Bringing together senior leaders in Tees Valley to explore how businesses can help drive a Just Transition
BITC brings together senior business leaders in Tees Valley to explore how businesses can help drive a Just Transition
Business leaders convene in Tees Valley to discuss the socioeconomic challenges facing those living and working in the area.
Business in the Community (BITC) has brought senior business leaders to Tees Valley to understand how businesses can work with communities to understand the socioeconomic issues they may face, together with opportunities that the growth of the low carbon economy in the Tees Valley region should provide, and how both could be addressed by working in collaboration.
Louise Kingham CBE, senior vice president, Europe and head of country, UK at bp, together with local business leaders across a range of sectors including energy, mining, education and banking were brought together to explore how businesses can collaborate with the local community to help drive a Just Transition – a transition to a low carbon future which benefits everyone – and discuss meaningful, long-term solutions to support economic regeneration in the region.
The Community Climate Fund
BITC’s Community Climate Fund brings businesses and communities together to look for ways to address both the climate and cost-of-living crises.[5] The initiative provides funding, shares expertise and develops partnerships to help communities generate lasting, locally led solutions, empower local people to drive meaningful change and harness the power of businesses in playing a role in a Just Transition. In Tees Valley, BITC is supporting this transition through the first of its 25 Just Transition Hubs across the UK, with the aim to scale this work up across the country.
During the visit, business leaders visited the following community organisations, all supported by BITC’s Community Climate Fund:
- Dormanstown Primary Academy: part of Tees Valley Education Trust, addressing the deep-rooted educational inequalities in Teesside and showing the benefits of collaborative efforts to tackle not just the symptoms but also the root causes of the challenges faced by local communities. The school supports its pupils and their families through toiletry and household product refill schemes, a farm shop selling affordable and healthy products for local families and programmes to educate children about local employment opportunities, offering visits to local organisations and providing real-world learning opportunities for pupils.
- Corus Club, home to the Ladies of Steel: a grassroots organisation which provides support to former steelworkers and their families in Dormanstown and the wider community. The group organises youth clubs, pensioner socials and other social activities.
- Grangetown Generations Centre and Library: delivering activities and support for all ages based on local needs. During the pandemic, Grangetown Generations supported around 1,600 households in the area over six months with food, clothing and hygiene products.
- Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre: a key component of Tees Valley Combined Authority’s regional innovation strategy, spearheaded by Teesside University, the Centre supports the ongoing drive for clean energy and sustainability, bringing together expert insight, resources and partnerships to grow net zero capabilities and opportunities, placing Teesside at the heart of the UK’s green industrial revolution.
The visit comes as the decline of steel and heavy engineering industries has seen job losses across the area, leading to high unemployment rates, low educational attainment and increased environmental deterioration. The unemployment rate among 16-64-year-olds in Tees Valley is 4.7%, far higher than the average unemployment rate in England of 4% and the UK average of 3.8%.[2] In addition, one in four workers in Tees Valley is in severely insecure work, compared to the national average of 19.8%.[3] Data from the ONS also shows that more than a third of households in Redcar and Cleveland are experiencing one dimension of deprivation.[4]
Part of BITC’s flagship The King’s Seeing is Believing programme, the visit was attended by senior business leaders from organisations, includingbp, Anglo American, British Gas Energy Trust, Costain Group, Greggs, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, Newcastle Building Society and Teesside University.
Louise Kingham CBE, senior vice president, Europe and head of country, UK at bp, said:
“Teesside has a long and proud industrial heritage and we’re proud to be part of its regeneration as we progress hydrogen and CCS projects in the region, together with our partners. The King’s Seeing is Believing visit was a great opportunity to talk with the local community and businesses about how we can work together to support economic regeneration in the region and to see the valuable work of some amazing local organizations. We look forward to continuing our work with BITC as part of the Community Climate Fund to support communities in the Tees Valley.”
Kieran Harding, Acting CEO of Business in the Community, said:
“The King’s Seeing is Believing visit programme provides a unique opportunity for senior business leaders to spend time in their local communities to understand first-hand the barriers facing the people living and working there and to come up with long-term solutions to these challenges. We know that only through business collaboration with local government and community organisations can we drive impactful collective action in these communities. BITC’s mission exists to engage business to take action to create more equitable opportunities for people and the King’s Seeing is Believing programme is one of the most powerful ways to achieve this.”
The King’s Seeing is Believing programme was established by the then Prince of Wales in 1990. The programme, supported by Salesforce and Linklaters LLP, was born from a simple but powerful belief that the best way to close the gap between the boardroom and the community was to take business leaders out to the communities and, through the power of experiential learning, to inspire and challenge participants. The visits are designed to encourage business leaders to think strategically about the implications for their own businesses and the practical actions that can be taken in response, leading to meaningful and sustained impact for both businesses and communities. To date, over 25,000 business leaders have taken part in the King’s Seeing is Believing programme which has led to various partnerships and initiatives being set up including Greggs Breakfast Clubs, BITC’s Ban the Box and Mentoring Circles in collaboration with the Department for Work and Pensions.
ENDS
Notes to editor
[1] Photos of the visit are available upon request.
[2] Data from the Annual Population Survey 2024.
[3] Lancaster University: Tees Valley City region employment profile : November 2023.
[4] ONS: Household deprivation – Census Maps, ONS.
The dimensions of deprivation used to classify households are indicators based on four selected household characteristics.
Education
A household is classified as deprived in the education dimension if no one has at least level 2 education and no one aged 16 to 18 years is a full-time student.
Employment
A household is classified as deprived in the employment dimension if any member, not a full-time student, is either unemployed or economically inactive due to long-term sickness or disability.
Health
A household is classified as deprived in the health dimension if any person in the household has general health that is bad or very bad or is identified as disabled. People who have assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses are considered disabled. This definition of a disabled person meets the harmonised standard for measuring disability and is in line with the Equality Act (2010).
Housing
A household is classified as deprived in the housing dimension if the household’s accommodation is either overcrowded, in a shared dwelling, or has no central heating.
[5] Business in the Community: Community Climate Fund – Business in the Community.
For further information, please contact Polly Dacam, Press Officer, on 020 7566 6638.