The North East section includes key facts, Top 25 companies ranked by turnover, transport statistics, political tables and regional contacts.
Fearlessly forward
When Tony Blair stood up in Trimdon Labour Club one night in June 2006 to tell the local Sedgefield party faithful that he was to stand down as their MP after 25 years, it could have been seen as quite a blow for the North East. A decade before the region not only had half the Cabinet made up from its MPs, but it also played host to the Prime Minister.
But apart from a few moist eyes among loyal local supporters, the event was shrugged off by most North Easterners. This is an area that is increasingly learning to make its own way rather than relying on those in power to support it.
The region was long dependent on giant industries and when the coal mining and shipbuilding disappeared it found itself relying on the public sector. Indeed the public sector still makes a greater contribution to its economy than it does in any other region.
But it is also an area that is reinventing itself and finding a fresh independence as it does so. Another telling moment in 2007 was when the giant cranes of the Swan Hunter shipyard on the river Tyne at Wallsend were taken down, following the closure of the yard. They had dominated the cultural identity of Tyneside as well as its landscape for decades. Again, there was little wailing and gnashing of teeth, a moment of quiet
reflection and then the North East moved on. A few months later Newcastle saw the opening of a £2.3m Marine Design Centre, the hub for an industry which instead of dying is growing.
The Tyne was once the murky receptacle for the effluence of the industry on its banks. Now it is flanked by art galleries, upmarket flats and a world class art gallery and concert hall. It was even the first stop of the famous QE2 liner after it left Southampton. Tyneside, repeatedly listed as one of the UK’s most popular city break destination, is more about style, money and culture than heavy industry these days.
But the region’s manufacturing sector, which contributes 25 per cent of the local GDP instead of 33 per cent a decade ago, is blooming. Mass manufacturing may have largely headed to Eastern Europe and beyond but intelligent manufacturing is thriving. CBI surveys have repeatedly shown the region’s manufacturers to be the most confident and the biggest recruiters in the UK this year despite the series of interest rate hikes.
The public sector in the region at last seems to be making some visible effort to make a lasting improvement to the shape of the economy. Regional development agency One NorthEast was named once again the country’s most successful in terms of job creation. It can also be innovative such as with One’s £40m joint venture deal with private sector developers announced in May 2007, which is intended to speed up the development of more than 1,100 acres of brownfield land on 30 sites spread between Teesside and the Borders. The model for the deal is now being studied by agencies and local authorities across the country. The joint creation of a city development company by Newcastle and Gateshead councils is one of a number of examples of politicians’ realisation that they must work together, avoiding parochialism, if they are going to push the region ahead on a national stage.
And where there are still multinationals with big interests in the region, they are investing, such as Formica setting up its European headquarters on Tyneside and Nissan creating its worldwide training centre on Wearside.
The region’s larger companies have also been seeing a good year. Newcastle-based software giant Sage, the only tech stock in the FTSE 100, and the country’s eighth biggest bank Northern Rock, both had record years. The Rock may have been shaken by the summer turmoil on the stock markets and its share price battered but its £346m first half profits were still 24 per cent up on the same period a year earlier.
The region still has a bad record for breeding successful new businesses and apparently still needs more than 30,000 start-ups just to catch up with the rest of the country, but there have been some impressive exceptions. Car dealer Vertu was launched this year by a handful of former Reg Vardy executives and is already one of the biggest in its sector. It is just one of a number of notable businesses to list on the stock market, including £200m turnover pipemaker Wellstream and £482m turnover insulation company Eaga.
The cultural regeneration of the area continues apace with the national splash caused by the new Northern Stage theatre and the opening of the revamped Live Theatre. The first play to show at the latter was about a group of unassuming coalminers who caused a stir 50 years ago with their paintings. It was written by Billy Elliott creator Lee Hall and its inevitable success encapsulates the indomitable character of a region which is proud of its past but is now going forward fearlessly.
Iain Laing is business editor of
Newcastle-based daily newspaper The Journal