SunderlandThe UK’s Automotive Hub

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Sunderland is home to theUK’s largest car plant of alltime, Nissan MotorManufacturing UK (NMUK), and an ever-expanding supply chain of componentmanufacturers. More than42,000 people are employed in the automotive sectoracross Sunderland and theNorth East England region

Located on the breathtaking coastline of the North Sea,along the banks of the River Wear, Sunderland has aclear vision of its future as a first-choice destination forautomotive businesses.

Investing in Sunderland is a low risk, high rewardopportunity for any business; the city has a strongheritage of making things well, and a proven trackrecord in attracting, supporting and nurturingsuccessful enterprises from manufacturing to newtechnology, knowledge economy and R&D companies.

Since the arrival of the Japanese car giant Nissan in1984, Sunderland has continued to build upon itsworldwide reputation as a centre for automotivemanufacturing and is currently renowned as one of thefastest growing automotive cities in the UK.

Automotive and advanced manufacturing plants hereare among the most productive in the world, pointing tothe role of process innovation in driving productivitygains. Efficient processes developed in Sunderland arebeing rolled-out to production facilities globally and areoften identified as centres of excellence, trialling newsystems and techniques.

Sunderland, UK boasts abeautiful 13 kilometres longcoastline

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Sunderland has excellent access to the rest of the UK,minutes from principal north-south roads and rail, andless than 30 minutes by car from NewcastleInternational Airport offering direct flights to 85 world-wide destinations.

The Port of Sunderland is ideally situated, with immediateaccess to open sea and three kilometres of river anddock berths. Owned by the City Council, the portcontinues to invest in its facilities and infrastructure,developing as an multimodal hub for sea, road and rail.

The city is already home to over 87 global companies,employing almost 26,700 people. Sunderland hasattracted 10,000 jobs and more than £1.1billionbusiness investment in the past five years, more thanany similar sized UK city.

“During these last 25 years, we have grownalong with our strategic customers to a pointwhere we now employ over one thousand, onehundred people in the North East of England,over nine hundred of which are based withinour Sunderland operations.”

Yokinobu KodamaPresident of Vantec Corporation

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Sunderland’s automotive strength

Sunderland’s automotive sector is world-class, with athriving top ranked global supply chain not onlyproducing but researching and developing newproducts and technology in the city.

While some suppliers are located adjacent to the Nissanplant, others are integrated onto the production lineitself, interconnected by a ‘Just-in-time’ system makingfull use of the excellent road networks and helping tomaintain the plants high productivity reputation.

The last five years have seen huge growth in the city’svehicle-making sector. Sunderland’s automotivecompanies have created over 3,700 new jobs, £917million of capital expenditure and built two million sq.ft.of new floorspace on 88 acres of land to support

“Nissan is doing great in Europe... and aboutto become the largest Asian brand in Europe.Part of this success is due to the fact that wewere capable to develop in the UK anextremely competitive plant like Sunderland,with great people working in it. It allows us togrow our position in Europe.”

Carlos GhosnChairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault-Nissan Alliance

In the last five yearsSunderland’s automotivecompanies have created over3,700 new jobs, with£917million capital expenditure

Nissan Sunderland is the UK’ssingle most productive plant

their UK operation and their increasingly thriving export trade.

The consistent investment by automotive companiespositions the city as a globally significant automotivehub for manufacturing and investment.

Cluster excellence

Sunderland is also the base of the North EastAutomotive Alliance (NEAA), the UK’s largest automotivecluster. Launched in March 2015, the NEAA supportsthe sustainable economic growth and competitivenessof the North East automotive sector.

The industry-led cluster has successfully created anumber of thematic working groups where localautomotive industrialists collaborate on issues thathave an impact on their sector including businessexcellence (competitiveness), skills and innovation andtechnology. The alliance also provides member-to-member engagement, connects the supply chain tobusiness opportunities, and enables members to worktogether to solve skills issues and share best practice.

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Skills and training

The city’s thriving business sectors, college anduniversity are set to grow further following Sunderlandand South Tyneside’s negotiation of a City Deal, whichwill bring world-class resources for advancedmanufacturing with an International AdvancedManufacturing Park, (IAMP) and a new bridge acrossthe River Wear linking business districts with the Port ofSunderland and city centre.

The IAMP will help to create thousands of jobs and bring in an estimated £300million of private sectorinvestment, building on the established success ofSunderland’s car industry. And the education sector inSunderland and South Tyneside is already gearing up tosupport it, with a skills partnership formed between thearea’s two colleges and the University of Sunderland,ensuring that more young engineers are supported intothe world of work.

Higher level skills are also a priority, and the universityis working to develop leaders who can fill the middlemanagement requirements of the growing number ofbusinesses being attracted to the city.

The city’s highly skilled, willing and ambitious workforceis recognised as a further strength in the automotivesector. Gateshead and Sunderland colleges and thecity’s university work closely with automotive companiesto develop tailormade training courses.

Unipres UK Ltd has opened a training academy in 2017to offer engineering apprentices valuable training inautomotive components assembly at Washington,Sunderland – something that is being supported bySunderland College.

Gateshead College has developed the UK’s first £10mCentre for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation(SASMI) to train automotive apprentices at its SkillsAcademy for Automotive Engineering, Manufacturingand Logistics.

The University of Sunderland is home to the Institute forAutomotive and Manufacturing Advanced Practice(AMAP) and provides project consultancy, education,training and research.

Companies in Sunderland often quote the culture of the local workforce as beinghighly flexible in responding to changing demands of the automotive sector, a main contributing factor in their success

“Vantec and Hitachi Transport System haveshown their commitment to the growth of thebusiness within Sunderland and haveinvested almost £50 million into job securityand job creation within the past five years.” “It shows the company’s confidence in theNorth East, especially the Sunderland area,and provides stability and the ability to investin future growth.”

Martin KendallVantec Europe Managing Director

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Low Carbon Hub

Sunderland and the North East of England became theUK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area specialising inultra-low carbon vehicles in 2009, and already has aninternational reputation in the field of Low CarbonVehicle Development, with Nissan and other companiessuch as Hyperdrive Innovation, pioneering gamechanging technology in the use of low carbon andelectric vehicles and energy storage. Nissan alsostarted production of the LEAF in 2013, the world’s firstaffordable mass produced zero emission car andlithium-ion batteries for electrical vehicles, the largestfacility of its type in Europe (now owned by GSR Captial).

Sunderland Low Carbon Enterprise Zone, comprising25.95 hectares across two sites, offers a number ofbenefits and incentives, and is a primary location forautomotive, low carbon vehicles, advancedmanufacturing and advanced engineering sectors.

The region is now home to the UK’s most comprehensiveregional electric vehicle recharging network.

Zero Carbon Futures has built a dedicated FutureTechnology Centre at the heart of Sunderland’s

automotive zone, providing access to the full range oflow carbon fuelling technologies including electricvehicle charge points, induction charging and hydrogenrefuelling stations.

Hyperdrive Innovation have successfully incorporatednew and used battery modules in their new intelligentbattery systems for deployment to power electric andhybrid vehicles, as well as providing energy storage foroff-grid and back-up utility supply.

International Advance Manufacturing Park (IAMP)

With 25hectates of the site benefiting from EnterpriseZone Status (100% Capital Allowances) from 2018, theInternational Advanced Manufacturing Park, apartnership between Sunderland and South TynesideCouncils, will be a world-class location from whichautomotive supply chain, international advancedmanufacturing and R&D companies will thrive.

The 100hectare business park located adjacent to theNissan (NMUK) plant will be built over three phases withroom for more than 260,000m² of industrial floor space.The site will also be situated close to major trunk roadsincluding the A19 and is expected to create more than5,200 jobs, and bring in more than £300million ofprivate sector investment.

The project will cost more than £91million in total, withsupport coming from Sunderland and South TynesideCouncils, the North East Local Enterprise Partnership(NELEP) and UK Government.

Planning for the site is well advanced, and the UKGovernment has designated IAMP as a NationallySignificant Infrastructure Project. As part of recentannouncements in line with the Government’sdevelopment of an Industrial Strategy, over £42millionof funding was announced for IAMP’s infrastructure ofnew roads, utilities and environmental management.

The park will have the size and impact to boost thegrowth of the UK’s high-tech automotive and advancedmanufacturing industries, and help to position the UK asa global player in these fast growing sectors.

Commitment to world-class space for advancedmanufacturing companies at the IAMP is poised to takeSunderland’s global reputation in the automotive sectorto another level.

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Sunderland Regeneration

The City Council has created a joint venture companywith private sector companies to transform major siteswithin the city. The new company, Siglion, is now workingtowards fulfilling its five priorities which are: to improveconcentration of new economic activity in the citycentre: create a city centre that supports higher valuejob creation: bring dormant areas back into use: offer awider choice of housing to the market and to positionSunderland as a place to invest. Its focused work isdelivering long-term regeneration, spearheading astep-change in the Sunderland economy.

Investing in our city

A programme of investment in infrastructure andtechnology means that Sunderland is now a well-established software and digital tech hub, recognisedon a national and international stage.

Underpinning this hard infrastructure is excellentconnectivity. Recent investment in soft infrastructuresuch as wall-to-wall superfast broadband means it reallyis a city that is embracing technology in a big way. Almost15 years ago the City Council made a major commitmentto stimulating the growth of the software sector andSunderland is now home two dedicated software hubs –Evolve Business Centre, in Rainton Bridge, andSunderland Software Centre, at the heart of the city –between them home to a range of highly successfulsoftware, digital and tech companies many of which arecollaborating on projects within the automotive andadvanced manufacturing supply chain sector.

The city’s digital tech businesses grew by 101% between2011 and 2015 - the second fastest rate of growth inthe UK outside London - and supports over 5,700 jobs.

With a well-serviced municipally owned port, immediateaccess to the open sea and a highly skilled engineeringworkforce, Sunderland is ideally located for access bysea, road and rail; and is set to play a leading role in theUK’s growing offshore and renewable sectors.

Major infrastructure works at the port have paved theway for a new wave of projects to come into the city. Twocranes, one a heavy-lift crane, now have a presence atthe port, and a significant increase in hardstandingmeans the port is more than capable of handling bulkcargo. Connectivity into and out of the port is the best ithas been, with new direct rail links plugging it in to thenational network. And just five minutes from open sea,access 24/7 and a flexible and accommodating team,Port of Sunderland has grown its reputation as a highlyaccessible, welcoming port. The New Wear Crossing willalso connect it to the region’s major trunk roads, theA19 and A1, meaning it will be easier than ever forcargo to move freely into and out of the city.

Almost £1.3 billion is committedover the next four years to build new developments andinfrastructure projects whichwill transform Sunderland andcreate a strong platform forlong-term growth

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Support and assistance

The strong support offered by Sunderland City Councilhas been an important aspect of the continuing successof companies located in the city.

The City Council works in partnership with companies’key decision makers, and offers an extensive strategicaftercare programme, fostering effective workingrelationships with local plant managers to help themoperate efficiently. It also provides practical assistancein taking forward their growth plans.

We’re here to help to support your business:

• business development advice

• funding and guidance

• specialist land and property search service

• connections to industry networks and Government bodies

Contact the Business Investment Team

E info@makeitsunderland.comT +44(0)191 561 1194W makeitsunderland.com

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Find out more about what Sunderland could offer your business.

E info@makeitsunderland.comT +44(0)191 561 1194W makeitsunderland.com

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