Member Article

Enterprise Zone secures Tracero £8.6m expansion

Tracerco is the most recent company to benefit from incentives on Stockton Borough’s three sites across the Tees Valley Enterprise Zone.

Within the last few weeks, Tracerco - part of Johnson Matthey Plc - has successfully secured a £1m grant from the £30m ‘Let’s Grow’ programme, part of the Regional Growth Fund programme (RGF).

The grant will support a £8.6m investment programme including a new 61,000 sq ft bespoke research and development facility, in addition to some existing Tracerco buildings, and will be one of the largest developments on an Enterprise Zone Business Rate Relief site in the country.

The new development is expected to create 50 new jobs.

Councillor Jim Beall, Deputy Leader of Stockton Borough Council, said: “We’re delighted that Tracerco has secured the Let’s Grow grant for investment in its research and development facilities.

“The new building will create specialist jobs as well as ensure this fantastic Stockton company can continue to grow and secure new contracts.

“It is terrific that we are already seeing the Tees Valley Enterprise Zone succeed – with the sites based within Stockton Borough playing an instrumental part in the on-going development of the local economy and job creation.”

Stephen Catchpole, managing director of Tees Valley Unlimited, said: “It is particularly satisfying to see the different streams of business support come together to benefit a local company and help them grow.”

Andy Hurst, Managing Director at Tracerco, added: “The new Measurement Technology Centre is the platform for innovation and will support growth in our Measurement Instruments business for the next decade.

“It will support the development of more unique and special diagnostic devices, such as ‘Discovery’, our latest development for the subsea industry, to maintain our position as world leader in our sectors.”

At the Enterprise Zone Business Rate Discount sites at Belasis Business Park and Northshore, businesses can take advantage of up to £55,000 of business rate discount per year for five years and the New Energy and Technology Park at Seal Sands provides 100 per cent Enhanced Capital Allowance on capital investment.

Other recent developments at the sites include a new £320m power plant for Air Products and the expansion of Phusion, the award-winning international engineering information management specialists.

In addition to the central Government funded Enterprise Zones at Belasis Business Park and Seal Sands, the Stockton Council supported Northshore Enterprise Zone is proving successful. Northshore is already home to an award-winning riverside housing development, ‘VIVO Northshore’, and plans to create a new £6million Innovation Centre for digital, science and technology businesses.

Northshore is linked via the iconic Infinity Bridge to Teesdale Business Park which is home to Durham University, Queen’s Campus, the Wolfson Institute and Stockton Riverside College.

The ‘Let’s Grow’ RGF programme is a collaboration between Trinity Mirror Group, BE Group and UNW LLP and provides grant support in the range £50,000 to £1m for capital investment and R&D projects creating or safeguarding jobs in the North East of England.

Tracerco won a Queens Award in Enterprise in 2009 and the North East Company of the year 2008.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .