Posted on April 16, 2019

Tees Valley Combined Authority (the Combined Authority) has appointed AspinallVerdi and Peter Brett Associates (PBA) to undertake a Tees Valley-wide Office and Industrial Workspace Availability Study. The study covers the five Council areas which constitute the region, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton on Tees.

The Combined Authority has developed a Strategic Economic Plan for the region which aims to create 25,000 jobs and add £2.8bn to the economy by 2026. Within this context of economic growth, the Tees Valley must ensure that business accommodation matches needs and opportunities. In supporting this, the Combined Authority and its partners have invested, and continue to invest, in a variety of projects, be they advanced manufacturing parks to support SMEs and inward investment, digital hubs to support the creative sector, live/work accommodation to support changing working practices, centres of excellence to support research and innovation or premium office development to support growth in the wider professional services sector.

Aspinall Verdi and Peter Brett Associates have been commissioned by the Combined Authority to deliver the Office and Industrial Workspace Availability Study which focuses on three main outputs:

• A robust baseline of existing office and industrial workspace across the region;
• An assessment of the fitness of purpose of existing office and industrial workspace and the range of supports presently offered by the Combined Authority and respective Local Authorities; and
• Developing growth projections for the region and its priority sectors and ensuring that there is an adequate pipeline of office and industrial workspace supply to meet future demand.

The results of the study will directly influence the Combined Authority’s emerging investment policy for the next ten years.

Stuart Cook, Director said: “We are very pleased to have been instructed to undertake work on behalf of the Combined Authority. The region has a number of unique assets which do not exist in other areas of the UK. This uniqueness gives it a competitive advantage for global investment opportunities. AspinallVerdi and PBA have jointly worked on employment studies across the UK over a number of years and have the exact skills and knowledge to deliver the outputs required by the Combined Authority.”

The study is due to be completed in July 2019.