The county’s leading business organisation has given a warm welcome to EDF Energy’s submission to the Planning Inspectorate of its Development Consent Order (DCO) for the proposed new nuclear power station at Sizewell C.
Suffolk Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Dugmore said: “the submission of the DCO marks a key step forward in the building of Sizewell C. The construction and operation of Sizewell C has the potential to further strengthen Suffolk and indeed the region’s position as a key contributor to the Government’s zero-carbon power generation aspirations.
“Throughout the many consultations held prior to this point, Suffolk Chamber has actively supported the Sizewell C project as essentially being good for the jobs and skills prospects of the East Anglian workforce for decades to come.”
Suffolk Chamber has also welcomed the news that Sizewell C’s sister project at Hinkley Point C in Somerset has exceeded its projected £1.5bn boost to the local and regional economies, with £1.7bn being spent by EDF Energy to date.
“We very much see this as the benchmark for what businesses in our county and region should reasonably expect from this strategically vital project” added John.
Suffolk Chamber has run the Sizewell C Supply chain portal for a number of years and recently expanded the scale and scope of its team to ensure that as many firms from our area were as ready as possible to win contracts from the Tier One companies commissioned by EDF Energy.
Gareth Davies has been recruited as the head of the Sizewell C supply chain engagement team and is joined by Sheline Gledhill as events coordinator.
Suffolk Chamber has also used its influence to constructively engage with EDF Energy to ensure that the voices of the wider business community, including those in the visitor economy, are heard and wherever possible relevant issues to them are aired and addressed.
“The next stage for us is to work with EDF Energy to start mapping out how local and regional firms can be best placed to take advantage of some of the initial tenders that will be issued once the Planning Inspectorate has completed the examination stage of the project” explained John.