Member Article

Partnership secures 235 jobs

Hartlepool Council has teamed up with a leading information technology provider to secure 235 jobs for the town and save the Council £1 million a year.

News of the agreement with Northgate Public Services follows hard on the heels of the launch of Hartlepool Vision - a radical blueprint unveiled by Hartlepool Council aimed at sparking regeneration across eight key areas of Hartlepool.

Northgate will be one of the town’s biggest employers and has the capacity to increase its workforce to 300.

A key part of the seven-year agreement which has a three-year extension option, involves Northgate establishing its new Regional Business Centre in the town which will be known as Northgate House.

A further spin-off has seen the setting up of the new Northgate Academy, in conjunction with Hartlepool College of Further Educatyion, Through the academy, Northgate has guaranteed 35 modern apprenticeshipsover the term of their contract for those wanting to work in the information technology sector.

Northgate is also planning to work with the Council to identify a range of local projects and activities which it can support.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, Leader of Hartlepool Council, said: “The agreement with Northgate Public Services represents fantastic value for the people of Hartlepool. Not only does it secure hundreds of jobs for Hartlepool and the scope to create many more, it also delivers significant savings for the Council at a time when we are facing unprecedented cuts in Government funding and immense pressures on Council services.

“Last week at the launch of Hartlepool Vision, we emphasised that as a Council we want to create more high-quality enterprises and businesses so that more of the town’s young people can secure jobs in Hartlepool. The creation of Northgate’s Business Centre in the town is a classic example of how this can be achieved.”

Over the term of the agreement it is estimated that Northgate’s presence in the town will result in £2.9 million being ploughed into the local economy.

Based on Northgate’s innovative and ground-breaking alternative delivery model approach, this strategic partnership will see Northgate deliver a series of pioneering initiatives through its IT and transformation services. These will help the Council to save a total of £7.63 million over this period.

In all, Northgate is investing £2 million to modernise ICT, including a completely modernised desktop and server infrastructure that fulfils the Council’s objectives of a modern and efficient IT solution that is capable of both responding to change as well as being flexible to the challenges facing the Council.

Joe Bradley, Executive Director, Northgate Public Services, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Hartlepool Council, not only to improve its IT services but to embark on a range of large-scale initiatives to benefit the wider community.

“We are proud to be able to offer the Council our company’s alternative approach to providing services to councils such as this and to help with their key aims of economic regeneration, job creation and business growth.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Steve Hilton .