Why not the North East?

The North East’s business landscape is a growing international powerhouse, with next-generation innovations and collaborative spirit making it an increasingly sought-after investment hotspot.  

That was the overriding message from multi-platform publisher NET’s latest VISION 31 panel event, which gathered business leaders and industry experts at Sunderland’s City Hall today (Tuesday, March 18). 

Nearly 80 guests packed into the Wearside venue’s mayor’s parlour to hear about thriving businesses proud to call the North East home.

Powered by headline partner Womble Bond Dickinson and backed by additional partners Jackson Hogg, North East BIC, Lloyds Banking Group and Recognition PR, the event shone a spotlight on the people, businesses and projects that are succeeding in the North East, while exploring how the region can harness its potential and the opportunities presented by devolution to drive industrial and economic growth.

Featuring two highly insightful panel discussions – hosted by NET and Bdaily editor-in-chief Steven Hugill – the theme could not have been clearer: while the North East could do more to champion itself, it is also a region that offers a truly unique proposition, primarily because of its people and their indefatigable spirit.

As was highlighted by a previous VISION 31 London summit last year, the defining message of the day was not why businesses should invest in the North East, but rather, why would they not?  

The first panel, titled The North East: A launchpad for growth, showcased North East businesses that have achieved national and global success but have remained steadfast in their commitment to the region.

Audience members heard from Dame Irene Hays, owner and chair of holiday firm Hays Travel; Ed Twiddy, co-founder of digital bank Atom; Carole O’Neil, managing partner at multi-disciplinary engineering and design consultancy Cundall; and Kevin Carrick, co-founder and owner of JK Property Consultants LLP.

Dame Irene, born in Newcastle and raised in Ashington, who charted Hays’ growth from its humble beginnings in 1980 as a single shop in Church Street, Seaham, to acquiring Thomas Cook in October 2019, spoke about how the foundations and ethos of the business remain firmly rooted in the North East.

She said: “We have built a business which is primarily based on the young people of this region, supported by the schools and our colleges and universities, and they have built the business from the £812 we started with in the first year to this month, when we will turn over £3 billion in our total transaction value and it has all been built here.”

Dame Irene added: “The characteristics of the region’s people and the ‘work hard, play hard’ ethic is something which differentiates us, and our sense of identity is unique.” 

Such a sentiment was shared by Carole, who spoke about the reasons why Cundall, which was founded in 1976 in Newcastle and has since expanded to 28 offices employing 1300 people around the world, will always view the North East as ‘home’, having recently moved its headquarters to Newcastle’s Bank House.

She added: “We still find that the North East is a really fertile hunting ground for talent, both in terms of engineering and technical talent, but also with our back office functions, as the vast majority of our central services are still headquartered here in Newcastle, as is our finance team, our marketing team and our IT team.

“This is partly because it is more affordable to put people in the North East, but it’s not just a cost-driven decision.

“The quality of the people and the calibre of the people is second to none and it compares favourably to what we see around the world.”

Ed also spoke about Atom’s recent announcement that it was moving its headquarters to Newcastle’s Pattern Shop and how the move reaffirmed the savings and mortgages provider’s commitment to the region, maintaining its promise to early investors that “the mind, management, headquarters and the heart would remain in the North East”.

The second panel – The North East: A smart investment – included insight from Ben Shaw, head of space operations and capture at aerospace firm Lockheed Martin UK; Clare Loveridge, vice president and general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at cybersecurity firm Arctic Wolf; George Paterson, vice president of product at electrification and powertrain component firm Turntide Technologies; and Lara Jones, director of client services and consulting at Motivait.

The discussion focused on the reasons why those businesses, all from different sectors and originating from outside the region, chose to set up shop and invest in the North East, with panellists highlighting lower overheads, the conveyor belt of talent produced by the region’s five universities, and, above all, the quality of life and geniality of its people as being key drivers in making the North East an attractive investment destination.

Lara, who referred to Motivait’s bold decision to relocate its UK headquarters from Surrey to Newcastle’s The Core building in the midst of the pandemic, was quick to identify the region’s relatively modest operating costs, its connectivity, and the talent pool from its universities as major pulls factors, as well as the “amazing” work-life balance on offer.

She added: “Not to be too harsh on the South but having spent seven years there before coming up here, the South can be a bit saturated and suffocating, but the opposite is true here.

“What you have in the North East is a bubble of oxygen for businesses, helping them grow and providing room to strategise about what they want to invest in, enabling them to be creative without any crippling pressures.”

In a similar vein, George refrenced the “culture, attitudes and loyalty” of the region’s people being increasingly valued by outside investors, while Ben spoke of how Lockheed Martin chose the North East because of the opportunities it presented “to drive innovation, skills and growth” such as investing in the £50 million North East Space Skills and Technology Centre (NESST) in collaboration with Northumbria University and the UK Space Agency. 

The panellists added that while the region could do more to sell itself to potential investors, devolution offered an opportunity to take ownership of its own narrative and move forward with clarity around which sectors to focus on and how to broadcast and articulate its message.

As Clare said: “We still do not shout loudly enough about what’s happening here.

“That’s one of the biggest challenges we have, because everyone in this room knows how great it is, but if you ask people outside of the North East, their impressions probably remain what they were ten years ago.”

And that, in essence, is what VISON 31 is all about, as we strive to champion the North East and amplify its achievements and potential.  

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