By Tracey Carter, Director of Regeneration and Inclusive Growth at Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Stockton-on-Tees is the economic powerhouse of the Tees Valley, sitting at the heart of the region with incredible connectivity to the North East and beyond, contributing more than a third of the region’s economic output. 

The Council’s vision for the Borough is one of innovation, vibrancy and forward-thinking. Its Powering Our Future transformation programme is ensuring that Stockton is a place where people want to live, work and visit now and in the future.

The Borough is on the cusp of some of the biggest regeneration programmes of this generation, with the flagship project Stockton Waterfront urban park set to open later in the spring.

Stockton Waterfront is the latest chapter in the  radical transformation of Stockton Town Centre enabled by  the purchase and demolition of Castlegate Shopping Centre, removing around 300,000sqft of floorspace  to make way for an urban park  three times the size of Trafalgar Square, which  connects the town centre to the River Tees once more and abuts a number of sites identified for redevelopment. This is a significant opportunity to drive further change in the area.

The town has innovated in the past and continues to innovate through its specialist business support, nurturing the growth of hundreds of firms. 9,148 businesses already call Stockton-on-Tees home, including Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, one of the UK’s leading biopharmaceuticals manufacturing campuses, specialising in the development and production of biologics, vaccines, advanced therapies and microbialbased biomanufacturing, automotive manufacturer Nifco and precision energy engineering experts Wilton Engineering. And work is underway to create Teeslink, a new 54-acre development site in Eaglescliffe, delivered by Rula Developments which could see the creation of up to 1,000 new jobs.

Other ambitious projects like the creation of a nationally significant £14.7m specialist engineering training centre will ensure new skills and training align with employer needs alongside our dedicated Employment and Training Hub which has helped over 1,820 people into employment since it launched in 2022. 

It’s easy to see why businesses are investing and thriving.

Looking to the future, we are progressing Tees Central, one of the UK’s largest brownfield regeneration sites in the country. Working with partners, we will redevelop the 70-hectare unused Tees Marshalling Yards into a new community at the heart of the Tees Valley. This will include 3000 homes and 1million sq ft of potential employment and commercial development, with a potential platform for significant investment in new clinical facilities.

This is a huge opportunity to super power the economic growth aspirations for Stockton-on-Tees and links with the development of a nationally significant Care and Health Innovation Zone cluster, combining 110-hectares of land.

The Stockton and Tees Central plans include a significant opportunity for town centre living, developing a portfolio of development opportunities with a mixed tenure of affordable housing, student residential and homes suitable for residents’ needs to increase town centre vibrancy.

Investor confidence in Stockton-on-Tees is strong and we’re looking for partners to join us on the next step of this transformational journey. 

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