Hull Food Alliance

Hull Food Alliance (HFA) has proved to be a real boost for the local economy in the City of Kingston upon Hull. The HFA was launched in 2002 as a public/private sector consortium, managed by the City Council, through its Economic Development unit. The contributors represent the diversity of the region's food industry and related support agencies. The HFA's overall aim is to create new business opportunities for the food industry, which in turn will generate new jobs. Membership of the Alliance is open to companies who employ people in Hull or the East Riding of Yorkshire, and who can demonstrate a commercial commitment to the local economy.

The objectives of the HFA are:

• to identify and address common issues such as competitiveness and skills issues
• to assist in the availability of a ready supply of appropriate skilled labour
• to promote the areas key capabilities within European and global markets
• to establish additional commercial contacts and increased business for local companies
• to encourage networking between member companies through the formation of capability groupings and supply chains
• to assist members in discussion and enquiries with governmental bodies, local authorities and any other national or international associations
• to co-ordinate the identification and investigation of sources of external funding that will assist in the development and cohesion of the Alliance and its initiatives to avoid duplication
• to maximise the benefits of the food sector and it's associated commercials interest in the area.

Former Chair of the Alliance Ian McIntosh is managing director of Aarhus United UK, which is based on Hull's King George Dock and is a subsidiary of Danish company Aarhus Olie. At the launch of the HFA, he said: "If we can create a real food cluster in Hull, it will help us to provide more specific training and skills development and we will have the right people to do the jobs." Some 17,000 people are employed in the food industry in Hull with a further 4,000 working in the surrounding area.

What are clusters?

According to Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency and a partner in setting up the HFA, clusters are: A group of organisations in related industries that are linked together because they buy or sell from each other, and/or because they use the same infrastructure, customers or skills base.

A cluster is much more than an industrial sector. It will normally consist of a group of sectors together with their supporting infrastructure of finance and logistics providers, as well as the universities/research institutions that provide the vital research inputs to the various sectors. The strength of the cluster will depend on the existence of all these constituent parts located in the area of the cluster (usually a region) and the strengths of the relationships between them.

The food and drink industry is the second largest sector within the Yorkshire & Humber region and employs more than 200,000 people across its core constituent sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retailing. This industry also remains the largest source of employment in rural and coastal areas.

Hull in Europe

Hull has the advantage of support from the EU's Structural Funds - mainly the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The city has been designated an Objective 2 area by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), which means it is eligible for support as an area suffering from the decline of particular industries or services. The aim is to stimulate economic growth through diversification and to bring the area closer to the EU economic average.

The Structural Funds account for over one third of the EU's budget. The UK's allocation for 2000-06 is approximately £10 billion and out of this Hull's share is approximately £35 million. The current Objective 2 programme in the UK has five main priorities. The fourth of these is support for spatial development through the Humber Trade Zone and Hull city centre's Integrated Development Plan (IDP).

Next steps

Yorkshire Forward has highlighted food as a key cluster both within Hull and for the region, and as having potential for growth. This covers not only food processing but all supporting companies including haulage, equipment and packaging.

The aim is to build on and integrate the area's strengths: the existing concentration on food; access to the port facilities of the Humber; the growing strength of the area's ICT sector; and the availability of a developing print and packaging sector. One barrier to the potential growth of the food cluster has already been identified: the lack of premises (that meet demanding EU and national food safety standards) available within the city for companies to move or expand into.

Contact:

Hull Food Alliance
Anchor House
The Maltings
Silvester Street
Hull HU1 3HA
Tel: 01482 612150
Fax: 01482 612160
hullfoodalliance@hullcc.gov.uk