The new chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association is to speak at Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster AGM next month.

Dr Tim Stone will headline at the meeting on Wednesday, April 3, which also marks the business membership organisation's15th anniversary.

Dr Stone took the reigns as chairman of the NIA – the nuclear industry’s trade body – in December from former Government business secretary Barrow and Furness MP, Lord John Hutton.

He said: “I’m delighted to attend and speak at this year's BECBC AGM

“The people and businesses of Cumbria have played an integral role in the UK nuclear sector for decades.

“I believe it is the collaborative working relationships between some of the largest British companies and local SMEs in our supply chain that make our industry so special. Maintaining these existing relationships and establishing new ones will be critical to the successful implementation of the Nuclear Sector Deal.

“As chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association, I look forward to continuing to work with BECBC to further strengthen the synergy across the industry. This will ensure UK nuclear can prosper from the sharing of ideas and best practice that this will bring.”

According to the NIA’s 2018 Job Map, 41 per cent of nuclear jobs are based inthe North West, with the majority in and around the Sellafield site in West Cumbria.

BECBC’s 300-strong company membership hails from Cumbria and the North West – a region which is seen as key to delivering the ambitions set out in the Nuclear Sector Deal and the Government’s wider UK Industrial Strategy.

Chairman of BECBC, Ivan Baldwin, said Dr Stone’s visit to Cumbria would help to raise the profile of Cumbria’s “rich and diverse” nuclear capabilities.

“We have a lot to offer in Cumbria: we’re paving the way for innovative collaborations in nuclear, and promoting an outward-looking, sustainable approach to business that will find itself at the heart of UK industry in years to come,” he said.

“We are delighted that Tim will be our guest speaker this year to really reinforce that message across the national and international nuclear industry.

For Cumbria, the Nuclear Sector Deal means much more than just place. Cumbria has the people to contribute to a highly-skilled UK workforce, and the ideas to drive forward the innovations that are demanded by today’s industry.”