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April in retrospect: 10 ways the North East showed us its business brilliance this month

I read a great article on LinkedIn this week. ‘The North East is Dead’ by a guy called Jamie Hardesty - no sorry, I mean Dylan Christie (great article, Jamie Hardesty… its a muscle memory thing, my apologies…).

Anyway, Dylan’s article caught my eye because of the title he’d chosen. As many people reading this will know, I immerse myself in North East news on a daily basis and probably the best part of my job as Bdaily’s North East Editor is having the opportunity to share the triumphs enjoyed by our businesses with the region. I am genuinely very lucky to be in such a position. So as a massively proud proponent of the region, Dylan’s headline of course ruffled my feathers a little!

The North East, dead? He must be joking, I thought indignantly. Yet, when I actually began to read the article, it became apparent that Dylan was in fact celebrating and advocating the region, with his headline acting as a beacon to be challenged. Yeah, thats right, we writers aren’t just here for our looks y’know, literary techniques are part of the package too!

So for me, it was great to read what quickly became such a recommendation of the region, detailing what the North East has to offer from a business perspective. In fact, and as Dylan alludes to in his piece, the positivity in the region is infectious. So much so, I wanted to add to the article myself and reinforce this view of the North East’s business prowess.

And to be quite frank this isn’t a tough task for me. April alone has showed just how much of a fantastic place the North East is to start a company, to grow businesses, to create new jobs, to relocate international companies and ultimately to invest in. Can I prove it? You’re damn right I can! Take look at ten stories below which have caught our eye this month, showing off the North East’s business brilliance.

Big companies want to locate here, creating jobs as they do…

1. Barclays is creating more than 200 jobs in Sunderland where it is opening a new centre of excellence for fraud detection, the first to be set up in the UK.

2. One of Europe’s leading software consultancies has chosen the North East as the location to launch its first UK site, creating at least 50 jobs along the way.

Entrepreneurial talent has the chance to be realised…

3. Two acupuncturists are aiming to improve the reproductive health and wellbeing of the region with the launch of their natural fertility clinic in Jesmond, Newcastle.

4. North East entrepreneurs Steve and Sara Heath have announced expansion plans for their skydiving business, after securing new equipment with funding from Barclays.

Even the United States is desperate to have us…

5. The co-founder of a North East green energy firm is taking his expertise stateside next week to address hundreds of delegates at the International Biomass Conference and Expo.

6.Newcastle-based design company Infinite, and their strategic partners within the NHS, are looking to break into the US healthcare market.

We’ve got experts striving to bring new business to the region.

7. The Procurement Directory headquartered in Gosforth Newcastle, is quite simply becoming an essential tool for many of the biggest players in the UK export industry.If you want to have a conversation about exporting, specifically exporting with Norway, then Mike Pedersen is your man.

And apparently celebrities too!

8. Comedian Jason Manford, best known for his roles on comedy panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, has hinted that his comedy label will step in and save Newcastle-based Hyena Comedy Club from permanent closure.

And of course we certainly know how to raise the spirits!

9. The Lakes Distillery which is headquartered in Gosforth, England’s newest and largest whisky distillery, has secured listings for its spirits in three premium retailers –Harvey Nichols, Fortnum & Mason and Majestic Wines.

10. Lanchester Group, the North East’s ‘hidden’ wine-bottling and drinks company, has got a new public face as it launches a new retail outlet.

I now hope May will continue in the same vein as April; I’m sure it will. Business is very much alive and kicking in the North East, lets be proud of it!

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