I don’t really do this. In fact, I’m uncomfortable doing it now. But I’ve started so I’ll finish…
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Vanity sanity?
The headlines say that North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and Gateshead Council leader Nick Allan have held “constructive” talks over the building of a 15,000-capacity arena on Gateshead Quays.
The mayor believes the arena is needed to make sure big name acts do not leave out the North East on their tours. But Allan, who had previously described the arena as a ‘vanity project’, warned that his administration would not back the scheme unless the mayor came up with a “better argument and better financial package” for the development.
Hmm. When you read the stories and what the two politicians actually said, then the only ‘constructive’ thing is that the conversation took place at all and that both agreed something “needed to be done”.
Durham milestones
Durham County Council has supported 1,429 businesses, secured 14 inward investment projects and helped create or safeguard 1,673 jobs in the past year, according to the council’s latest performance report.
Leader Andrew Husband said the authority had made significant progress in supporting the local economy, improving community safety and tackling homelessness, while managing what he described as a continuing care crisis and the impact of changes to local government funding.
Yes, but…
I brought you the good news on Friday (Eyes & Ears 12.06.26) that three of our universities have been successful in getting a share of £80m to provide up to 2,500 more student places and build new facilities to prepare young people for jobs in the defence sector over the coming decade.
It turns out there’s a ‘but’. Isn’t there always - although it should be pointed out that this ‘but’ has nothing to do with ministerial resignations and the like.
Newcastle, Durham and Teesside are among the 24 universities and colleges selected to equip young people with the skills needed for a well-paid career in the defence sector.
But journalist Peter Morris points out, that our graduates are much more likely to be forced to move to take advantage of their opportunities - because the MoD spends only a tiny percentage of whatever its budget is in this region.
King’s Birthday Honours
John Marshall, chair of the North East Chamber of Commerce, has been awarded an OBE for services to the region’s economy in the King’s Birthday Honours. He has fully embraced a portfolio career since leaving Womble Bond Dickinson where he was senior partner. He was chair of the NewcastleGateshead Initiative until it recently became Experience North East England. His current roles include chair of trustees at the Newcastle United Foundation, a board member at believe housing, deputy chair with the North East Ambulance Service, regional ambassador with The King’s Trust and chair of St Chad’s College at Durham University. Society Matters Group CEO Alison Dunn has been awarded an MBE for her outstanding leadership and impact over a sustained period. Barry Taylor, chair of trustees at Citizens Advice Gateshead said: “Her leadership has shaped not only our organisation, but the wider conversation around how we support people, communities and systems to work better for everyone. Her ability to combine values, innovation and impact has set a standard for what leadership in our sector can and should be.” Samantha Allen, chief executive for the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), has been rewarded with a CBE. The care board boss, who lives in Northumberland, has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to the NHS spanning almost three decades. Northumbria University academic Nigel Coates, who founded the university’s pioneering Business Clinic in 2013, has been awarded an MBE for services to higher education and to business. There was a knighthood for former Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin, recently elected South Tyneside Council leader Paul Mackings was awarded an MBE for services to business and the community, Beamish chief executive Rhiannon Hiles received a CBE and former Newcastle City Centre Chaplain the Reverend Canon Glyn Evans was also awarded an MBE. The Northern Echo has a full list of North East recipients here.
Nigel Cabourn 1949-2026
North East menswear designer Nigel Cabourn, internationally respected for his focus on heritage garments, military uniforms, workwear, and vintage sportswear, has died after a career spanning more than 50 years.
Born in 1949, Cabourn discovered his passion for clothing design while studying at Northumbria University from 1967 to 1971. Over the decades he built one of the largest private archives of vintage military expedition clothing in the world - more than 4,000 pieces - and thousands of reference books housed at his design studio in Jesmond.
He leaves behind a global retail footprint - over 20 stores worldwide - and a design legacy that permanently transformed modern menswear.
My session with Nigel
The death of Nigel Cabourn evoked conflicting memories for North East photographer Christopher Owens who had a session with the Jesmond-based designer for North East Times magazine in 2021.
“I went into it trying to impress him, perhaps a little too much. I was obsessed with being technically perfect and controlling every detail, and somewhere in that rigidity I totally lost myself,” he wrote in his LinkedIn.
“The truth is, he was pretty undirectable, and I just didn’t realise that’s how the shoot was going to play out. What the situation called for was a reportage approach, just following his lead, staying loose and collaborative. Instead I was trying to conduct it like a formal portrait sitting, imposing a structure on someone who had absolutely no interest in being directed by me. The harder I pushed, the further it slipped away.
“At one point he asked quite directly, in front of the whole room, whether I was a professional. He was probably just being playful, taking the mick. But I was so eager to impress and so desperate to connect with someone I genuinely admired that it completely wrong-footed me. Whatever credibility I had evaporated in that moment and I never really recovered for the rest of the shoot. I left feeling deflated and hadn’t wanted to revisit it until today.
“Coming back to the images, I see them differently now. The shots I like most are the ones where I stopped pushing and just let him lead, which is strange given how much I resisted that on the day. I’d handle it so differently now.
“What strikes me most is just how extraordinary it was that someone doing work of that calibre was doing it right here from the North East of England. A remarkable craftsman and a true original. Rest easy, Nigel.”
Spring in the step
Former Lioness Jill Scott was revived by the reception she received in Sunderland as she crossed the finish line of her epic Sport Relief challenge. Over five days, she ran and cycled 388 miles from Wembley to the Stadium of Light. Her challenge has raised £470,677 so far.
Speaking after crossing the finishing line, she said: “Sunderland is home this is community, family, friends - it means the world.”
As Jill was completing her challenge, former England captain Lewis Moody was beginning his. The rugby star, who revealed he had Motor Neurone Disease (MND) last year, is riding from Newcastle to Twickenham over seven days with all money raised going to the My Name’s Doddie Foundation.
A quick word
Former Newcastle councillor Thom Campion has been found guilty of sexual assault after luring a woman upstairs to his bedroom to look at a “cute teddy”. The GMB union said it will fight to keep 12 publicly-run nurseries open in South Tyneside. A review was first agreed by the previous Labour administration but Reform UK, which now controls the council, said it will continue with the consultation. A £2.6m project to connect nearly 500 off-grid households in the Upper Coquet valley has been completed. Laura Day from Carlcroft Farm, one of the last properties to get mains power, said: “It is just so good to say goodbye to flickering lights and be able to put on more than one appliance at the same time.” The Liberal Democrat-led Newcastle City Council raised the rainbow flag outside the Civic Centre on Thursday to mark Pride Month. The decision comes after Gateshead Council refused to fly the flag outside its offices - a move which mirrored that of their fellow Reform UK-led council in Sunderland. Newcastle Theatre Royal joined four major regional venues in Parliament this week to officially launch the Regional Independent Theatre Alliance and call for greater recognition of the sector. Puffin numbers on the Farne Islands are under the spotlight once again as rangers begin their annual census of the much-loved seabirds. The National Trust islands off the Northumberland coast, which attract around 45,000 annual visitors, are home to one of the UK’s most important puffin colonies. The Government has marked the start of England hosting the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup by unveiling five new locations for state-of-the-art all-weather cricket domes - including one in Newcastle.
Giving a lead
A Newcastle centre for people experiencing homelessness is set to inform national policy, thanks to its best-practice approach to removing barriers for people with pets.
The Joseph Cowen Centre - which is owned and operated by Tyne Housing - is run in partnership with the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Newcastle City Council, as a dedicated Wellbeing Community Hub for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Researchers from IMPACT (Improving Adult Care Together) spoke to people using the centre to learn more about its approach to pet inclusion, and will use its work to inform the development of new policy guidelines to ensure people experiencing homelessness who have a pet are able to access the support they need.
Business bites
Deputy Julia Prescot is stepping up to become Chair of the Port of Tyne on July 1 when Lucy Armstrong’s three terms comes to an end. The move comes as the port reports its strongest financial performance in a decade with recorded revenue of £70m in 2025. County Durham’s visitor economy hit a record £1.48 billion in 2025, according to the latest figures, with visitor numbers rising 2% to 21.98m – the highest in the North East. Overnight stays continued to drive value: 1.67m staying visitors generated £651.9m, accounting for just 8% of trips but 44% of all spending. The Banks Group has recorded a significant increase in turnover and operating profit as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Race for peace
An expected 400 people will gather at Newcastle Civic Centre and walk to Exhibition Park tomorrow evening to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising.
The event is the brainchild of North East entrepreneur Tim Cantle-Jones and was first staged in 1994, with the personal endorsement of Nelson Mandela. Other Race for Peace events will take place in London, Manchester and Birmingham, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda and Gambia as well as in members of the Newcastles of World network.
Template for success
The North East has faced the persistent challenge that many of our best ideas have ended up being developed, scaled and employed elsewhere.
That’s where the North East Spinout Inspire Fund comes in. I told you on Friday how the five North East universities have joined with the North East mayor to help turn academic research into businesses that create jobs - and wealth - in the region.
Northumbria University vice chancellor Andy Long, who is chair of Universities for North East England (UNEE) has been explaining the thinking behind it.
“Access to finance is one of the major barriers to both increasing the number of spinouts being created, and enabling those companies to grow, yet the scale of that challenge is not felt equally across the different parts of the UK. Addressing it requires strategic intervention involving multiple stakeholders.
“The North East of England has taken a major step toward resolving this challenge through the creation of an early-stage investment fund dedicated to university spinout creation.
“Our universities collectively produce a substantial body of research with real commercial potential. But support infrastructure and early-stage investment are different things. For too long we have brought promising companies to the point of investment readiness, only to watch them struggle to find capital in a region where early-stage venture funding has historically been scarce.
“The Spinout Inspire Fund is a direct response to that gap.
“Five institutions, each with different research strengths and different levels of commercialisation maturity, have agreed to pool resources, together with the MSA, and commit collectively to a structure that puts the region first.
“I am genuinely optimistic. Not because the problems are solved, but because for the first time in my experience, the right people around the table have agreed to take a risk together. In a sector that is sometimes better at analysing collective problems than solving them, that is worth noting.”
You can read the full blog here.
What?
The Ukraine war has now been going longer than the first World War
What?
The Beatles first album Please Please Me was released on March 22, 1963. It was released closer to the 1800s than to the present day.
Yes, really.
December 31, 1899 to March 22, 1963 = 23,091 days
March 22 ,1963 to June 16, 2026 = 23,097 days.
And finally…
Just a couple of things that entered my social media feed recently:
