Ian Williams Director of Economic Growth

Driving the Economy Where are we? Where do we want to be - The Vision? The Strategies to get us there Actions to making it happen

Where are we? Employment rate is now 73.5% with a pre recession rate of 71.1% this is above the national average of 71.9% and Tees Valley average of 66.5% Unemployment rate is currently 8% with a pre recession rate of 5.3% Currently 1,965 on job seekers allowance, 865 less than the previous year Youth unemployment an still an issue at 5.6% (450 JSA; 18-24) but has fallen within last year by 305 from a rate of 9.3% Average residence based earnings grew in last 12 months by £33 pp/pw New businesses formations in 2013 are around 450 compared to 350 in In last 12 months we have seen housing growth pick up with around 400 – 420 new housing completions expected in 2014/15.

Where do we want to be?  Transforming Economy Place and Lives  Building on Excellent Connectivity and Quality of life - People  Enabling Infrastructure  Support and Encourage Business Growth Sectors Strategies to get us there…..

Darlington Town Centre Central Park Town Centre Fringe Heritage led regeneration Lingfield Point Housing Working with existing businesses Inward investment Major Opportunities

Central Park Master plan

National Biologics Manufacturing Centre £38m project, delivered by CPI Set to open at Central Park in summer 2015 National showcase facility for R&D of pharmaceutical manufacturing processes 5,000sqm building on gateway to Central Park South Already producing opportunities for spin-offs and sector growth with developments for a National Horizons Centre and CPI Factories for the Future planned to start on site in 2016/17

Business Growth Hub Set to open April 2015 ERDF and HCA funded at £6.6m Grade A & BREEAM Excellent serviced office facility offering 52 units over 2,250 sqm (net) This will offer office space for up to 60 firms, as well as an Open Space co-working facility

Sector Priorities  Biologics  Subsea  Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing  Logistics  Public Sector/Service Sector  Digital creative sectors  Retail  Health

Place Objectives:  Raise the profile of borough through marketing/influencing/informing to generate economic growth.  Reduce migration to other employment/retail/leisure/cultural centres. Place Achievements: Produced a sites & premises web portal which went live in December Held a Town Centre Conference in March 2014 to determine how we promote town centre offer and quality of life - draft Town Centre Business Plan presented to Town Centre Board November Worked in partnership to deliver the second Festival of Thrift event which attracted over 40,000 visitors and the Senior Golf open which attracted 10,000 visitors. New public sector hub in the town centre, with shared office space between DfE and the Council opened at the end of January Inward Investment enquiries dealt with by Economy Team and TVU, 19 of these expansion projects from locally based businesses.  Work on the new cinema, hotel and leisure complex is underway, together with construction of a multi-storey car park which will free other sites for development. Opening of the Cinema is planned for the March  Secured retail development to be led by OPUS on North Road  WIP – Faverdale retail park applications, Yarm Road. Key = achieved  = in progress

People Objectives:  Close gap between skills needs and skills availability  Reduce levels of worklessness/young people NEET  Skilled local workforce able to meet business needs  Reduce levels of JSA claimants People Achievements: Completed an employer skills survey to identify future training needs / opportunities Successfully supported 94 Darlington businesses take part in Tees Valley workforce skills project with 279 employees receiving training in areas including hospitality, marketing, construction and health & safety. Started Red Hall employability project (summer 2014) with a weekly Jobs club, held at the Community Centre and support for Red hall residents to access local employment 103 new jobs have been approved and 5 jobs safe-guarded in Darlington through the Tees Valley Workforce Investment Scheme a.k.a ‘wage subsidy’ Value of ‘wage subsidy’ approved in borough is £869,815, matched by £2,847,781 in private funds Last year Foundation for Jobs created 194 new apprenticeships, 122 internships/work experience placements and worked with 1399 pupils. In the last year Youth unemployment (18-24) has fallen from 9.3% to 5.6% Darlington has second lowest NEET figure of all TV authorities at 7%  Continued to roll out the Encouraging Engineering Scheme with 2 participants completed and working in relevant companies.  Worked in partnership Distinct Darlington to recruit Town Centre Businesses in the TVWS programme - delivering a series of training sessions between January – April 2015 aimed at supporting the retail sector.

Infrastructure Objectives:  Business and employment growth is supported  Key sectors (existing and emerging) are supported for growth  Darlington remains a viable and competitive location for business  Effective transport system that meets the needs and aspirations of all Infrastructure Achievements: Allocated £2.2M Local Growth funding for opening up access to Central Park from Yarm Road. Influenced Highways Agency investment in junction improvements at the A66 junction with Yarm Road. Secured £17.5M in LGF to support a National Horizons Centre providing high-value, integrated support for companies in innovation and commercialization as well as training programmes. Development planned to start in 2016/17. Attained £10M in LGF to facilitate the next stage of the NBMC development, Factories for the Future with work planned to start in 2016/17. Supported sale of Lingfield Point to developers Clear Bell, with ambitions to continue to build on the success of the site and to see Lingfield Point become a flagship for successful regeneration in the North East. Successfully allocated £30M in pipeline funding to support regeneration activity in 2016/17 and 2017/18. Worked with consortium of east coast mainline Local Authorities to develop business case for investment. Active partners in Rail North – combined lobbying group for North East rail investment. Continuation of the inner ring road upgrades – making bus journey times 3% more reliable.  Influenced BT High speed broadband rollout programme through BDUK in town centre and Central Park enterprise zone - to complete Spring  Identifying infrastructure requirements on our retail parks and looking at feasibility work for future LGF bids.

Business Growth Objectives:  Retain growth businesses and attract new businesses  % decrease in business failure rates by 3 rd birthday  % increase in GVA per filled job  More opportunities for local businesses to tender for local opportunities Business Growth Achievements: Developing a dedicated ‘inward investment’ website - expected to go live by April £1.7M in private sector investment agreed at Faverdale East. Supported 38 businesses / vacant premises occupied, includes 33 new businesses through the High Street Innovation Fund. To date, from Autumn 2013 there have been 120 new business starts, and 136 jobs created. Completed a report on opportunities for investment in Logistics operations – sector action plans to complete.