As HDLive proves, connected Hull is making it happen

Is Hull connected? Is it a buzzing place? Can it counter the increasing concentration of economic activity in and around London?

These were some of the questions posed by BBC Radio 4 and Dragons’ Den presenter Evan Davis as he brought his analysis of the UK’s economic challenges home to an audience in Hull. 

Speaking at the Hull Digital (HDLive) conference, he closed in from a helicopter view of the world economy and the UK’s place in an increasingly global marketplace to the prospects of Hull finding a prosperous future.

The key, he said, was “connectivity”. Successful places would be those with “physical, virtual and cultural connectivity” - places where businesses and business networks link to and learn from others.

A vibrant cultural life was vital, said Davis, to “sow the seeds of economic renaissance”. Cities had to make themselves attractive for entrepreneurs and employers to live in, as well as work, so that they say: “This is a buzzing place. I’ll set up a business here”.

Evan Davis: Connectivity will be the key
characteristic of prosperous cities

Davis had words of encouragement for Hull. From what he had learned, the city had a chance. It had a “great broadband network and a growing cultural sector”. It had a thriving university and a student population that adds vibrancy to life in the city.

After those fundamentals, it was about the “mindset and view of the world” of the city’s business community, he said. “That’s where you come in”, Davis told his audience.

So, if it’s about connectivity, culture and attitude, the event that brought Davis to Hull augurs well. HDLive is an extraordinary home-grown success, bringing world-class technology experts to a city said to have the fastest-growing digital community outside London.

HDLive is the epitome of connectivity. It has grown out of Hull Digital, a connected community of digital start-ups and SMEs.  HDLive saw 250 people gather to link and learn. The event was a tweetfest as, throughout the day, members of the audience took to Twitter and blogging platforms to share their views and observations with connections inside and outside the lecture theatre at the University of Hull Business School.

During breaks, the air was buzzing with excited conversations as businesses forged and reinforced mutually beneficial connections. Many of those conversations set HD Live in the context of a city determined to challenge false perceptions of its cultural life and economic prospects.

Davis talked about the UK’s economy being at a crossroads. Manufacturing had been transferred abroad, as the UK focused on financial and commercial services. But, in the wake of the global crash, Britain was left with an economy that was “not broad enough to pay the bills”, said Davis. It was too dependent on service industries and too “clustered” in London and the South East.

So, he was asked, what would be the impact on Hull of Siemens investing in manufacturing - a wind turbine factory - in the city? Davis said it partly depended on the degree of commitment by Siemens to local employment and skills, but it would certainly raise the city’s game and build momentum “in a world of spin-off benefits”. However, Davis cautioned against relying totally on inward investment. “You have to make it happen,” he said.

So is Hull making it happen? It’s easy to say ‘no’ when news of Comet going into administration brought the toll of local jobs placed under threat to almost 1,000 in just two weeks. However, the mood at HDLive was far from downbeat.

Event organiser Jon Moss, founder of Hull Digital, said the digital sector was a source of opportunity and optimism for the region. His vision was for Hull to become “a hub for digital innovation, enterprise and technology” and HDLive showed what could be achieved.

Moss pointed to plans by developer Wykeland, a HDLive sponsor, for a Centre for Digital Innovation (C4Di) near Hull’s Fruit Market, which would act as a focus and catalyst for digital entrepreneurship. He also highlighted the Digital Estuary website which profiles scores of digital and technology businesses around the Humber and said telecommunications provider KC was rolling out the fastest broadband network in the country, which would act as a magnet for investment, encourage start-ups and enable existing businesses to grow.

Kevin Walsh, Chief Executive of KC, another HDLive sponsor, highlighted the digital sector, which is growing at 4% per cent annually despite the weak UK economy, as a major opportunity for the region.

He said KC’s rollout of its Lightstream super-fast fibre network was providing local businesses with the UK’s best broadband and it had established a £600,000 loans fund, KC Invest, to support digital start-ups. Both were stimulating enterprise and providing a platform for business growth.

Walsh read from a recent press report in which Manchester boasted about having 50 miles of super-fast fibre broadband and said this paled in comparison with Hull: “We’ve laid 300 miles and we’re still going”. He said HDLive was about inspiring ideas that became businesses and told delegates: “We’re betting KC’s future on your big ideas”.

Of course, many of those big ideas will start as small businesses, but a theme of the conference was how the power of digital technology had transformed the rules of business. “Today, the smallest amount of capital can help to create a global brand,” said Walsh.

HDLive certainly provided plenty of food for thought and prompts for action, from a series of inspiring speakers. They included the world’s leading mobile digital analyst, Horace Dediu; Roan Lavery, founder of Free Agent, one of the world’s most popular online accounting apps; and Simon Mottram, who has employed the power of digital platforms and communications to build a successful luxury cycling wear brand. On another grim day for Hull’s economy, it was so heartening and motivating.

As Evan Davis explained so expertly, the economy is changing rapidly, in part because of the seismic impact of technology. Britain is in need of new economic models, he said. It’s clear that the same applies to Hull. As traditional industries and employers, such as Seven Seas, disappear, new sources of employment have to be found.

The silver lining is that Hull is becoming ever more connected - the key requirement for economic prosperity identified by Davis - and has opportunities that are about the future rather than the past.

It is becoming better connected to its neighbouring communities across the Humber, assisted by the creation of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, improved cross-estuary local authority and business collaboration, and the slashing of the Humber Bridge tolls.

Hull also has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to replace declining industries of the past with a vital industry of the future, renewable energy, in all in its forms - offshore wind, tidal power, biomass and biofuels. Everything possible is being done locally to seal the Siemens deal, which will be the catalyst for a wave of green energy investments in the Humber.

Now the Government must provide the necessary long-term policy certainty and financial arrangements to encourage global businesses to commit to long-term investments totalling billions of pounds. Hull and the Humber are crying out for ministers to enable a new growth industry for UK Plc to emerge, flourish and create long-term jobs for thousands of local people.

Finally, as HD Live demonstrated, Hull has a vibrant and ambitious community of digital and technology businesses eager to seize opportunities for collaboration and growth, building on rapidly-developing infrastructure and connected networks. They’re certainly responding to Evan Davis’ challenge to make it happen.

Great advice to businesses at Humber renewables conference

Very good advice from Sam Pick of the Renewables Network to companies looking to do business in the renewable energy sectors at the Renewing the Humber conference at the KC Stadium. Sam described doing business in renewables as like bricklaying. Companies should start small and build their business steadily, brick by brick. He also stressed how vital it is that businesses do their preparation and planning before leaping in. Companies should ask where is the contract they can win to get a foothold. Also, I couldn't agree more with Sam's call for the Humber to work together and stay together. Turf wars will only undermine our potential to become the UK's renewable energy capital.

Humber estuary can be 'Silicon Valley of green energy'

It’s a startling future vision for the Humber estuary - the Silicon Valley of green energy, leading the world in sustainable power generation.

It may seem far-fetched now, with the much-vaunted plans by Siemens for a plant building offshore wind turbines still to pass through planning and be finally confirmed, but one industry leader is in no doubt about the Humber’s place in what he calls a “CO2-free economy”.

Dr Eddie O’Connor (pictured) is Chief Executive and Founder of Mainstream Renewable Power, a company working in partnership with Siemens in the SMart Wind consortium developing the Hornsea offshore wind field, one of three huge North Sea turbine clusters within a few hours “steaming time” of the Humber.

He’s also Secretary of the European Wind Energy Association and a leading voice in the renewables field. Last week he was in Hull to talk about his vision of how offshore wind will “change the world” as “the fossil fuels era comes to an end”.

I’ve heard many speakers hail the economic potential of renewable energy for the Humber. Typically, the impact of offshore wind is predicted to be similar to that of the discovery of North Sea oil to Aberdeen. But Dr O’Connor’s assessment went much further. He described an economic powerhouse spanning both banks of the Humber, leading the transformation to sustainable energy for Britain, Europe and then the world.

His vision is based on the commitment of the UK and other nations to develop green power sources for environmental and energy security reasons. That, he says, presents a huge opportunity for the UK as an island nation with the natural resource of wind in “super-abundance”.

In a presentation to a conference at the University of Hull, Dr O’Connor predicted huge investment across Europe during “two generations of transformation to a sustainable future” in which offshore wind will be the “backbone and centrepiece” of European energy generation. He sees the Humber at the heart of that investment because of its proximity to three of the largest offshore wind fields.

The Humber ports are already Britain’s busiest docks complex, but Dr O’Connor described even more activity along the estuary, with two new ports focused on the offshore wind industry - Green Port Hull at Alexandra Dock in Hull, where Siemens will operate, and the Able Humber Port site on the south bank. He says six different types of vessels will operate out of the estuary in construction, operation and maintenance of the turbines.

He also foresees makers of turbines, towers, blades, foundations and cables all congregating around the Humber. “All of this will probably happen around the super-cluster that is being constructed as we speak on the Humber estuary,” Dr O’Connor told the New Energy Workforce conference.

The drive for a low-carbon future is underway across the continent, but the focus will be on the UK, he says. He estimates that up to 20 offshore turbines a day will need to be built over 40 years to meet Europe’s renewable energy needs - a significant proportion of them in UK waters. “That is good for the environment and very good for this country,” says Dr O’Connor. He predicts the UK will export excess electricity from wind power to the continent. “We will be supplying electricity for export many times the demand in the UK,” he says.

Until now Germany and Denmark have been the leaders in offshore wind, but Dr O’Connor believes Britain will soon take the mantle, with a resultant jobs bonanza. Based on the German experience, he predicts up to 150,000 jobs from offshore wind developments around the UK by 2020.

It will take decades for the UK and Europe to move to predominantly low-carbon energy generation and, even beyond then, Dr O’Connor says the UK can use its expertise to help the new economic super-powers such as China and India to adopt renewable energy.

Offshore wind has its critics - some say it is too expensive and the turbines don’t work when the wind doesn’t blow - but Dr O’Connor’s case is made more persuasive by the announcement the day after the conference that two of the “big six” energy companies have pulled out of plans to develop nuclear power plants in Britain.

E.ON and RWE npower scrapped their plans in the wake of concerns over nuclear safety following last year’s Japanese tsunami. The decision threw the British Government’s energy policy into disarray, but made it even more certain that wind power would be required to make a huge contribution to the country’s renewable energy needs.

Dr O’Connor says the issue of inactive turbines will be resolved by the development of a “super grid” connecting the wind fields and ensuring continuity of energy generation across a giant network of thousands of turbines. “The wind is always blowing somewhere,” he says. “It may be locally variable but it is globally plentiful”.

Dr O’Connor’s vision helped to set the conference in the context of the economic opportunity for the Humber. Other speakers highlighted a number of challenges in fulfilling the potential of renewable energy, foremost among them a predicted shortfall in engineers. Martin Hottass, Head of Skills for Siemens UK, said Britain needed almost 100,000 new engineers by 2016 as one in three reach retirement age.

All the speakers agreed it was a major priority to help schools, colleges and universities to encourage young people into engineering. Mr Hottass talked of Siemens’ commitment to working with educational establishments and training providers to encourage young  people to choose a career “in a really exciting sector with loads of opportunity”.

It was a message heard loud and clear. University of Hull Vice Chancellor Professor Calie Pistorius said the university had a range of courses and programmes focused on renewables and the low-carbon economy.  It was committed to building “a workforce that is low-carbon aware and has the right specific skills,” he pledged.

Certainly there is now a concerted focus across the Humber to equip local workers with the skills to gain employment and build careers in the offshore wind and wider renewable energy industries.

But will Dr O’Connor’s vision of the Humber at the heart of an offshore wind bonanza become reality? He is clearly an evangelist for offshore wind and his forecasts may be at the most optimistic end of the range, but even if the impact is half of what he predicts, the effects will be truly transformational and be felt for decades.

“Why can’t the Humber become the Silicon Valley of the energy of the future?”, asked Dr O’Connor. Why not indeed. And what a thrilling, unprecedented opportunity to transform the fortunes and long-term prospects of a region where unemployment is stubbornly high.

• The New Energy Workforce conference at the University of Hull was staged by Humber Chemical Focus and the university’s Centre for Adaptive Science and Sustainability.

Humber Chemical Focus

Centre for Adaptive Science and Sustainability at the University of Hull

Dr Eddie O’Connor blogs on offshore wind and renewable energy issues at http://eddie.mainstreamrp.com/

Siemens and the offshore wind bonanza: How can the Humber keep the jobs and wealth

Politicians are not noted for understatement but, in the case of the huge wave of investment on its way to Hull and the Humber, local MPs have played the prospects down.

So says one of them, the West Hull and Hessle MP Alan Johnson, as he puts into perspective how significant the burgeoning renewables sector will be for a city that has lacked a core industry since its fishing fleet was decommissioned after the 1970s Cod Wars.

Hull’s elected representatives have been cautious in celebrating the decision by German giant Siemens to locate a factory manufacturing offshore wind turbines on Hull’s dockside. The caution is understandable. As Mr Johnson says, the city has seen many false economic dawns, but he is in no doubt that this is the real deal. “For once the politicians are underplaying this. It’s astounding what it will do for this area”, says the MP, who compares the impact as “like oil to Aberdeen”.

The Siemens facility will bring 700 new jobs. Many thousands more will come in the supply chain and from other green energy investments along the Humber estuary.

Why the Humber? The key is location. It is just 12 hours “steaming time” from three huge North Sea wind farms where 5,000 turbines will be erected in what has been described as the biggest civil engineering project in the world. It will be a game-changer for an area with high levels of unemployment and reeling from the likely loss of 850 skilled manufacturing jobs at BAE Systems in Brough.

But, while the Humber bids to become the UK’s renewable energy capital, there is a challenge to ensure the resulting jobs and wealth stay in the region. Offshore wind energy is in its infancy in the UK. On the continent there are established supply chains keen to profit as the industry develops in Britain, as companies heard at a conference, Offshore Wind: A Guide for Businesses, staged by industry body the Renewables Network and specialist PR and marketing company Footprint Renewables.

Some local businesses have already grabbed a slice of the action, notably MMS, based in Hull, which will build and operate a fleet of vessels to transfer technicians and equipment to the turbine fields. Others need to get up to speed - and fast.

Renewables Network Business Development Director Sam Pick says Siemens will be “the magnet that drags the rest of the industry on” and says local firms need to find their place in the supply chain. “Think about who you are going to send your invoice to - that’s where you target your products and services”, he urges.

Mr Pick says the big reward for the region is long-term careers, not just jobs. “People can get into these careers and grow with the industry”.

Another speaker, Eric Collis, of the Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA), said a rapidly-evolving industry required a workforce who could learn and relearn skills. They’ll be well paid, though. He quoted £52,000 as the going rate salary for a technician working offshore.

He also predicted fierce competition for contracts. “It will be like the Klondike. Competition will come in like seagulls,” said Mr Collis. “You’re no longer competing with the guy around the corner. You’re competing with the rest of the world and they’re hungry for the work too”.

Capacity to grow and access to funding were vital, said John Britton of Hull-based consultancy BCG Bridgepoint. He said the UK offshore wind industry would be four times bigger in 2016 than in 2010. By 2030 it is predicted to be eight times larger than in 2016. Tracking that exponential growth would see a SME with turnover of £300,000 today become a £10m business, he explained.

Rob Bell, of skills and logistics consultancy Archomai, highlighted a key difference from the Aberdeen experience: “North Sea oil made money; North Sea wind costs money”. The industry’s subsidies meant pressure to reduce supply chain costs by 30 per cent to ease the taxpayer burden. “We’ve got to understand that this is not shopping at Harrods, it’s shopping at Lidl”, he cautioned. Suppliers would profit by driving down the industry’s costs, he said.

Logistics and supply chain expert Professor Chee Wong, from the University of Hull, said another challenge was compliance with a host of accreditations demanded by the likes of Siemens. The university is one of many organisations focused on developing a local skilled workforce equipped for the new opportunities.

Humber firms will also need to find and forge alliances or joint ventures, such as the British and Danish ownership of Alpha Energy, a company based in Hull supplying contract workers to the onshore and offshore wind industries. “You’ve got to put the air miles in”, says Director Bruce Marbrow.

And now is the time to act, says Mr Pick. He’s tired of hearing talk of “if” offshore wind will take off. “It’s not an if,” he says. “We need to be moving right now. This may be new here, but not in Denmark and Germany and companies here will be competing with existing suppliers there.”

• This article was first published in the Yorkshire Post

Siemens and offshore wind: How Humber firms can benefit from the bonanza

By common agreement, the plan by Siemens to build turbines in Hull for the huge Round 3 wind farms in the North Sea represents the most significant inward investment the city has seen for decades.

The combined investment by Siemens and Associated British Ports in Green Port Hull at Alexandra Dock is in excess of £200m. Siemens will employ 700 directly at the turbine factory, but the real boost for the city and region will come from the thousands employed in the supply chain and other activities as Siemens becomes the catalyst for the Humber to emerge as a major hub for renewable energy industries.

But the key issue is how do businesses in Hull and the Humber claim a slice of the action and ensure a significant proportion of the jobs and economic benefits stay local. The big risk is that, if local firms don’t know how to become part of the supply chain, many of the jobs will go elsewhere - most likely to Europe where  to the German giant has an existing network of suppliers and contractors.

So what do companies in Hull, East Yorkshire or the wider region need to do to ensure this once-in-a-generation opportunity doesn’t pass them by?

Many of the answers will come from a special conference specifically focused on advising companies on how to win business as the offshore wind industry takes off. The conference - Offshore Wind: A Guide for Business - is being staged at the Country Park Inn, Hessle, on Thursday, 16th February, from 8.30am-2.30pm.

The line-up is impressive, including Nicola Yates, Chief Executive of Hull City Council, who will spell out the vision for the Green Port Hull development and the impact it is expected to have on the Humber region. Other speakers include Professor Chee Wong, an expert in logistics and supply chain management from the University of Hull, and Bruce Marbrow, of Alpha Energy, a joint venture based at The Deep in Hull formed to meet the growing demand for contract labour to work on both onshore and offshore turbines.

The conference has been organised by the Renewables Network, a major grouping of businesses operating in the renewable energy market,  and Footprint Renewables, a PR and marketing agency focused specifically on the industry.

I spoke to Sam Pick, of the Renewables Network, and Andrew Morton, of Footprint Renewables, and both were keen to stress that the conference would be specific in its focus  as expectations of the emergence of a major new industry for the region turn to reality.

So the content will address issues such as:

·         What Siemens and other major players want and expect from potential suppliers.

·         What exactly are the opportunities from the offshore wind industry, directly and indirectly.

·         Which accreditations are required from firms looking to tender for work.

·         The guarantees that the sector demands, in terms of quality, safety and delivery.

·         And where to find the vital information on available tenders and contract opportunities.

And Mr Pick emphasises that there will be key messages about the need for local companies to work in different ways to seize the opportunities. Competence and scaleability will be vital and that will often demand joint ventures, such as the British and Danish ownership of Alpha Energy, or looser collaborative partnerships. Those links could be formed as a result of networking at events such as this conference, which will bring together businesses focused on the offshore wind opportunity.

Mr Pick also stressed that it’s not just about building wind turbines - quoting the example of Humberside Airport which has the potential to become the UK’s no.1 heliport as a result of transporting workers to and from the huge North Sea turbine fields. He reels off a diverse range of other sectors which stand to benefit - such as legal, insurance, hotels and business consultancies - but stresses that firms engaged in all these activities will need to understand how to grasp the opportunity.

“Businesses need to prepare over the coming months and consider their offer and even possibly up their game, if they are to stand a chance of being an approved supplier - wherever this may be in the supply chain,” said Mr Pick.

It’s good advice - and it’s vital it’s heeded if the bonanza of jobs and contracts that will come from the Siemens investment is to be fully realised within the Humber region.

Full details of the conference and how to book delegate place are available via this link:

Offshore Wind: A Guide for Businesses

Siemens investment: Now it's the real deal for Hull

It was right at the beginning of the year that German giant Siemens announced it hoped to develop an offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility in Hull. That was a landmark announcement.

Now, as 2011 draws to an close, Siemens and port operator ABP have announced that a series of planning applications are being submitted for the project. In January it was a hugely exciting possibility. Today it became the real deal.

After months of “will they, won’t they”, today Siemens effectively said a huge yes to Hull, by announcing that it was submitting, jointly with ABP, applications for the development at Hull’s Alexandra Dock. Siemens has effectively nailed its colours to the mast. It had selected Hull as its preferred site. Now, after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations and manoeuvring, Siemens has made the strongest possible commitment to the city.

Nobody dare say it, but the Siemens top brass have made up their minds. Hull is where they want to be.

Why so confident? Because it is inconceivable that Siemens would submit planning applications for a manufacturing facility if it was not committed to building it.

The very clear inference is that Siemens has ruled out suggestions that it might ditch Hull in favour of locations in Germany, Denmark or elsewhere. If Siemens has yet to finally say “I do” in its marriage with Hull, it is certainly walking up the aisle.

There appears to be just one further hurdle to overcome - the planning process. But, surely, that will be a formality. The city and wider region are desperate to embrace Siemens. Local residents have welcomed the investment, recognising the resulting employment and benefit to the local economy vastly outweighs any impact on people living nearby.

And, surely, there isn’t a single member of Hull City Council’s planning committee who will challenge a development that will bring hundreds of desperately-needed jobs and pave the way to thousands more. It should sail through.

It’s not yet time for the popping of champagne corks, but it has been a most brilliant combined effort.  And it has been, largely, a local achievement. Huge credit is due to all of the following:

·        ABP port director Matt Jukes and his team who have developed the “Green Port Hull” proposition which has proven so attractive to Siemens.

·        Hull City Council, under the leadership both of Councillor Carl Minns and his successor Cllr Steve Brady. Notably, Cllr Brady and the current Labour leadership made an important signal of local support for the Siemens plans by pledging £5m of under-pressure funds for infrastructure related to the development.

·        Hull’s MPs, who have played a vital role in lobbying for Government support to gain commitment from Siemens. Hull West and Hessle MP Alan Johnson has, as ever, been prominent, using the high-level contacts and trust he has across the political spectrum to persuade ministers that they had to do more to win Siemens for Hull, the Humber and UK Plc.

·        The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, which has focused strongly on renewable energy as the economic opportunity for the region. The LEP has been instrumental in the rapid assembly of sites on both sides of the Humber which will enjoy enterprise zone status. Those sites will be attractive to other turbine manufacturers and the supply chain supporting this industry.

Of course, the Government has played its part, but it’s fair to say that ministers didn’t do enough initially to woo Siemens. More recent statements from Prime Minister David Cameron and others indicated they had woken up to the appalling possibility of Siemens going elsewhere.

The recent announcement of enterprise zone status for sites including the threatened BAE Systems plant at Brough and Grimsby docks, in addition to the Alexandra Dock site and the Able UK development on the south bank, was a very clear indication that ministers supported the creation of a renewable energy cluster in the Humber estuary.

Furthermore, the Government decision to halve tolls to cross the Humber Bridge will have been noted positively by Siemens and other potential investors. That decision will make the Humber a true economic entity, for the first time.

So Siemens has been convinced to invest in Hull and want to be making turbines for the huge Round Three wind farms in the North Sea by 2014. Hull and the Humber’s renewable energy renaissance has lift-off.

Now everyone involved must ensure there is no slip between cup and lip. If so, expect Siemens to be the catalyst for a series of investments in related activities on the north and south banks of the Humber. Those investments will bring much-needed jobs and prosperity that are sustainable in more ways than one.