Crumbs… I was wrong
Former Guardian regional affairs editor Peter Hetherington assumed the Government had a plan to address the country’s deep regional inequalities. “Sadly,” he said in a column for his former employers this week, “I was wrong.”
Headlined ‘The north of England had high hopes for this government. Why is it only offering us crumbs from the south?’, Peter uses the tale of two river crossings to make his point about a “two-speed England” and where the Government’s priorities lie.
There’s the “majestic, rusting Tyne Bridge” holding out hope - if not a hat - for the extra £6 million promised by Rishi Sunak, while chancellor Rachel Reeves wants to press on with the Lower Thames Crossing, linking the M2 in Kent with the M25 in Essex, at a cost of £6 billion.
Peter writes: “Once again, a skewed Whitehall ‘cost-benefit’ analysis – crudely calculating that the greater south-east will assuredly grow while much of the north will inevitably lag behind – has played down the potential for regional growth.”
Twenty years ago, Peter chaired a cross-party commission, Connecting England, which called for radical action to close the regional prosperity gap. Sir Jeremy Beecham was also part of the commission.
Their report caught the attention of Deputy PM John Prescott, who set up nine regional development agencies with substantial budgets to create jobs and regenerate older industrial areas - only for Eric Pickles to take a wrecking ball to the whole regional infrastructure in 2010.
Peter said: “Not surprisingly, many in the north are now asking if, yet again, a government grasping at old Treasury straws is assuming London and the greater south-east will drive national growth in the faint hope it will filter down to other regions, no matter that there’s precious little evidence trickle-down – or in this case up – from south to north has worked in the past.”
Proving a point
Just a few days after Peter Hetherington’s column was published, this headline appeared on Chroniclelive: ‘Durham transport funding cut by £50 million despite pleas for Labour government to honour pledge’.
The previous government had allocated £72.8m to Durham County Council to improve transport infrastructure and local services. After months of waiting for confirmation of this, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports that the council will only receive £23m.
Hjem comfort
The first restaurant in Northumberland to receive a Michelin star is to close at the end of the year. Swedish chef Alex Nietosvuori and his Northumberland-born wife Ally opened Restaurant Hjem in the village of Wall in 2019 and received a Michelin star two years later. It has retained it ever since.
The decision to close was taken with a heavy heart but the couple want to focus on the opening of Freyja, a purpose-built restaurant with rooms on the Close House Estate in Wylam which will open in the autumn of 2026.
Alex said: “We want to make Hjem’s final year its best one yet. We're excited to celebrate everything we've achieved and leave a lasting impression in the hearts of those who’ve supported us along the way before we start a new chapter.”
A royal Ascot award
John Waterworth, the co-founder and former CEO of Parkdean, had a royal appointment on Saturday - only he didn’t know it at the start of the day.
He was at Ascot to see his horse, The Changing Man, win one of the televised races and the ITV cameras captured his joy after it passed the winning post. John, who grew Parkdean to become the UK’s largest holiday park operator, was then presented with a trophy by Queen Camilla.
United front
There will be something different about the North East delegation at this year’s UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) - for the first time all seven local authorities will join forces to promote the region and attract inward investment.
Delivered by NGI on behalf of the North East Combined Authority, Mayor Kim McGuinness will lead the delegation at the three-day real estate event taking place in Leeds in May. Private sector organisations are also part of the North East team.
She said: “I am really excited about UKREiiF this year because for the first time we are coming together with one voice, as North East England, to promote our region as a place to do business in a new and powerful way.”
Next stop the Oscars
Golden Globe-winning Peter Straughan has another trophy for his cabinet after picking up a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on the film Conclave. The film won three other awards - Best Film, Outstanding British Film and Best Editing. The North East screenwriter is now one of the favourites for an Oscar on March 2.
Awards success
The 2025 MOBO Awards have been and gone but Newcastle can look back at an event that underscored its growing prominence as a cultural hub.
The MOBOs celebrate the finest in Black music and culture, and local venues buzzed as the Fringe Festival unfolded, featuring live performances, workshops, and community events that showcased the region’s rich cultural tapestry.
Million in mind
Sir Peter Vardy has pledged £500,000 to support the North East Autism Society’s vision of transforming New Warlands Farm in County Durham into an innovative training centre for autistic and neurodivergent individuals.
His pledge is part of a match-funding initiative, where he encourages other businesses to match his donation, effectively doubling the impact of each contribution. The project aims to create meaningful job opportunities and improve the lives of autistic individuals in the region.
Steph’s lifeline
Middlesbrough charity Rubies, which helps 10-16 year old girls build confidence and self-esteem, are £125,000 better off thanks to the efforts of Steph McGovern on a celebrity edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Steph, who currently co-hosts the podcast The Rest Is Money with Robert Peston and is a participant in the Netflix survival challenge show Celebrity Bear Hunt, has worked with the charity for more than five years.
A quick word
Defibrillators are to be installed on 51 TransPennine Express trains by the end of next month. The second of the new fleet of Metro trains is now in service, operating on the Sunderland line between South Hylton and Newcastle Airport. The North East Combined Authority (NECA) has secured £15.8 million from the Government's Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, aiming to deliver more than 1000 charge points by 2030. The University and College Union (UCU) has announced 14 days in March when Newcastle University staff will go on strike over planned budget cuts which could lead to around 300 job losses. Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey said he is to hold an in-depth discussion with senior officers after a watchdog highlighted failings in how the force investigated cases of children being exploited online, along with its response to missing young people. A school which was built in 2016 has closed after cracks were found. Prudhoe Community High School in Northumberland shut last Friday. Structural engineers are looking at the cause and seriousness of the cracks. Council officers have been asked to start work on plans to extend the Northumberland Line to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. Plans to move Durham County Council’s headquarters to the Rivergreen Centre have been approved. The County Hall will be demolished to make way for a development that is hoped to attract 3,700 jobs. Durham University Chancellor Dr Fiona Hill, who credits the start of her academic career to a grant from the Durham Miners' Association, has launched a scholarship programme. Two groups of three eligible students, recruited in 2025 and 2026, will each receive £5,000 a year to study at Durham.
Wrong way
The region’s labour market figures continue to stubbornly move in the wrong direction, points out Arlen Pettitt in his latest Wor Room newsletter.
The proportion of people aged 16-64 who are in employment in the region is at 70.3%, down from 71.8% this time last year. Unemployment is at 5.0%, up from 4.1% last year, and economic inactivity is at 26.0%, up from 25.2% last year.
The national figures are ticking slowly in the correct direction but he says there’s a significant question of whether there will be enough jobs to achieve the Government’s objective of having the national employment rate hit 80%.
Sunderland looking good
After the collapse of merger talks with Honda, Nissan is continuing to look at restructuring and cost-cutting. The company will close its factory in Thailand and two other unnamed plants - but Sunderland has received substantial investment, particularly in electric vehicle production, which should work in its favour.
Merger talks
Ward Hadaway and The Endeavour Partnership are in discussions over a potential merger. Both firms are conducting due diligence and evaluating how a combined entity could create a stronger more diverse business.
Ward Hadaway employs more than 500 staff and operates offices in Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester, while The Endeavour Partnership is based in Thornaby, near Stockton.
To stotties!
Newcastle-based social enterprise The Big River Bakery is gearing up for the second National Stottie Week - and this year it involves beer.
Businesses, including Fenwick, are also getting involved and the programme includes a Stottie Cake Trail, interactive events at Baltic and Seven Stories, and daily giveaways on social media.
A collaboration between The Big River Bakery and Firebrick Brewery sees the launch of a stottie beer which uses stale bread that can’t be sold or donated to a food bank - but we are assured tastes great.
‘We need to talk’
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness has written to Go North East MD Nigel Featham requesting an urgent meeting on the back of safety fears and possible strike action over the treatment of staff.
Business Bites
Hebburn-based Castle has been named as the contractor to build a modern campus for South Tyneside College and South Shields Marine School base in South Shields town centre. Work is expected to begin in the summer. Business and legal services firm DWF has announced 12 promotions for staff in their Newcastle office including managing partner Lee Pickett who was promoted to a higher career level within the firm’s partnership structure. Craft beer chain BrewDog has reacted to the news that Durham County Council is looking to acquire the much-delayed Milburngate development in the city centre by saying it now looked forward to seeing a ‘timetable of completion’. Their bar has sat empty for three years. Efforts to find a buyer for touchscreen technology company Zytronic have failed and the business, which employs 50 people in Blaydon, will close. Tier One Capital is partnering with Broadoak Asset Management to help drive the growth of the Develop North investment fund. North East property consultancy GFW added 20 members of staff last year and are looking to expand the team even more in 2025, with plans to recruit across its rural and commercial sectors. Jane Robinson, pro-vice-chancellor Engagement and Place at Newcastle University, has been appointed chair of CBI North East. Newcastle-based digital consultancy hedgehog lab is to open a new hub in Leeds as part of its ambitious growth strategy.
THE WIDER VIEW
Making of a beast
The world’s biggest video sharing platform, YouTube, has just turned 20. It started with a 19-second video of one of the founders exploring San Diego Zoo. Today it’s an engagement beast, uploading as much video content every five minutes as the BBC studios produces in a year.
The business is now worth $455 billion - a spectacular return on the $1.65 billion Google paid for it in 2006, and it has a similar gross revenue to Netflix, but without the financial inconvenience of making shows.
The 26-year-old YouTube star Mr Beast earned £67m in 2024 from videos ranging from live Call of Duty play-alongs to handing out 1,000 free cataract operations.
How did it come to this? The Conversation has this article on how YouTube transformed our viewing habits in eight steps. And here is that very first YouTube 19-second video.
Upon my word
He’s only 21, but footballer Jude Bellingham is already one of Birmingham’s most famous exports and he has sparked a new vein of media discourse in Spain, the Birmingham Dispatch reports.
Real Madrid’s star midfielder was sent off after the referee thought Bellingham had said ‘f@#k you’ to him. The player swears (sorry) he actually said ‘f@#k off’, and that it was an exclamation aimed at himself.
The Dispatch says Spain’s broadsheets and tabloids are now diligently applying themselves to deciphering and explaining the adaptability and different uses of the word f@#k to Spanish speakers. This could take some time.
What’s the chances?
The daily newsletter The Knowledge reports that Nasa has upgraded the risk of the asteroid known as 2024 YR4 colliding with Earth to 3.1%, making it the most threatening space rock ever recorded. A direct hit could happen on December 22 2032, with a blast radius of around 30 miles.
THE QT VAULTS
A year ago, QT features editor Sam Wonfor had started to open her back catalogue of memories and brought us The Tube's double date with Tina Turner whose career was resurrected in spectacular fashion by her live performance in Newcastle in front of the Channel 4 cameras.
For those who don’t know, Sam’s late mum Andrea is TV royalty - Byker Grove, The Big Breakfast, The Word, and The Tube which she co-created with Malcolm Gerrie. Her dad Geoff was a director of that iconic music show and won several prestigious awards throughout his career, including a Grammy for The Beatles Anthology in 1997.
Sit back and enjoy this entertaining and insightful piece of nostalgia involving “this old woman dressed in a shammy leather.”