Member Article

NEPIC announces £2.5bn GVA generation

NEPIC, the Wilton-based industry cluster, has revealed that in excess of £2.5bn in Gross Value Added has been generated through its activities since inception in 2005.

The announcement came as 470 delegates converged at its annual Members’ Conference and Exhibition at Wynyard Hall on Wednesday 03 June.

The Meet the Members Conference & Exhibition, which is now in its 5th year, not only showcases future North East investment projects and associated supply chain opportunities, but also connects regional companies through almost 200 pre-arranged 1-2-1 mentoring meetings.

Delegates heard from major regional players including SABIC, MSD, Teesside Collective and Estover Energy, as well as Tata Chemicals and Libra Techcon of India and Chemie-Cluster Bayern of Germany. A series of mini master classes also took place and covered selling, branding, buying and web analytics.

Martin Inskip, Senior Director of Operations of pharmaceutical giant MSD, commented on the importance of supporting NEPIC events:

“We are very proud of our achievement of being a supplier of world class medicines to global markets over many years in a tough competitive environment. We are pleased to share our experiences with NEPIC members so they can expand their capabilities, be successful and enhance the process industry in the UK and the region.”

Out in the exhibition area, 90 exhibitors packed out Wynyard Hall’s new Grand Marquee and included the likes of ABB, Tracerco, Tomlinson Hall, Haden Freeman, CY Partners, Fraser Nash, Sembcorp, Lucion Environmental but to name a few.

North East engineering firm, JBA Engineering, who joined the conference for the first time, commented on their experience: “This was an outstanding event. From a first time exhibitor perspective we were very impressed with all aspects of the conference and would definitely recommend it to others.

“We met with some exceptional people, networked with lots of differing companies, feel that we have considerably raised our profile within the region and look forward to new business in the near future.”

NEPIC’s Chief Executive, Dr Stan Higgins, who opened conference, explained the GVA figures: “GVA figures are generated through jobs added or safeguarded and to-date, through the Cluster activities, this figure has reached 4,656 equating to £42m of GVA per annum. In total, over ten years, this combined value now exceeds £2.5bn.”

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