Member Article

North East Automotive Alliance opens for business

The North East Automotive Alliance (NEAA), a major new body to promote and support the growth of the region’s key automotive industry, is now officially open for business.

The NEAA, which is headquartered in Sunderland, is an industry-led organisation which brings together major names including Nissan, Nifco, Komatsu, Sevcon and Hyperdrive.

According to research by the NEAA, the automotive industry generates £7bn in sales for the North East, is responsible for £5.1bn in exports and creates a £2.6bn trade surplus annually.

In the last five years, more than £1bn in regional investment has been made into 21 automotive projects in the North East.

The sector directly employs 26,000 people and impacts on a further 141,000 jobs. Potentially, 10,000 additional jobs could be created in the next five to 10 years.

The NEAA is looking to address skills gaps left by workers who are due to retire during that period, while also working to understand the region’s capabilities and gaps in the supply chain; carrying out benchmarking and sharing best practice, innovation and technology; and promoting the North East’s automotive excellence to the global market.

NEAA is offering membership to businesses in the sector ranging from multinationals to sole traders.

The Sunderland-headquartered organisation has appointed cluster-management specialist Paul Butler as its CEO.

Paul Butler, CEO of the NEAA, is the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis, an organisation mandated by the European Commission to promote cluster management excellence, and he is the UK’s only benchmarking expert for the UK.

Prior to his appointment Mr Butler spent almost a decade on the management team of one of Europe’s leading clusters, the North East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic)

He said: “In February last year, we had a meeting with key North East automotive businesses and invited the North West Automotive Alliance across to talk to us. That meeting spurred an appetite within the sector to create our own cluster.

“Many regions across the EU are organised in such a way. 150 people will be attending Friday’s event is further proof of the enthusiasm within the broader automotive sector.

“A whole range of businesses and organisations have already signed up to the cluster from large manufacturers, tier-one suppliers to single-person suppliers, legal, financial, and academic organisations.”

Nissan’s Vice President for Manufacturing in the UK, Kevin Fitzpatrick, has been appointed to chair the NEAA. He said: “There are many opportunities ahead for companies in the automotive industry in North East England to win new business in the UK and from overseas and to improve their competitiveness and capability. The North East Automotive Alliance will provide the platform for making sure companies in the North East are able to take full advantage.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .