2010 has been a challenging year for us all. The high-level stats suggest a steady recovery – the construction sector, for example, has performed well over the past few months. On the ground, however, things still feel somewhat fragile.

It has never been so important to focus on our core strengths as a sub-region and seek out the real opportunities that are still there to grasp – in areas such as renewable energy, universal broadband and the creative industries.

The Haven Gateway is already excelling in so many niche areas and for hard evidence of that, we need look no further than the Gunfleet Sands 172 MW wind farm, completed this year within sight of our coastline. Round 3 of the UK’s wind farm developments represent a huge opportunity for our sub-region to continue providing support and facilities for construction and maintenance of wind turbines.

As we head towards the end of the year, a major milestone will be the opening of the new A12 Cuckoo Farm junction into Colchester, a project for which the Partnership was a strong advocate. Here is further hard evidence of progress!

This new access makes North Colchester much more accessible and will lift occupancy at Colchester Business Park. Accoustica has already opened large premises in the business park as a direct result of this investment. We expect to see more lettings in 2011, and also hope to see work start on the new Northern Approach Road into Colchester. 

Our ‘state of the sub-region’ report in the summer confirmed that the Haven Gateway performed well through the recession and that our key growth sectors continued to grow. Our core ‘international gateway’ proposition has strengthened. DfT figures showed that Felixstowe, the UK’s largest container port, fared far better than many of its European competitors in the worst of the recession last year; an estimated 8% drop in volumes for 2009 compared very well with Antwerp’s 15.6% decline, or the freefall of 29% at Barcelona or 28% at Hamburg.

This year Felixstowe continued to outperform many other European ports, while also pressing ahead with its huge deepwater expansion. The new Berths 8 and 9, nearing completion, will be served by seven 24-box outreach ship-to-shore gantry cranes, which are significantly larger than any other cranes available in the UK. 

To quote Hutchison Ports (UK): “Berths 8 and 9 will take Felixstowe’s capacity well beyond anything else currently contemplated for the UK.”

Harwich International Port continues to thrive as a major hub for offshore wind farm developments and, if planning applications are approved in the New Year, we would hope this will lead to significant additional jobs in key local sectors.

Some local authorities are reconsidering housing development numbers for the next 20 years. Some are reducing numbers a little – but the underlying demand and need remain very strong.

Business enterprise and start-ups have been hit particularly hard by the recession and we must remember that SMEs are very much the lifeblood of our economy. Business support services will be hit hard in the cuts, so we must focus strongly on creating cost-effective business development support, in particular making the most of spin-outs from our universities.

It’s time to look forward to a New Year full of further challenges but with a strong mix of opportunity thrown in!