Logic-i

By Stephen Priestley, commercial director of Logic-i

For too long the North East was a largely forgotten region in terms of key construction infrastructure projects that provided an impetus for sustained economic growth.

According to the Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) forecast for the region up to 2026, the volume of construction work in the North East stands at 2.6%, slightly behind the annual 3.2% UK average.

It predicts the fastest growth sectors as being commercial and infrastructure projects, non-housing repairs and maintenance and private housing.

Meanwhile, it warns that recruitment gaps within the industry will be in non-construction professional, technical, IT and other office-based staff, plant operatives, and those involved in the wood trades and interior fit outs. In short, it estimates the North East needs to recruit an extra 9,250 workers over the next three years.

It’s a fact that the skills shortage and an ageing workforce remains one of the biggest issues facing this region in terms of construction, however it’s also a major problem in just about every other sector.

As a start-up company with decades of combined experience in commercial and contract management, planning and cost controls in the construction and industrial sectors, Logic-I is now helping to fill that skills gap.

A strong and growing pipeline of work is a real-world indicator that, despite the gloom surrounding the current economic turbulence, it remains an exciting time to be in the North East.

While we operate across multiple sectors, including power, transport, utilities, petrochemicals, LNG, pharma, defence, manufacturing, retail and urban regeneration, one area of growing activity is green energy.

For example, Logic-i played an integral role in the project management team involved in Atlantic Projects Company’s ground-breaking MGT Tees Renewable Energy Plant, one of the world’s largest biomass fuelled power station that will produce 2.3 TWh of low carbon electricity every year – enough to power 600,000 homes.

Indeed, there are a plethora of game changing projects on the horizon set to make this region, and Teesside in particular, a centre for zero and low carbon energy.

They include the UK’s first large-scale lithium refinery for electric batteries to be built by Green Lithium at Teesport. Due in 2025, it will reinforce the country’s electric supply chain as well as the levelling up agenda – creating more than 1,000 jobs in the construction phase and 250 jobs thereafter.

Other national infrastructure projects include Net Zero Teesside which places it at the heart of UK energy security, generating 5,500 jobs, as part of a £1.5 billion scheme to create the world’s first gas-fired power plant with carbon capture and storage facilities. It will produce up to 860 megawatts of electricity, enough to power around 1.3m homes per year, while injecting up to £300m to the economy each year. Up to two million tonnes of CO2 emissions from the power station will be captured per year and transported offshore for storage.

It is also at the heart of hydrogen generation and distribution with H2 Teesside. BP is behind the project, together with HyGreen Teesside which together could account for 15% of the government’s 2030 target of 10 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production.

The area is also set for the world’s largest waste to sustainable aviation fuel (SAS) plant. Known as the Lighthouse Green Fuels project, it is being developed by Dutch-based N+P alongside Saudi conglomerate Alfanar. According to Alfanar, the plant will benefit from carbon capture technology being developed as part of Teesside's industrial cluster.

Not too many years ago those working in construction left the North East to work on major infrastructure projects, contributing to the prosperity and economic fortunes of other regions.

Finally, we seem to have turned a corner in an area once best known for unemployment and industrial decline.

If we lag slightly behind in terms of volume of construction work, then I trust it won’t be for too long. Teesside and the wider North East is fast becoming ground zero for a new low carbon industrial future.

I believe we have passed the ‘tipping point’ when the only reason businesses moved to the North East was to collect a financial inducement. Those days are over, and we now attract major infrastructure projects, not only because of the existing skills and expertise, but due to having achieved a critical mass of industry and innovation.

Given this, any skills and recruitment shortage can be overcome. Some may say it’s somewhat of a positive problem and charts this region’s genuine transformation towards a clean energy powerhouse.

ENDS