Businesses across North Somerset are set to benefit from the building of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station.
So far over 360 North Somerset companies have signed up to the project’s supplier database. Of these, 55 have already been recommended for 25 different work packages with five of Hinkley’s preferred contractors.
Working in partnership with EDF Energy, Somerset Chamber of Commerce, supported by funding from North Somerset Council, has built up a local supply chain to support the Hinkley project.
Companies across the South West have been encouraged to band together to create new supplier alliances and gain the qualifications and capacity to bid for work.
Three Weston-super-Mare companies are among those South West firms who have been awarded contracts with a combined value of more than £465m, subject to the project being given final approval by the Government.
John West (contractors) Ltd and Brooking Ruse and Co are part of HOST, a new venture of four Somerset companies who have joined forces to manage the 1,500-bed accommodation campuses for the Hinkley workforce.
And the Weston-based family business, Crosville Motor Services Ltd, has formed a joint venture with First Bus to establish Somerset Passenger Solutions to operate and manage a bus service to transport workers to and from the construction site.
Somerset Passenger Solutions plans to operate high frequency services to Hinkley Point from dedicated park and ride sites, staff campus accommodation sites and from surrounding towns and villages for employees living across the area. They estimate employing 300 dedicated staff to manage the anticipated 5,000 daily passenger return journeys during peak construction.
Jonathan Jones-Pratt, chairman of Crosville Motor Services, said: “We have already created 100 jobs from this which demonstrates a success legacy in its own merit.”
Hinkley will create around 25,000 job opportunities during its construction period over the next decade and some 900 permanent jobs during the 60 years that the power station will supply seven per cent of the UK’s electricity demands, generating enough low carbon electricity to power around six million homes.
This will generate unprecedented opportunities for improving the skills of the region’s workforce and there has already been significant investment in North Somerset with Weston College’s £12m North Somerset Enterprise and Technology College opening next month and the recently completed £5m Future Technology College which will provide a steady stream of skilled people to utilise the job opportunities created by Hinkley.
The Government is currently reviewing the details of the Hinkley Point C project and has said a final decision is likely to be made in the autumn.
Pointing to the huge benefits the project will bring to businesses and employment across North Somerset and the wider region, Cllr Elfan Ap Rees, North Somerset Council’s deputy leader, said: “We understand the new Government wishing to undertake this review to ensure the country is achieving best value and that economic and energy policy considerations are taken into account.
“The investment we have made to date will ensure that local businesses and residents are in a strong position to reap the significant economic rewards available.”
