Ensuring more ‘shovel ready’ employment sites are available throughout Teesside should be the main focus of the new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), according to one of the area’s leading commercial property agents.
Stephen Brown, senior partner at Dodds Brown LLP, the largest independent commercial property surveying practice headquartered on Teesside, says that there is a shortage of readily available sites for large employers looking to relocate from within or outside the area.
“If the MDC wants to make a positive impact on the economic growth of the area it needs to deliver many more buildings and sites for major employers, as well as looking to the long term clean-up of the SSI works in Redcar,” says Mr Brown, who has worked in commercial property in Teesside for the more than 30 years.
“Availability of ‘shovel ready’ employment land now is crucial. We have had to work very hard to find the land to keep some major manufacturing companies in the area, and there are very few sites which could immediately meet the needs of a company looking to move to Teesside with much needed jobs.
“The appointment of the successor to Stephen Catchpole, who leaves his post as Chief Executive of Tees Valley Unlimited at the end of this month (March 2016), will be crucial to ensure that no momentum is lost in the development of new sites and the focus on inward investment. The relationship between the new chief executive and the MDC will be a vital one to ensure success.”
