by Rob Rosson
The Tendring peninsula lies in north-east Essex, stretching from the outskirts of Colchester to the coast. An attractive are boasting fine views, rivers and beaches, its main towns are Clacton on Sea (population 48,000) and Harwich (18,000). The tourist industry is strong — based on tradition and family beach holidays and watersports (Clacton has one of the few European Blue Flag Awards for cleanliness and services). Short breaks for mature holidaymakers and those with special interests are forming an increasing share of the local tourism market.
Communications to and from the district are superb. This is an overworked cliche and yet Tendring has been transformed from a peripheral area of the South East to one at the crossroads by virtue of the increasing trade with Europe through the port of Harwich. No part of Tendring is more than 6 miles from a dual carriageway trunk road and domestic markets can be easily served via the A12 to London and the M25, and the A45 to the Midlands and beyond. An immense population is found within a day’s round trip from Harwich.
Ferries leave from Harwich to Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden and the freight-only services to northern Europe are good — with daily sailings to ports such as Antwerp. Most of Harwich’s trade is short-sea, but markets further afield may be served via Rotterdam or from Felixstowe across the Stour estuary. Last year, Parkeston Quay handled more than 130,000 containers and was Britain’s second passenger port after Dover. Over two and a half million people passed through the port on their way to their destinations. Air links are good and improving: with both Stansted and Southend airports less than an hour away, business travellers no longer need to go to Heathrow to catch connections to major centres in Europe.
Strong local industries include electronic components, plastics, engineering, and furniture and clothing manufacturing. Many of Tendring’s businesses are small and dynamic — there are no Fords or Leylands here. Businesses are relocating into Tendring to escape from labour shortages, high land values and rents and the congestion from around London. They also come to make trading with Europe easier — two firms are in the process of moving to Clacton for just this reason.
Despite the fact that Tendring is the fastest-growing district in Essex, and with significant intercity commuting to London and Colchester, unemployment remains stubbornly high. It has just dropped below 10% in the Clacton travel-to-work area and remains at over 6.5% in Harwich. There is therefore an available and willing work-force for those companies who wish to take advantage of the area’s location. Land prices are low, even by subregional standards — industrial land costs from £85,000 per acre. This compares with £400,000 to £600,000 in Basildon — and more the closer one moves to London.
Clacton’s premier estate is at Gorse Lane, where 25 acres of greenfield industrial land is available, and a new link road joining the site to the A120 dual carriageway is to be built next year. At Harwich, for so long an area where demand for sites and premises could not be met, several large developments are set to come on stream. To the east of the town the Harwich Sport Port — a marina with considerable housing development — has consent. On the west side of the medieval town, three sites within spitting distance of Parkeston Quay will provide the employment generation for the area: 65 acres adjacent to the golf course is the site of a current application (the Blendtower Site); and 45 acres known as the Harwich Connection has outline consent for a major foodstore, retail warehousing, a large hotel, and 200,000 sq ft of industry/warehousing as well as a lorry park.
These sites are at the eastern end of the A120 into Harwich, which is to be extended to the old town forming a bypass to the shopping centre. The new road, through Bathside Bay, will open up more than 250 acres of land to be reclaimed by Sea Containers. The proposal is to provide a marina, housing, hotel, retail warehousing, business park and industrial/warehousing area close to the port in a phased development over several years.
Other sites throughout Tendring are currently being considered by the district and county councils with a view to allocation for industrial/commercial purposes — and should be available in the short term. These include a possible business park on the edge of Clacton, and a 53-acre business park at Wivenhoe near Colchester and the University of Essex. A planning application has been received for 300,000 sq ft of business park uses and 285,000 sq ft of industrial/warehousing units on this gravel extraction site, with a lake as an attractive feature. Tendring council is also keen to talk to developers of leisure-orientated sites. Land has been allocated for a watersports centre on the beach at Clacton, while Walton Mere could provide a sailing or windsurfing facility.
The council also runs the “Tendring Partnership”, a means of promoting the economic development of the area by enabling the public and private sectors to work together. The Economic Development Unit runs exhibitions involving local companies, arranges trade missions in Europe, provides advice and assistance with sites and premises, promotional material and small units in a centre run by the local enterprise agency, Enterprise Tendring. It also gives innovation awards to local businesses and has recently started a private-sector venture capital register to place together those with finance and those requiring investment to expand their operations. The Economic Development Unit, while keen to attract new businesses to the area, remains firmly committed to assisting existing concerns wherever possible.
This approach pays handsome dividends for small companies unable to undertake such work on their own. One local firm, J Webb & Sons, sold their reproduction furniture in Belgium following a trade mission to Brussels last year, and are keen to expand their share of the market.
It is this promotion of trade in Europe by local companies which distinguishes Tendring from other local authorities. The Economic Development Unit is a BC-Net intermediary. BC-Net — the Business Co-operation Network — is essentially a computer-dating service for companies. Details of a British firm are fed into a computer in Tendring and matched in Brussels with other firms throughout the European Community. Contacts made in this way can be for almost any purpose — marketing and distribution, joint ventures and collaborative efforts for both manufacturing and service industries. There are more than 350 other BC-Net intermediaries throughout Europe and, as use of the system increases, the likelihood of finding a suitable partner is improved. This network can operate within 24 hours, and is currently free to local companies, although the commission may introduce charges in the future. In addition, the Economic Development Unit has a range of business and government contacts throughout Europe.
One further initiative to be brought on stream this year is SPRINT — another European Community project. The Strategic Programme for Innovation and Technology Transfer allows, as its name suggests, for collaborative work at the higher technology end of markets. Tendring has partners covering Holland, Denmark and Picardy in France and will itself cover much of the South East and East Anglia. There are few SPRINT partners in the UK, the nearest to Tendring being in London and Cambridge. Companies interested in seeking partners for joint R&D projects etc are listed in a catalogue circulated throughout the participating areas of the community. Technology transfer events are to be held to encourage companies to form links with others.
Until recently, Tendring may have been regarded as an Essex backwater, but this perception is changing.
With increased trade with Europe, available sites and labour at reasonable prices, and none of the problems associated with London, this area has a lot going for it. Now, very definitely, Tendring is on the move.
