THE announcement on February 15 that the blast furnace at Teesside Cast Products (TCP) was to be mothballed, although expected, was a huge blow to the Tees Valley.

The Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit has estimated that including the direct labour force of 1,600, at least 6,000 will lose their jobs and the effect on the local economy will be a loss of gross value added of £275m.

There are many reasons for the situation we find ourselves in. The Regional Committee of MPs took evidence from many individuals and organisations, including the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) and published its findings on Monday. I’m not sure whether we will ever know all of the answers or possibly even some of the questions that have brought us to this position.

While there is a small amount of hope that a deal can be salvaged that will reverse the mothballing, we have to be pragmatic and look forward. Although the Corus Response Group came in for some criticism for considering this outcome and how to respond to it, that decision has reduced the time lag in getting initiatives off the ground.

I listened with interest to the announcements that One North East made public on February 19 in respect of the investments that would be made utilising some of the £60m allocated.

This £60m programme is known as the Tees Valley Industrial Programme (TVIP), a two-year programme aiming to create 3,000 jobs in the short to medium-term and 10,000 in the long-term.

This is an aspiration that must be applauded. Alongside One North East, the TVIP is being steered by industrialists from across the Tees Valley and involves NEPIC, Centre for Process Innovation, Tees Valley Regeneration, Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit, local authorities and the Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skill.

Their priorities for investment fall across the strands of apprenticeships, enterprise and business support, engineering diversification, innovation, energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage, and business investment and infrastructure.

And you can add to this One North East’s support for the new Korean owners of the former Artenius business.

This is welcomed by the North East Chamber of Commerce and is essential to supporting the Tees Valley economy to recovery,.

There is obviously significantly more detail than I can include in my column, so the meeting between NECC members and Ian Williams of One North East later today following the NECC Tees Valley annual meeting will be a welcome opportunity to hear more details in respect of the TVIP programme and have members’ questions answered.

There is a lot of talk about step changes, and while this is one that has been forced upon us, we must all seeks ways in which we can make the Tees Valley a more vibrant place to do business.

■ Chris Beaumont is chairman of NECC Tees Valley