Extra extra, read all about it
An arena in Gateshead, film studios in Sunderland, a development zone in Durham, a major upgrade for the Metro and bus interchange in Gosforth, potholes across the region, offshore infrastructure investment, bus reform, development support for the charity sector - and that’s not an exhaustive list.
Sometimes you get quiet weeks for news. Sometimes you get weeks like this one.
The result is that I ran out of room to cover everything I wanted to today and have held back some stories for Sunday’s edition.
Blame North East Mayor Kim McGuinness. She made a series of announcements this week which amounted to a substantial and comprehensive £350m investment package for the region. The North East Combined Authority’s Cabinet will vote on the plans next week - the last Cabinet meeting before May’s local elections which could see a change in the political colours worn by several leaders around the table.
It’s not £350m of ‘new’ money, to be clear, it comes from various pots that were filled with devolved Government funds. And we already knew about some of the items on the mayor’s list of announcements.
That takes nothing away from the importance and significance of what she has proposed this week - it’s a great advert for devolved spending and decision making.
NECA chief executive Henry Kippin, a man who admits he’s not the most prolific user of social media, said: “I’ve been like Homer Simpson shrinking in to the hedge on LinkedIn but am re-emerging for this.
“I am so grateful to the team and brilliant partners across local authorities, industry and the social sector for such an ambitious set of investments. This is what devolution is for - taking positive, collective decisions to build a real platform for economic and social change.”
Here are the highlights.
1. £38m for Crown Works
It was a huge blow for the region when Cain International pulled out of funding Fulwell Entertainment’s £450m plan to build a huge film and TV studio complex on the banks of the Wear. Sunderland City Council engaged a real estate firm last year to find alternative private investors.
Nothing so far.
The mayor’s £38.5m funding, which includes £25m of Government money, will allow the council to build a large studio capable of being split into three and to refurbish the Doxford Printworks building. Construction is expected to begin in July and be complete by the end of 2027 - with the capability of adding more studios in the future.
TV dragon and Crafter’s Companion founder Sara Davies said on her LinkedIn that the studios would help attract big film and TV projects to the region. “Not just productions visiting briefly, but productions building shows here, employing local crews and investing in the North East long term.
“For me personally it would mean so much to see more television being made in the place I call home. Over the years I've met so many talented people from the North East who travel the length of the country week after week to do the jobs they love. Imagine what it would mean if more of those opportunities existed right here on our doorstep.”
2. £24m for a quayside arena
There have been plans for an arena and international-grade conference centre at Gateshead Quays for eight years - although the ambition stretches back to the early 2010s when NGI tried to attract Government support.
The conference centre has now been dropped from the revised plans. NECA’s £24m will allow Gateshead Council to carry out infrastructure and enabling works at the site between Baltic and the Glasshouse and to find an investor-operator for a 12,500-15,000 seat arena capable of attracting the world’s biggest music acts.
Four major operators are said to be interested. You would reckon that Utilita Arena operators Legends Global, who were part of the North East delegation to MIPIM this week, are one of them. After all, the plan had been for their Newcastle site to be redeveloped once the Gateshead arena opened its doors.
Mayor McGuinness said: “We’re one step closer to bringing the biggest bands to the North East. This is a really exciting step forward for this project.”
3. £42m creative ‘turbocharge’
The studios and arena were part of a £104m package announced by Mayor McGuinness to ‘turbocharge’ the region’s creative industries.
She has earmarked the remaining £42m to back small venues, fund a diverse programme of festivals, events and sporting programmes, and provide financial support for local people to build their creative careers and businesses.
This North East Culture, Creative Industries and Sport framework will see the authority talk to people in the sector to understand how the money can be put to best use. So, it will be a few months before we get more detail on this.
4. £27m Mayoral Development Zone in Durham
The mayor is investing £27m to unlock new jobs and urban regeneration at a prime site in the centre of Durham. The money will accelerate the demolition of County Hall and see it replaced with a new employment zone centred around tech and innovation businesses in partnership with the county council, its joint venture delivery partner Muse, and Durham University.
5. £53.6m for transport improvements
The NECA Cabinet will be asked to approve £53.6m of transport funding at its meeting next week.
New announcements include an additional £22m for potholes and other road repairs - on top of the £73.5m already approved - support for a business case to extend the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin, and a £7.94m refurbishment of the Regent Centre Metro and Bus Interchange in Gosforth. And there’s £8.52m to develop and deliver transport schemes in County Durham.
6. £20m for offshore infrastructure
We already knew that the green energy sector employs 25,000 people in the North East and the plan is to double that number over the next few years. We didn’t know about the £20m of capital funding set aside to unlock much bigger investment.
Local ports and landowners have identified a pipeline of around £195m worth of work that could be brought to the region. NECA will partner and collaborate with organisations such as The Crown Estate, the National Wealth Fund, Great British Energy, Lloyds Banking Group, private investors, and the region’s ports to help make it happen.
7. £12m social outcomes fund
There’s a historic imbalance in where charity sector funding goes. This £12m is to help charities and not-for-profits develop and put them in a better place to compete for national funding streams.
10 years, 11,000 jobs
A 10-year plan to create up to 11,000 new jobs by 2035 has been signed off by Northumberland County Council.
The plan supports established businesses in sectors such as agriculture and tourism, while also boosting new, high growth industries such as clean energy and technology. It comes off the back of the £10 billion investment in a new data centre at Cambois by QTS Blackstone.
As part of the deal, the council will receive a £110m fund which will drive long-term investment in growth and employment opportunities across the Northumberland Line corridor.
Meanwhile, the council has agreed to spend almost £100m in the next three years on improving and repairing the county’s roads.
Redundancy offer
Voluntary redundancy is being offered to staff at Northumbria University with vice chancellor Andy Long saying that £25m of savings have to be found by the end of the year. “Northumbria is not facing the kind of existential crisis affecting some institutions in our sector,” he said in a letter to staff. “We are acting now precisely because we are in a position of relative strength, and we intend to stay there.”
Sunderland’s highest honour
Businessman Paul Callaghan and Sister Mary Scholastica, who is renowned for her work supporting the community and seafarers at the Port of Sunderland, have been awarded the Freedom of Sunderland.
Deputy leader Kelly Chequer said: “Paul’s contribution to the cultural and civic life of our city is extraordinary. His dedication to widening access to the arts, strengthening community engagement and transforming Sunderland’s cultural identity has had a profound and lasting impact on residents young and old.”
Meanwhile, former Sunderland AFC chairman Sir Bob Murray will be inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame during a half-time ceremony at tomorrow’s match against Brighton. “Sunderland AFC has been part of my life for as long as I can remember”, said Sir Bob. “So, to be recognised by the club in this way is deeply humbling.”
A quick word
Staffing costs in the office of Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen are set to increase by nearly 80% to £450,000 due to previous under-staffing. Newcastle City Council and the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust are looking at preparing a business case to restore the former fine dining restaurant the Fisherman’s Lodge in Jesmond Dene which closed in 2013 and was ravaged by fire three years later. Historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, who grew up in Gateshead, has been confirmed as the speaker for the 16th South Shields Lecture, the event that was founded by former South Shields MP David Miliband in 2001. Hartlepool Borough Council has stopped taking applications for memorial benches due to concerns there are already too many. Seaton Carew and the Headland were said to be “overwhelmed” with seats. Newcastle councillors have approved plans from housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon for more than 1,400 new homes on the outskirts of Newcastle around Callerton. A sapling grown from the Sycamore Gap tree has been planted at Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend. The ceremony was attended by North Tyneside mayor Karen Clark and MP Mary Glindon. Organisers of the Glendale Show in Wooler have moved the event from the August bank holiday Monday to Saturday, August 29 in the hope of attracting more visitors. Middlesbrough’s walking and cycling hub will close at the end of the month. Tees Valley Combined Authority said that other hubs across the region will close temporarily while a new operator is appointed.
Then there were 6
I pity the judges who have to select the UK Town of Culture 2028 - it’s hard enough selecting the best of the North East.
We already knew that North Shields, Gateshead, Bishop Auckland and Berwick had decided to enter. Then Blyth, flushed with the success of its recent Festival of Energy, said it was preparing a bid. Now Amble has decided to throw its hat into the ring.
Introducing a Big Weekend
Olivia Dean, Fatboy Slim, Zara Larrson, CMAT and two former members of One Direction (playing on separate nights) have been announced for Radio 1's Big Weekend in Sunderland on May 22-24. High Life North magazine have everything you need to know.
There will also be an Introducing stage which will feature a host of North East artists. This BBC article includes some of the best.
Wrong SJP, senor
There was (nearly) a full house at St James’ Park on Tuesday night when Newcastle United played Barcelona in a Champions League match. We know there was at least one empty seat because a Barcelona fan turned up at the St James Park without an apostrophe - the one some 360 miles away in Devon. The fan was said to be “gutted and embarrassed” - but was welcomed in by Exeter City to see their League One match with Lincoln.
He missed his team team score in the seventh minute of added on time to earn a 1-1 draw at the SJP with an apostrophe.
Nicholas
Business bites
Digital transformation company Scrumconnect is to create 70 jobs across its Newcastle and London sites after winning a £38.8m contract to provide specialist testing and quality assurance services across HMRC’s digital estate over the next five years. Newcastle-based Ramarketing has completed its first acquisition by snapping up ISR Market Research, a specialist agency based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. Tekmar Group has delivered a trading update and says it is well positioned to grow after a restructuring plan helped deliver record orders. Wealth management group Fairstone has made its biggest acquisition to date by moving for West Midlands-based Prosperity Wealth who have 80 staff and £1.5 billion of client assets under management. Metro Bank, which recently opened a branch on the Team Valley, continues to swim against the tide of bank closures by opening branches in Newcastle and Leeds this year. Contact centre firm Clearanswer has announced plans to create 100 jobs as it looks to double the size of its Middlesbrough office, less than six months after opening. Redcar and Cleveland Council are looking for a new developer to build a planned hotel on the coast at Coatham after Newcastle-based the Inn Collection Group said they were “exploring alternative options”.
1990 ad break
‘Nice place, shame about the beer’ was the theme for a series of TV ads for McEwans Best Scotch in the early 90s. This one sees our intrepid Geordies visit the sunshine state of Florida.
THE WIDER VIEW
Made for sharing
The rise and fall and rise of County Durham company Filtronic is quite a story. A very happy story if you are on the payroll.
An employee share scheme allows the firm’s 165 staff to buy Filtronic stock at a reduced price. In the last three years, a breakthrough deal with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar rocket company, has seen the share price of the company increase by 1,300%.
The profit from the soaring share price has allowed some to effectively treble their annual pay, chief executive Nat Edington told the Telegraph.
“It’s very motivating for people when they can make that kind of money,” he says. “We do literally have operators looking at the share price on their phones.”
Filtronic, which has just moved into larger premises at NETPark in Sedgefield, was founded in a garage 49 years ago by a Leeds University professor who had pioneered work on radio frequency technology. The company helped develop Britain’s mobile networks in the 1980s and 1990s, but the collapse of the telecoms bubble had seemingly sent it into obscurity.
The company then revealed in 2023 it had signed a contract with a “leading global provider” of low Earth orbit satellite equipment. A year later, it could keep the name secret no longer and announced a strategic agreement with SpaceX that also allowed Musk’s company to take a 10% stake.
The equipment is now critical to the Starlink network, which provides satellite internet to 10 million customers as well as Ukraine’s front lines and the world’s airlines. Mobile operator O2 started providing mobile signals through Starlink last week in areas where traditional networks do not reach.
SpaceX accounted for 83% of Filtronic’s revenue last year and has made diversifying a priority. But with someone like Musk you never can tell.
He is planning to take his rocket company public this year to raise money for an ambitious bet on data centres in space, claiming that the constant solar power and sub-zero conditions would allow for unprecedented power with which to train superintelligent AI.
Filtronic, which already spends heavily on research and development, will be ready.