race to meet our net zero targets and move towards a new mayoral combined authority in May 2024.  

If you are wondering why, you should join our team – here’s a few reasons…

A Net Zero Hotspot

As a region, we are committed to delivering net zero and we have already achieved a huge amount. A recent report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), with analysis provided by CBI Economics and the DataCity, identified the North East as a net zero economy hotspot.

Net Zero North East England is a newly formed partnership across our seven local authorities the public, private and voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. Its purpose is to celebrate and champion net zero opportunities and successes in our region. We’re using the strength of partnership to enable change through increased innovation, improvements to our skills agenda, active prospecting for new public and private investment, and by providing open access data and evidence.

The successful candidate would have the opportunity to drive forward the vision for this partnership, with the support of a small executive team.

We have the skills, talent – and region-wide commitment – alongside the heritage and varied landscapes required to take on the challenge of net zero and, with your help, we’re ready to grasp the economic opportunity it provides.

Our Region’s Strengths

The North East boasts many assets and opportunities that were recently highlighted by the Rt Hon Chris Skidmore in his independent review of net zero, including:

  • The 27,000 additional jobs the North East will likely benefit from by 2050 as part of the transition to net zero
  • The North East experiencing the largest reduction in CO2 emissions from 2005 to 2020
  • The transition to net zero delivering £1.9 billion of gross value to the North East economy by 2050.
  • Opportunities to support the quadrupling of the UK’s offshore wind capacity, alongside the critical role which will be played by Nissan in Sunderland, and its supply chain, in supporting the country’s transition to  zero emission vehicles

Seize the Opportunity

In this role, you will be responsible for driving forward the regional strategy to seize opportunities in offshore wind, including the North East’s share of 40,000 jobs linked to the UK’s growth of offshore wind and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS).

There’s also lots of exciting things happening in our region as we pioneer new low carbon heat technologies including river source heat networks, geothermal heat from mine workings and hydrogen for heat.

The North East is the best place to test emerging energy innovations in the UK. The North East Energy Catalyst unites the region’s energy innovation and demonstration organisations, making it easy for SMEs, investors and government to access them.

As Principal Officer for Low Carbon Growth and Net Zero, you would have the opportunity to lead and shape all of these opportunities.

North East England – a great place to work and live

If you’re looking for a flexible approach to work, we will be operating on a hybrid model, so we would be open to discussing this with you. However, if you are looking to relocate here, then that’s great too. 

Our region is rich in culture, history, world heritage sites and dramatic countryside and coastal landscapes – all within easy reach of Newcastle International Airport.

From vibrant cities, to stunning coastal walks, once you’ve experienced what life in the North East has to offer, you’ll never want to live anywhere else.

We pride ourselves on being friendly and inclusive, so you’d be assured of a warm welcome as you help put the North East at the heart of the UK’s low carbon economy. And our flexible approach allows employees to have a great work-life-balance, with your wellbeing at its heart.

If you think you have what it takes to take on this exciting role and want to work with our dedicated and supportive team in one of the best places in the UK, apply now here.

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The North East Growth Hub: levelling up the North East

By Colin Bell, Business and Sector Growth Director at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership

I don’t think it will surprise any individual or business who has searched for business support or funding when I say that the landscape can be confusing and difficult to navigate.

This is why the North East Growth Hub was created; to simplify the landscape through providing a single point of access to business support, and to offer specialist guidance in pinpointing how targeted interventions can help individuals and businesses make progress towards their vision and goals. 

The North East Growth Hub, which between 2018 and 2022 directly engaged with 115,134 people and businesses, also performs an important role in coordinating the business support ecosystem. It works with 75+ partners and 300+ delivery programmes to align collective activities towards the achievement of the North East Strategic Economic Plan, and the creation of more and better jobs.

Whilst not having direct control over business support funding, the North East Growth Hub has worked with the North East LEP’s Business Growth Board, and business support delivery partners, to identify gaps in businesses’ journeys from start up to scaleup. Targeted interventions have been developed to fill these gaps, which has led to the creation of a range of services including, Scaleup North East, Supply Chain North East, High Potential Startups, the Scaleup Leaders Academy, Peer Networks and Made Smarter Adoption North East – to name a few.

The approach to partnership and coordination has also enabled the region to quickly react to and deliver targeted services and funding to support businesses through seismic economic events, such as Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It’s great therefore that the impact of the North East Growth Hub has been recognised through a recent independent evaluation, which to directly quote found that:

“Businesses that have engaged with the North East Growth Hub demonstrate tangibly higher rates of business growth than similar businesses that did not receive support, with each of employment, turnover, and labour productivity being stronger among supported beneficiaries than the control group.’’

Taking a deeper look, the study found that the 2602 business that received medium to high intensity support between 2018 and 2022 achieved higher levels of employment growth, 16% higher turnover growth, and an average £8.8k increase in turnover employee one year after engagement.

What this demonstrated is that the targeted support delivered through the North East Growth Hub works, and if scaled could have a significant impact in levelling up the region’s productivity performance.

What I’m particularly proud of is that despite facing ambiguity and cuts in funding, the team has been unwavering in their commitment to the people and businesses we serve, delivering exceptional person-centred support with passion and compassion, consistently achieving 96%+ customer satisfaction levels.

As we look to the future, it’s great that the North East has established many proven programmes and approaches – including the North East Growth Hub – that can be built on and taken to their next level.

You can access more information on the North East Growth Hub evaluation through the North East Evidence Hub.

If you’re looking for support to start, grow and improve your business then get in touch with the North East Growth Hub at www.northeastgrowthhub.co.uk.

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North East LEP reaction to ONS regional labour market statistics

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Chief Executive, Helen Golightly OBE, has commented on today’s regional labour market statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The data updates on key indicators within the Strategic Economic Plan. Today’s release includes quarterly data for the North East region (for the period April to June 2022). The region includes the North East LEP area and Tees Valley.

Helen Golightly OBE, Chief Executive of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The data released today shows little change from the position last month. There has been a small increase in the working age employment rate over the last quarter, but a small decline in total employment for all age groups. More working age people have joined the labour force and are looking for work, which has led to a small rise in the unemployment rate, alongside a slightly larger decrease in the economic inactivity rate.

“Nationally, the labour market appears to be slowing. There is some evidence of a decline in the high rate of vacancies in the economy, with a particular impact on recruitment amongst small businesses employing fewer than 50 people.

“But the main focus at the moment will be on standards of living. PAYE data which has been released today, shows that the region’s median employee pay continues to increase at a similar rate to nationally, at a time when costs of living in areas like energy and food are increasing, leading to a real terms decrease in regular pay of about 3%. 

“We can surmise that the relatively static situation in the labour force is caused by ongoing uncertainty in the economy, with employers and employees waiting to see how the economic situation changes and how public policy develops in response. Without intervention, we can expect a difficult economic situation for local communities and businesses over the coming months with increasing prices impacting on costs, investment and employment.” 

Access all the latest labour market information on the North East Evidence Hub.

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North East LEP reaction to ONS regional labour market statistics

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s chief executive, Helen Golightly OBE, has commented on today’s regional labour market statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

Today’s statistical release includes quarterly data for the North East region (for the period December 2021 to February 2022). The region includes the North East LEP area and Tees Valley Combined Authority area.

Also included in the release are statistics for the North East LEP area and its local authorities for the calendar year of 2021. 

Helen Golightly OBE, chief executive of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “This month’s figures show the position in the North East economy is largely unchanged from the last quarter.  

“There has been a recent small increase in the number of people working in the region, with about 2,300 more people in employment than in the previous quarter, and there was also a decrease of 4,900 in unemployment. However, the working age employment rate has fallen slightly, suggesting that much of the employment increase was among workers aged 65 plus. 

“The North East employment rate remains the lowest among the nine English regions, with the unemployment rate and working age economic inactivity rate both being the highest. The latter measures the number of people not in work or actively seeking employment.

“And progress in the past year has not matched other areas of the country. As we recover from COVID-19, the North East is the only region with a significantly lower employment rate than a year earlier, and the largest increase in the economic inactivity rate over the period. 

“Looking at local data for the last year, employment in the North East LEP area decreased more for women than men, and we have seen increases in economic inactivity across all working age groups in the North East. There has been a large growth in numbers citing looking after family or home as a reason for inactivity. 

“However, there is an opportunity to do more to benefit the economy and boost employment, with employers continuing to report demand in the labour market and difficulties in recruitment. 

“Energy prices, along with a range of other price rises, are going to increase costs for families and we urge government to focus invest into the North East to encourage more progress in the labour market.”

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North East Local Enterprise Partnership reaction to ONS regional labour market statistics

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Chief Executive, Helen Golightly OBE, has commented on today’s regional labour market statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

“Today’s statistics cover the North East region, which includes the North East LEP area and Tees Valley Combined Authority area, and covers the period September – November 2021.

“Today’s statistics make for difficult reading. The North East region’s latest employment rate was at 70.5%, which is by far the lowest in England. We’ve seen consistently over the previous three quarters that the number of people in work has fallen and that the number of people who have left the labour market and are categorised as economically inactive has increased. Significantly, the unemployment rate – this is people who don’t have a job, but are actively looking for work – has increased to a level that exceeds London, something we’ve not seen since September 2020.

“We are doing further analysis of these figures to understand the detail behind these changes, but it is clear that whilst other regions are moving ahead as they recover from COVID-19, the North East continues to face labour market challenges. 

“We are expecting the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper to be published and it is clear that this is increasingly urgent to better understand how Government want to work in partnership with the North East to support us with our economic recovery to address these gaps and avoid further economic imbalance.”

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North East Local Enterprise Partnership reaction to ONS regional labour market statistics

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Chief Executive, Helen Golightly OBE, has commented on today’s regional labour market statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).  

“Today’s statistics cover the North East region, which includes the North East LEP area and Tees Valley Combined Authority area.

“For the third month in a row we have seen a decrease in the employment rate, meaning there are fewer people in work, but more significantly, an increase in the economic inactivity rate, which is the number of people who have left the labour market and are not actively looking for work. This has increased more than any other English region and the gap between the North East and the next English region (Yorkshire and the Humber) is significant.

“The North East region has an additional 33,000 working age people who are inactive compared to the same period in 2020. Recent increases in inactivity have been particularly large among the youngest workers, but there have also been increases among those aged 35 to 64.

“There is more work to do to understand the detail behind these changes, but it is now apparent that because the North East region has the highest inactivity rate across all regions in England, we need to work with government to ensure a swift implementation of the Skills White Paper and to ensure the Levelling Up White paper is published and progressed early in 2022 with no further delays.”

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North East Local Enterprise Partnership reaction to ONS regional labour market statistics.

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Strategy and Policy Director, Richard Baker, has commented on today’s regional labour market statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)*.  

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Strategy and Policy Director, Richard Baker, has commented on today’s regional labour market statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)*.  

“As we move out of COVID-19 controls into a policy agenda focused on levelling up the national economy, today’s data supports the need for government to focus this agenda on a group of issues in the northern labour market.

“Today’s figures show furlough has been successful in containing the rise of unemployment amongst employees throughout the pandemic. Early commentators suggested the impact of COVID-19 could see North East regional unemployment exceed 10% but today it is around just half that at 5.1%.

“They also show a bounce back in employee numbers in the region. Between February and November 2020, payrolled employee numbers in the North East LEP area fell by almost 20,000 or 2.5%. However, between November 2020 and October 2021, numbers increased by almost 32,000, resulting in a figure 1.5% higher than it was pre-pandemic – which is good news. But there are also significant challenges.

“The region’s economic ambitions set out in our Strategic Economic Plan are that the North East has more people working, with fewer unemployed people (not in work but looking for work) and fewer being economically inactive (having left the labour market) compared with the rest of the country.

“Today, we can see that whilst we’ve had the largest decrease in the unemployment rate over the last year, this has not been accompanied by an increased employment rate. Instead, the economic inactivity rate has increased by more than in any other English region, with an additional 32,000 working age people being inactive compared to the same period of 2020. Recent increases in inactivity have been particularly large among older workers.

“There is more work to do to understand the detail behind these changes. However, we can see that the North East region has about 4,200 fewer employees in manufacturing than pre-Covid, with decreases in some service sectors too. Meanwhile there have been large increases in the number of employees in sectors such as health, science and education as our economy changes.

“Experimental data produced this month seems to confirm the trend we saw last month that we are seeing large numbers of older workers leaving the labour force, as well as continuing challenges for the very youngest.

“Both the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber have also experienced falling employment and rising inactivity, but this is not true elsewhere in England, highlighting the need for distinct employment policies for the North.

ENDS.

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North East businesses helping young people at risk of long-term unemployment into work

Employers in the North East are helping young people at risk of long term unemployment take their first steps into the workplace.

Businesses including Sunderland-based automotive manufacturer Unipres have signed up to the Kickstart Scheme, which provides funding to employers to create six month job placements for people aged between 16 and 24 who are receiving Universal Credit.

Unipres currently employs 35 Kickstart trainees and has plans to recruit five more in the next few weeks.

Rob Dodds, Apprentice Coordinator at Unipres, explained: “The reason we got involved is that it’s an ideal opportunity to give young people a chance to gain valuable experience in the workplace.

“They’re indispensable to the business as well – it’s another form of recruitment for us and these are the future stars. It’s a win-win situation for the business and for the trainees.”

The Kickstart Scheme offers funding to cover the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus the associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions. Funding is also available to support young people to develop new skills and to help them move into sustained employment after they have completed their Kickstart-funded job.

20-year-old Ehsan Izadi, who is working as part of the Quality Assurance team at Unipres, said: “I was working in a pizza shop but when COVID came around, the shop was closed. I was looking for a job and saw the opportunity with Unipres. It was easy to apply through the job centre and it was a big opportunity for me.

“I like learning and improving my CV – if you have six months experience at Unipres it’s really important for your CV.”

Another North East business taking part in the Kickstart scheme is Northumbrian Water. Kay Penney, Human Resources Director at Northumbrian Water, said: “When the Kickstart Scheme was announced by the Government, we jumped at the opportunity to support young people to increase their employment prospects.

“So many of our workforce have come to us as young people, taking their first steps in the world of work, or returning to employment after enforced breaks, and they have become valuable employees playing important roles in our business.

“The jobs market is a very competitive place at the moment, whatever experience you have, but we know many young people are really finding it hard to get a break. We hope that the experience, learning and qualification they get from coming to us through the Kickstart Scheme will give them a valuable step up.”

Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, added: “Through Kickstart, businesses can help young people gain skills and experience that will help them to avoid long-term unemployment.

“And of course, support like this is especially important now, as so many young people have seen their plans affected by the pandemic. The fact that the North East business community has the opportunity to step up and help young people avoid unemployment is fantastic.”

Joanne Jobling, Service Leader for DWP in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear said:

“Kickstart has already made a remarkable difference to the lives of many young people – with the support of businesses, we want to maximise the impact of Kickstart in the North East, changing more lives for the better and supporting our economy now and in the future. We are working closely with the North East LEP and other key partners to encourage as many young people as possible to contact their local jobcentre to apply for the fantastic opportunities that are being created.”

Businesses in the North East can apply to join the Kickstart Scheme through the North East Growth Hub. Businesses can also register to join an online event by the IoD North East on 30 June, explaining more about Kickstart. Register for a free place here.

Kickstart vacancies in the North East will be advertised via northeastopportunities.co.uk.

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North East Local Enterprise Partnership reaction to ONS regional labour market statistics – June 2021.

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s (North East LEP) Strategy and Policy Director, Richard Baker, has commented on today’s regional labour market statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)*.  

“The headline North East regional employment data confirms the progressive improvement of the economy as Covid-19 controls are released, but also shows clearly that there is a long way to go for our region. The latest employment total was 2,000 higher than in the previous quarter, while unemployment had decreased by 4,000.  

“Despite these improvements, the region had the lowest regional employment rate at 71.9%, compared to 75.5% across England and the unemployment rate (5.9% of the economically active) was the second highest in England. The North East also continues to have the highest percentage of working age people who are economically inactive (23.5%). 

“COVID-19 continues to have an impact on the working lives of many people in the North East region. About 4,500 workers experienced redundancy in the latest quarter, bringing the total to 29,000 in the latest 12 months. In addition, 48,000 self-employed workers in the region had claimed support in the first few weeks of the latest grant of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).  

“At the end of April, over 115,000 workers in the region were still furloughed and, although classified as employed in the official statistics, many were in an uncertain position about their futures. Over a quarter of these worked in food and accommodation services and 8% were in arts, entertainment and recreation. As we have heard from industry leaders this week, jobs in these sectors are particularly likely to be impacted by yesterday’s four-week extension of restrictions.  

“The latest job seekers claimant count data continues to highlight how the impact is uneven in different places with large variations in unemployment within the North East LEP area. There are 25 wards, spread across all seven local authorities, with a claimant count rate of 10 per cent or more, while 18 wards have rates of less than a quarter of that. This count also highlighted that one in five claimants in the North East LEP area were aged under 25. 

It is essential that Government continues to balance health risks and economic impacts ensuring that there is a steady and predictable pathway to removing controls for business and employers, and that decisions to slow progress are accompanied with ongoing support to the economy. 

Over the longer term, our Recovery Plan sets out proposals to drive forward our vision of a more sustainable, competitive and inclusive regional economy. The North East LEP will continue to work with Government and our partners to provide support to our economy over the next few months and seek investment into these proposals. 

*The official data released today includes employment information based on surveys in three month period February to April 2021 for the North East region, which includes the North East and Tees Valley LEP areas. It also includes experimental estimates of payrolled employee numbers and job seekers claimant count numbers for May 2021. 

Ends.