Your browser does not support SVG Excellent logistics infrastructure is a key requirement for businesses investing in large-scale industrial facilities. It can also be prohibitively expensive to build from scratch. Which is why it usually makes sense for companies to invest in places where a concentration of industry has already given rise to a complex of freight transport infrastructure and services. In other words, it’s one of the reasons why investing businesses choose to locate within established industrial clusters.

Scott Taylor of Sembcorp Energy UK and Mark Kenrick of NEPIC (North East of England Process Industry Cluster) explain Wilton International’s powerful site offer to businesses with large power requirements. ‘Plug and play, ready to go…’ ';" class="embed-container" style="background-image: url('https://res.cloudinary.com/wilton/image/upload/v1582717051/respowerutils.jpg');background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:cover;"

SABIC, one of the world’s largest petrochemicals manufacturers, recently upgraded their ‘cracker’ at Wilton International (Olefins 6), to run on ethane imported from the USA. The project took two years to deliver, at a cost of £300 million. The company now runs the most feedstock-flexible cracker in Europe, producing ethylene, propylene and butadiene - essential chemical building blocks for many everyday products. A complex industrial investment project The project was multi-faceted, with input from partners across Teesside and beyond.

Power – a headache for investing businesses For high energy use businesses, finding a site with a suitable grid connection can be difficult, time consuming and expensive, according to commercial property specialist Martyn Lytollis, of Lambert Smith Hampton. “Industrial companies are struggling to find sites with large power supplies,” Martyn says. “It can take over a year for a supply to be installed and the capital outlay is significant”.