Yes, the headline above says A One and not A Aye - something that had become a rarity until the death toll on the main highway through Northumberland took a sad turn of events recently.
Former Tory MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan says civil servants in Whitehall “hated” the idea of dualling the road.
The main article today comes from the compelling Professor Bob Hudson who takes a closer look at the strange death of Durham High School. There’s more to come on this story, I’m sure.
Tees Valley. Team Valley. Only two letters of a difference - but after my mistake on Friday I was told: “There are plenty of examples of mistakes acting as the inspiration for great ideas - this might be one.”
I have to leave this inadvertent great idea with Mayor Kim McGuinness.
Also today there’s the prospect of a £200m shortfall in the finances of North East councils, the 19 towns from the region hoping for cultural glory and a ‘People’s History’ of Newcastle United is about to be published by acclaimed author Dan Jackson.
Keep trying
Former Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan made dualling the A1 a key point of her election campaigns. She had a chance to exert real influence when she was appointed Transport Secretary in September 2022. Unfortunately she was only in position for 49 days because she was a Liz Truss appointment.
With fresh calls to reopen the case for dualling, Trevelyan has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that civil servants “hated” the scheme and frustrated attempts to get the project done.
“It was hard, levelling up was hard, we were fighting a system,” she said. “The civil service simply didn’t want to do it. I tried and failed on this, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep trying. Otherwise, the North remains the poor relation.”
Fair for all
Newcastle council leader Colin Ferguson said “fair funding” for local government needs to be high on the agenda for whoever replaces Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.
“Andy Burnham talked about greater devolution for regions, which we would welcome, but it can’t just be funding for regional mayors. Local councils, and cities like Newcastle, must have a seat at the table, better funding, and greater freedom to act,” he said.
In something of an echo, Northumberland Conservative councillor Nick Oliver said local authorities needed the “freedom and financing they need to deliver locally”.
The calls follow a warning by the Local Government Association that North East councils are facing a shortfall of more than £200m over the next three years.”
People’s history of NUFC
The ‘People’s History’ of Newcastle United is being told in a new book by bestselling author Dan Jackson.
Howay the Lads!, published this autumn, traces the club’s journey from its Victorian roots to the modern era, arguing that Newcastle United’s fortunes offer a window into the wider social and cultural history of the region.
The acclaimed author of The Northumbrians examines the club’s rise to Edwardian football dominance, its long pursuit of silverware and its enduring relationship with the city and supporters who have remained fiercely loyal through triumph and heartbreak alike. Along the way, he revisits iconic figures including Colin Veitch, Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer.
Dan will launch the book at the Tyneside Irish Centre in Newcastle on September 3, where he will discuss the club’s origins, its place in North East culture and the characters who helped shape its history, in conversation with writer and Eyes & Ears contributor Harry Pearson. The book can be pre-ordered via Forum Books here.
A Team game
The Team Valley Trading Estate is big - but not big enough to accept devolved responsibilities from central government.
It’s one of the UK’s largest and most significant commercial estates, a community of more than 700 businesses spread over 700 acres providing jobs to well over 20,000 people. And PM-elect Andy Burnham is said to be ready for a “devolution blitz”.
But that won’t include Team Valley - no matter what I said in the third paragraph to my introduction to Friday’s Eyes & Ears!!! I meant Tees Valley Combined Authority but I typed Team Valley. Grrrr.
It turns out, however, that there may have been an element of inadvertent genius about my writing. After admitting my mistake on LinkedIn, Alexander Rose, Head of Public Funding at Ward Hadaway responded:
“There are plenty of examples of mistakes acting as the inspiration for great ideas - this might be one. The Team Valley trading estate already makes an important contribution to the North East economy, but it could do more with the right support. If it was set up as a Mayoral Development Zone then it might be able to achieve its full potential and become one of the examples of “good growth” in “every postcode” cited by Andy Burnham.”
I know that Mayor Kim McGuinness is a reader…
Fort’s Lottery boost
Britain’s most complete Roman fort has been given a funding boost to improve its status still further. English Heritage has been awarded a development grant of £286,623 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Shared Horizons Project at Housesteads in Northumberland.
Lying midway along Hadrian’s Wall, Housesteads was built within a decade of AD 122, when work on the Wall began. It was garrisoned by an 800-strong infantry regiment until the end of the 4th century. Tony Henderson has more in Cultured. North East.
A quick word
The Metro train on which Queen Elizabeth travelled when she officially opened the system in 1981 has been donated to the North East Land Sea and Air Museum in Washington where it will go on public display. Shareholders in Newcastle-based Atom Bank are considering halting the sale process because no bidder has met their £600m valuation target. The North East Chamber of Commerce has launched the Inspiring Women in Business Awards 2026 to recognise the achievements of women making a difference in their organisations, industries and communities, while also celebrating employers that are creating inclusive workplaces. A record 13,000 people took part in the Great North 10k yesterday, running a changed route through Newcastle which began and ended on the Great North Road where the Great North Run begins. Seven out of eight theatres at the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton ended up under water during heavy rain last month meaning more than 400 patients had planned surgeries postponed.
Forest go-ahead
The High Court has given the go ahead for the planting of England’s largest new commercial forest in decades at Greencroft Forest near Lanchester in County Durham.
Harry Humble of True North Asset Partners said: “It is regrettable that this Judicial Review has taken up so much time and money. Now that the case has been resolved, we hope to move forward with the planting and delivering the significant economic, ecological and environmental benefits the forest will bring.”
Lanchester Properties has lodged an application for permission to appeal. Caroline Cleary-MacArthur, a director of the family-owned firm, said: “We have never opposed tree planting; we recognise the importance of increasing woodland cover and tackling climate change. However, planting commercial non-native Sitka Spruce forests on this scale, directly alongside villages and with little or no public access, is something we believe is fundamentally wrong for the environment.”
Long longlist
Nineteen North East towns are awaiting news of whether they have made the shortlist for the inaugural UK Town of Culture competition after their bids were showcased in a national exhibition in Liverpool.
From Berwick to Redcar, the region is strongly represented among the 398 bids submitted.
Ahead of the shortlist announcement, expected by the end of July, each of the bidding towns was invited to create a postcard celebrating its identity and cultural ambitions.
The digital display was unveiled at the Museum of Liverpool this week where Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy viewed the exhibition alongside judging panel chair Sir Phil Redmond.
Sam Wonfor at Cultured. North East has more here - and also produced this video of the North East postcards.
Out - bull before wicket
You’ll have heard of a bull in a china shop, but what about a bull on a cricket field?
It happened at the weekend, causing the North East Premier League fixture at Burnopfield to be abandoned after a runaway bull charged at players and avoided several capture attempts - including something of a honey trap.
“At first it was quite novel, it was quite funny – but we never thought it was going to impact on our game being abandoned,” said cricket club director Martin Oswell. “In a bid to lure the animal off the field, the bull’s owner brought a cow to the cricket club, though this proved unsuccessful.”
Burnopfield CC were disappointed the match had to be called off - they are second top of the table and had already scored 226 runs against Hetton Lyons.
‘Break up to build’
Allies of Andy Burnham are urging him to break up Homes England - the non‑departmental public body currently chaired by former Newcastle council chief executive Pat Ritchie - if he wants to deliver on his council house building revolution.
Homes England has been too slow and clunky at delivering affordable housing from Whitehall, said Dr Simon Kaye, director of policy at the Re:State think-tank, whose advisory board includes Conservative and Labour figures. Scrapping it would be a “game-changer”, he told The i Paper.
Burnham was one of the advisers for a 2025 Re:State report which said it would be more efficient to give public money directly to regional bodies to buy land and get homes built. “I hope he sees that it fits really neatly with his devolution instincts,” said Dr Kaye.
Steve Rotheram, the Labour Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, a close ally of Burnham, said the next prime minister should give “established mayoral authorities greater control over housing investment, helping us build more homes – including council housing”.
Chinese whispers: The strange death of Durham High School
By Bob Hudson
1884: the Fabian Society and the NSPCC are founded; the first Marks and Spencer store is opened; and Durham High School for Girls opens its doors. The first three are still thriving, whereas the High School is gone with barely a day’s notice to pupils, parents and staff. Until recently Durham High School (DHS) was an autonomous award-winning independent school, having been named Independent Secondary School of the Year for the North East (2024) by the Sunday Times. The future looked assured. So - what’s going on?
The Takeover
In 2024, DHS was acquired by Galaxy Global Education (GGE) as part of its expansion into the UK independent school sector. The stated mission of the company is to operate independent schools and promote international educational opportunities. Two other schools were also acquired – Malvern St James (Worcestershire) and Ruthin School (North Wales). In September 2024 a new UK company – Durham Education Limited – was incorporated to run operations at DHS, under the umbrella of GGE serving as the parent company of all the acquired schools.
The Closure
Whatever bright future the governing body of DHS might have anticipated from the takeover, rapidly dissipated. Activity seemed normal in 2025 and early 2026, with ongoing marketing and pupil enrolment (including becoming co-educational in the senior school), buttressed by a positive inspection that praised leadership, education and pastoral care. Even in June of this year the school was publishing newsletters promoting admissions.
Suddenly, on July 2 Galaxy Global announced the closure of DHS. The explanation was familiar – that rising costs, declining enrolment and the introduction of VAT on school fees had made the school financially unviable. The decision was accompanied by a glut of sympathy for all affected, along with an assurance that the priority for GGE had always been the welfare of the pupils.
Meanwhile at the other two schools acquired by GGE a similar story was emerging, with both Malvern St James (founded 1893) and Ruthin School (astonishingly founded 1284) peremptorily closed. In the case of Malvern, the local council fought to keep the school open and there was talk of an alternative investor, but to no avail. Ruthin had even published its autumn return dates but was closed with minimal notice.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one school may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness; to lose all three looks damn suspicious!
The Response
The response from parents, pupils, staff and politicians has been frantic and emotional. Parents, and students of DHS, along with staff and trade unions, have held angry demonstrations outside the school, with their venom aimed at the owners of GGE. Durham City MP, Mary Foy, has condemned the decision as ‘abhorrent’, and said the reasons given for the closure are ‘completely disingenuous’.
Meanwhile, in an explosive farewell message, Mike Parker, the director of marketing and admissions at DHS said: ‘Whatever you read, this isn’t a VAT story. It isn’t a falling rolls or unstoppable decline story. The truth is deeper and more complex and eventually truth will out’. This is a startling statement from someone with a ringside seat and suggests we need to know much more about GGE, rather than fretting about Bridget Phillipson’s VAT on school fees.
So… What Do We Know About GGE?
All fingers now seem to be pointing to GGE itself, so, what do we know about them? The answer is surprisingly little. GGE was only incorporated in April 2025 (with a mere £100 of share capital) and has not yet filed its first statutory accounts. This means it is not possible to assess its available cash, debt levels, profitability, liquidity, dividends or inter-company lending – say from Durham Education Ltd to its parent company, GGE.
The organizational structure of GGE is equally opaque. Unlike a conventional UK education group, GGE is a trading name rather than a single transparent corporate group. It seems to be spread across several UK companies, school-specific operating companies and overseas entities. In particular a company (or individual) called Twelve Behind Cay Inc is listed as one of two ‘ultimate beneficial owners’, but other than being based in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands, information is at a premium.
The published group leadership includes some known UK names such as Lord Vaizey (an ex-Conservative Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy) and Nicholas Grenfell-Marten, former Chairman of the Independent Schools Bursars Association. However, it is clear where power lies – Shangqin Gao, who holds 75% or more of the shares and voting rights, has the right to appoint or remove directors, and is a Chinese national, resident in the UK.
Additional information about Gao is hard to come by but she controls a company related to GGE called Galaxy Capital Real Estate Ltd, a company that was incorporated in 2023 – two years before GGE. The company is currently dormant but questions will understandably be asked about the school land and buildings of DHS, Malvern and Ruthin, since these are the most valuable assets – large acres of land, Victorian and later school buildings, sports facilities and car parks. With planning permission, this could amount to a very lucrative real estate development.
Where Next?
Chinese ownership of critical UK infrastructure is not unusual. It is estimated that this investment currently amounts to not far shy of £200 billion spread across real estate, utility networks, water supply, gas networks, transport hubs and electricity distribution. However, investment in, and ownership of, our schools is a new realm of activity, that leaves those dependent on these establishments in a position of sheer powerlessness.
It is well-nigh impossible to secure accountability from such an opaque entity as GGE and its associated web of companies. Parents, staff and politicians are of the view that the company is intent on asset-stripping these schools, but find it impossible to get proper answers or even some redress for their plight. They gather, shout and brandish placards at the school gates, but the owners are not present, not visible and not listening. We have a new problem crying out for a new solution.
Bob Hudson,
Visiting Professor in Public Policy,
University of Sunderland.
Brexit - the facts
Eyes & Ears is independent, politically-neutral - but North East biased. I didn’t say too much when the tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote happened nearly two weeks ago. I thought you might like to see this, however.
The BBC’s Ros Atkins has built up a reputation for fact‑driven ‘explainer journalism’, producing short, tightly edited videos that distil complicated events into clear sequences of evidence.
Here he turns his factual, direct style of reporting to the issue that divided our nation in 2016. It’s not as brief as most of his explainers - it’s more than 16 minutes - but nor should you expect it to be.