TDA - A plan for transformation

A plan for our future

Making a POSITIVE DIFFERENCE Our Mission

TDA’s mission is to drive the physical and economic regeneration of Torbay so that it becomes a place where people and businesses can thrive. Our core focus is to improve the local environment, deliver social value, strengthen business opportunities and create jobs.

How we operate

TDA Group was set up by Torbay Council in 2011 to deliver Torbay Council’s economic development services . We are entirely owned by the Council and are guided by Torbay Council’s Economic Plan, ensuring that the local economy is sustainable and delivers long term future prosperity and improved quality of life for all Torbay residents. We offer a range of services to help deliver our economic and physical regeneration objectives including: business and property services, workspace management, affordable housing and engineering services.

As an Economic Development Company, the surplus generated by our commercial services is reinvested into our economic development and regeneration projects, funding the delivery of our social purpose.

About Torbay

The Torbay area consists of three major towns: Torquay, Brixham and Paignton. Torbay is the second largest urban area in Devon, with a population of over 135,750 people, administered by the unitary authority of Torbay Council.

Torbay is at the beginning of a once in a generation period of transformation, with exciting multi-million-pound projects happening across the Bay. Investment in our towns, local economy and infrastructure will give people spaces to enjoy and create more job and training opportunities, future proofing the area for generations to come. TDA is proud to play a pivotal role in this transformation.

TDA CHAMPIONING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & BUSINESS GROWTH

Supporting the economic transformation of Torbay is TDA’s primary objective and drives much of our work across the organisation. Since our inception, TDA has introduced a wide range of initiatives designed to support businesses, create jobs, and increase investment to the area for the good of our residents, businesses and visitors.

1. Innovation

We help businesses to innovate, seize new opportunities and expand. We offer business support and advice to organisations of all shapes and sizes, helping them to realise their business’s potential. Alongside this we offer a range of workspace located across the region including Torbay Business Centre, Edginswell, Claylands and EPIC (Electronics and Photonics Innovation Centre) in Paignton; providing businesses with the space and facilities to thrive. We also manage Cockington Court Centre of Creativity which is both a visitor attraction and an innovation centre to cultivate art, culture, and local talent while supporting small local creative businesses.

2. Inclusivity

We want to create an inclusive Torbay economy where everyone benefits and local people can gain meaningful employment. To make this happen, we work with a number of large, local employers to champion community wealth building, ensuring that wealth is locally owned and reaches local people. We raise career aspirations by working with local schools, host local jobs and apprenticeship fairs, and promote high value jobs in construction to young people via our Build Torbay programme. We also support black and minority ethnic owned businesses and are proud to have established Torbay’s first inclusive networking group aimed at this demographic.

3. Skills

Torbay is one of the top five locations in England for

photonics and microelectronics expertise and engineering skills, and is home to companies working in telecoms, space, and optical systems technology. We are committed to capitalising on these specialisms, attracting investment from across the UK and abroad, and ensuring that our local community has the skills to secure future growth of these sectors in Torbay. We work with local schools, colleges and universities to upskill our future workforce, including our plans with South Devon College to introduce a new photonics degree programme.

4. Tourism

Torbay has an exceptional natural environment which offers huge opportunities for tourism. Through our Destination Management Plan , we are working to strengthen the English Riviera’s position as a premier coastal resort and to build a tourism sector which supports local businesses, creates jobs, contributes to a sense of pride for residents and attracts visitors all year round.

5. Town Centre Regeneration

Torbay’s town centres face significant economic, social and environmental challenges. However, all three towns have enormous potential and are set within a wonderful natural environment. Working closely with Torbay Council, TDA is driving the regeneration of Torbay’s town centres, through the Torbay Story . We have created a Transformation Strategy which outlines our aspirations and approach, and have secured over £35.3m in funding from central government through the Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund to realise these ambitions.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

SECURED over

£35.3m

83

people supported in exploring self-employment

from Central Governement Towns Fund & Future High streets Fund

TORBAY READY FOR WORK SCHEME

104 7 35

people supported people secured employment people entered education/training

24

people have started a business

101 existing businesses supported

58 businesses supported

27 vacancies filled

400 jobseekers attended

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

- management and launch of Torbay’s £1,764,043

UK Shared Prosperity Fund Programme which is part of the UK’s government’s Levelling up Agenda. The funds will be spent over three years on a range of local activities designed to improve life chances and improve pride of place

5

TORBAY JOBS FAIR

TDA ASSET MANAGEMENT – OPTIMISING PROPERTY PORTFOLIOS

Property is a vital asset for any organisation and requires ongoing care and management to ensure it is safe, fit for purpose and profitable. We support a range of public and private sector clients across Torbay and the South West to make the most of their property portfolio, including schools, business centres and libraries.

Our team of highly skilled surveyors and engineers help to:

• Reduce property costs

• Ensure assets are compliant with relevant laws, regulations and policies

• Release unwanted property assets

• Identify opportunities to generate income from land and buildings

With over 2,000 assets under TDA management, we offer a broad range of services and expertise to meet the needs of our clients and their properties. From carrying out programmed preactive maintenance work to conducting fire risk assessments, contract management to lease compliance and tenant engagement, we help clients to realise their properties’ full potential and achieve their long-term objectives.

Underpinning all our work is an overarching vision to drive

sustainability in the built environment and we implement rigorous maintenance regimes that protect properties from degradation and obsolescence.

TDA’s Asset Management service plays an integral role in shaping the built environment; not only by the direct management of property assets but through the profit that the service generates which is reinvested into TDA’s economic development activities.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

2125 under management assets

4036 helpdesk calls received

4049 undertaken

£22.64 million

property inspections

in rent roll

Plymouth CAST

Provide ongoing maintenance and property management for Plymouth CAST, the largest Multi-Academy Trust in the South West which includes 34 schools and one nursery

*all figures taken from 2022/2023

OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WE AIM TO:

Become carbon neutral

Buildings are the biggest single use of global resources and are responsible for 39% of carbon emissions worldwide. We aim to reduce our emissions and have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. To support this, we will adopt the ISO14001 Environmental Management system, a globally recognised accreditation, and aim to have all TDA assets with an EPC rate of grade C by 2027.

Increase our commercial aspirations

Our Estates, Engineering and Property Services Teams will expand their commercial services to support other public sector organisations in the South West, particularly local authorities and multi- academy trusts.

Our Property Services team, which has a wealth of experienced engineers and offers a range of services including contract management, repairs and maintenance, will expand into electrical and mechanical design work. The team will focus on offering consultancy services and delivery of capital projects, specialising in sustainability and decarbonisation. This will include heat / decarbonisation plans, PV Installation, retrofit and energy storage.

Prioritise Health and Safety

The health, safety and welfare of our staff and contractors is paramount. We have made huge strides in recent years to bring health and safety to the forefront of all that we do. We will continue to embed this culture into the organisation and will obtain ISO45001 accreditation which is an international standard for health and safety management systems.

Invest in Technology

We want to simplify how we operate as an organisation by working smarter and adopting additional information technology. We will continue to research and use suitable property technology that allows us to streamline our workflows and procedures, collaborate across teams and simplify reporting for the benefit of our clients and staff.

Build a Workforce Fit for the Future

We want our staff to be highly skilled and innovative; to be able to identify emerging trends and challenge the traditional concept of the built environment as we adapt to changes going forward. To achieve this, we will upskill our current staff and adopt strategies to recruit new staff. This includes engaging with South West colleges and universities and working with professional bodies such as the Royal Institutions of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) to identify our workforce for the future.

TDA DELIVERING TORBAY’S REGENERATION

TDA is supporting and delivering innovative regeneration and transformational projects across Torbay that enable improvements to local schools and infrastructure, new homes in strategic locations and improved town centre visitor experiences.

Our highly skilled engineers work closely alongside our Development and Project Management Team to deliver place shaping development within the built environment. Our team of engineers comprises of chartered, civil and structural engineers, urban design and infrastructure engineers, who offer consultancy services across all key areas of the construction sector.

Working with Torbay Council, we have created and are delivering a strategy to transform Torbay’s town centres based on what residents, businesses and investors have said they want to see. We are also utilising our engineering expertise in marine and coastal engineering to deliver coastal and flood alleviation projects that will provide future proofing from the effects of climate change.

OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WE

Become a South West leader in research and innovation

We will continue to take part in sustainability research and innovation initiatives, building on our involvement in the €15m 4-year EU-funded Arsinoe project aimed at creating climate resilient-regions. Our planned activities include undertaking pilot studies to investigate the viability of carrying out climate change adaptation schemes and investigating the use of natural flood management in urban areas.

Increase our commercial aspirations

We will increase our commercial activity outside of Torbay and work with new public and private sector clients across the South West. We will focus on expanding our services and presence across three key sectors:

1. Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

Building on our 25-year professional relationship with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, we will develop new relationships with neighbouring healthcare authorities, secure new contracts offering our healthcare expertise and align ourselves with specialist Tier 1 healthcare providers.

2. Marine & Coastal Engineering

We will offer consultancy services to other coastal flood authorities, as well as private clients, across the South West region. Having invested heavily in specialist training for our engineers to attain the highly specialist “Flood Risk Visual Asset Inspection Accreditation”, our objective is to expand further into this specialist area of engineering consultancy.

AIM TO:

3. Residential Developments

We will continue to offer our engineering consultancy services to TorVista homes, a subsidiary of TDA, and expand our client base throughout the South West. We will do this by targeting established house builders to seek out new opportunities for housing delivery and develop a greater regional presence.

Invest in young engineers

We will focus on graduate recruitment and train young engineers to form a resilient and highly skilled workforce. We will do this by forging closer links with South West colleges and universities, and through the promotion of our employee progression scheme.

KEY PROJECTS

Paignton and Preston Coastal Scheme

Sea Defence Masterplan - To protect the town from rising sea levels over the next 50 years

Strand Harbour Public Realm, Torquay

To deliver a high-quality waterfront public realm

Torbay Road, Paignton

Pedestrianisation of Torbay Road linking with Station Square Public Realm

12-14 The Strand (former Debenhams), Torquay

Redevelopment of 12-14 The Strand for a mixed used development of residential and commercial space and a new public square

Torbay Hospital Acute Medical Unit, Torquay

We are framework consultants for Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and have been involved in over 450 healthcare projects over the last 25 years, including the £15m Acute Medical Unit at Torbay Hospital

Mayfield School, Torquay

New administration facility build at Mayfield School

European Union ARSINOE research project

Managing the research and development works for the pioneering European Union ARSINOE research project, looking to develop models looking into flooding, climate change and resilience.

Highway Design Kingskerswell Bypass

Marine / Coastal Engineering

Marine and Coastal Engineering services to assist with local coastal defence and flood alleviation projects.

Urban Design

GPO Roundabout, Torquay

OTHER RECENT SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS

£10m

£8m

Completed the construction of £8m EPIC Centre to support the growth of the hi-tech cluster

Completed the construction of Claylands Business Park

£2.2m

Designed and project managed £2.2m Shellfish Landing Jetty

£1.55m

£3m We continue to work with European partners and universities on sea defence and flood aleviation

Our engineering team secured £3m funding to design and deliver a Flood Defence System

£3.4m

Our Structural Engineers designed and project managed the £3.4m

Victoria Breakwater improvement project

We designed, project managed and supervised £1.55m of Highway Improvement Schemes

MAJOR GROWTH PROJECTS

Torquay

1 Accelerated Projects (Improvements to Upton Park, Princess Gardens and Royal Terrace Gardens)

2

3

Paignton

1 Future High Streets Fund

2 Crossways

3 Oldway

4 Seafront Public Realm

5 Torbay Road and Station Square

6 Victoria Centre

7 Paignton Picture House

8 Garfield Road

Brixham

1 Central Car Park

2 Fish Quay and Market

3 St Kilda’s

TDA RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, TACKLING TORBAY’S HOUSING SHORTAGE

The creation of residential properties is a key focus for TDA as we look to tackle Torbay’s housing shortage and deliver Torbay Council’s ambitious Housing Strategy. We manage this through our company TorVista Homes which is part of the TDA Group.

We plan to deliver around 350 new homes within Torbay over the next four to five years. This includes a range of different affordable housing products such as temporary accommodation, Extra Care housing, older persons housing and general needs for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.

TorVista Homes has Registered Provider and Investment Partner status with Homes England. This enables us to bid for and receive the grants required to support the delivery and acquisition of affordable housing, which will help maximise the number of homes delivered in Torbay.

Find out more at torvistahomes.co.uk

220

Affordable Housing Units in the pipeline with planning permission across Torbay

350

Plan to deliver a further 350 homes over the coming years

TDA JOIN THE TEAM

Our priority is to be an employer of choice and to ensure TDA is an enjoyable and rewarding place to work. As an Investors in People accredited employer, TDA is committed to creating a place where people can develop their careers and realise their potential. As a result of our continued success and a growing number of exciting developments, we are always interested in recruiting new people to help drive our vision. This includes experienced professionals or apprentices and graduates at the beginning of their careers.

Training and development

At TDA we want our people to be the best. We dedicate the time and resources to give staff practical on-the-job experience, formal technical and commercial learning, first-line management skills and the professional development to excel.

We offer excellent career pathways for our professional graduates and degree apprentices so that they can progress through grades of employment, achieve relevant qualifications and achieve their career aspirations.

Hybrid and flexible working

We understand how important flexible working and achieving a good work/life balance is to our employees. We therefore have a hybrid working culture and offer hybrid working to new and existing staff where their roles allow. We also have a flexi time

scheme which provides flexibility around hours of work whilst also maintaining core business working hours.

Social events

From boat parties to Christmas parties, weekly yoga sessions to summer evening drinks, we have a busy and varied schedule of social events taking place throughout the year. These events

are a fantastic opportunity for staff to relax, get to know each other and enjoy themselves. A programme of motivational and informative talks, delivered by a number of specialist speakers on a wide range of different topics is also offered to all staff.

Torbay life

A career with TDA offers the chance to live and work in some of the most stunning locations in the UK. You don’t have to travel across the country to get to an award-winning beach or explore wild moorlands. It’s all right on your doorstep. With 22 miles of coastline offering marine leisure, boating, swimming and fishing, the possibilities to start up a new hobby are endless!

Torbay has an outstanding education, training and skills system including three grammar schools, high performing primary and secondary schools, independent institutes and community colleges. The area offers a great place to bring up children.

Making a difference

Our employees have the opportunity to be involved in a diverse range of exciting projects and to make a real difference to the lives of people living and working in the South West. It’s no surprise then that in a recent staff survey 94% of employees said that they found their work at TDA interesting and rewarding.

We believe in investing in our workforce and offer training opportunities to all staff to help progress along our career pathway.

OUR VALUES

INTEGRITY

We lead by example in demonstrating our values, and challenge behaviour which is not supportive of these.

RESPECT

We treat others with consideration and respect and value our differences. We consider the needs of others and the impact of our actions on others.

ADAPTABILITY

We embrace change and new ways of working to help the company work towards its vision.

EMPOWERMENT

We are committed to our personal development and are empowered to strive for continuous improvement.

THE TIME IS NOW

TDA is committed to being part of Torbay’s exciting, transformational journey. As we look to the future, we have big plans to capitalise on this exciting period of growth and to realise the full potential of the region for the benefit of its people and communities.

The delivery of the Capital Regeneration Programme will be a key priority for us as we strive to transform the place and ensure that every Torbay resident has a place to call home.TDA will utilise our broad range of expertise to oversee the complete lifecycle of residential projects, from initial design and planning, right through to construction and property management. By focusing on housing, we will improve the local area, create jobs in the construction sector, stimulate the local economy and tackle the housing crisis head on.

Sustainability is another key priority and area of growth for TDA. We aim to reduce our emissions and have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. We will expand our offering in sustainable and decarbonisation property services such as PV installation, retro fit and heat pump installation. These initiatives can be introduced to a range of properties, including schools, and will help make the buildings more efficient, reduce carbon emissions and cut energy costs.

As an organisation, we will increase our activity by expanding our commercial services in engineering, estates and property services to new private and public sector clients across the South West. Our

engineering team will focus on three key sectors including healthcare & pharmaceuticals, marine & coastal engineering, and residential developments. Meanwhile our estates and property services teams will focus on supporting neighbouring local authorities and multi-academy trusts.

As we grow, recruiting and retaining highly skilled and committed staff will be paramount. We will continue to invest in our staff, offering training, support and career progression opportunities that help them to excel. Alongside this, we will recruit new, ambitious staff who can lead TDA into the future. We will strive to make TDA an employer of choice for new graduates, offering excellent career pathways and ongoing support, and developing our relationships with South West colleges and universities.

Working alongside our partners and Torbay Council, we want Torbay to become renowned as an area where high tech companies locate, creative companies thrive and where visitors come to share our naturally inspiring surroundings and share in our leisure and lifestyle by the sea. Together, we will create a Torbay where people are proud to live and where tourists want to visit – and return.