19 reasons to look at the North-East economy
When you think of the North East, you might not think of a place where modern industry is booming. Despite a heritage of science, industry, and invention, Newcastle and the North East are associated with the industrial decline of the 1980s. Today, though, it’s a very different place, full of fast-growing companies in industries like life-science and video games.
And unlike the South East, it’s affordable. Everything, from buying a house to running a company is cheaper. There’s a lively food scene, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the largest concentration of STEM graduates in the country.
You can see our video below summing up our recent visit to the North East, but we also wanted to write down our reflections too.
If you are new here, my name is Jimmy McLoughlin, a former Downing Street adviser turned podcaster. I write this notebook on the most interesting things I have seen on the future of work, jobs, technology and politics.
We also wanted to take the opportunity to list down all that we saw, so here are nineteen reasons why you should consider investing in—or moving to—the North East.
You can live the life you want to live
The Northumberland coast is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 53 square miles of walking, cycling, historical monuments, and star-gazing.
The average house price in the North East is £151,829. In London it is £538,251.
The food writers at Mob have called Newcastle’s food scene “second to none.” The Good Food Guide praised its “bounteous culinary scene.” Delicious magazine said Newcastle is “a must-visit destination for self-confessed foodies.” Newcastle has it all: street food, Michelin stars, artisan bakeries, local fish and chips, barbeque, and highly rated Indian restaurants. When the Guardian reviewed Khai Khai, a local Indian restaurant, they said it was “The kind of food you pause halfway through eating so you can text friends about it.” Harrison Ford has eaten at Khai Khai and Gordon Ranmsey praised their butter chicken.
Newcastle is less than three hours away from London by train. You can leave at 7 a.m. and arrive for a 10 a.m. meeting. The airport is easy to get to and there is a seventy station metro system.
Tech growth is central to the economy
According to TechNation (2020), the North East has 3,700 tech firms, employing some 27,000 people, with a turnover of £20bn.
Newcastle is the UK city with the highest concentration of STEM graduates. There are more than 67,000 people studying science, technology, engineering, and maths there. It has been called the UK’s smartest city.
Organisations like Tech Startup Sunderland provide end-to-end support for people starting new technology businesses, including meet-ups (like this one on 21st September where you can find a co-founder.)
Newcastle University spin out businesses include: CellRev, a cell culturing business that works with organisations producing lab grown meat, cell therapy and biologicals; AMLo Biosciences Ltd, which works on early cancer detection; and Atelerix, which works on storing and transporting cell tissue at room temperature.
In 2021, Newcastle tech businesses secured £86m in venture capital funding and employed over 1,300 people, according to government figures. There were 12,000 start-ups in the same year.
Companies in the North East are using AI to research the deep sea and to analyze customer-service at major retailers. Companies here are putting nanorobots in the bloodstream and combining cognitive behavioral therapy with virtual reality to improve mental health treatment. The North East is the home of the National Innovation Centre for Data and the National Innovation Centre for Longevity.
Peter Dakin, a local tech founder, told us: “one of the joys of the Northeast is that founders are really open. I know if I've got a problem, I can pick up the phone, and reach anyone in the ecosystem”
There’s a gaming boom underway
Between December 2021 and April 2023 gaming-related employment grew by 47% in the North East.
There are more than 60 gaming companies in Newcastle. Local universities have dozens of courses that provide local talent to the sector. And PROTO, the digital media production facility for filmmakers, game developers, researchers, and educators, was the first of its kind in Europe.
A 40-person video game business in the North East costs £1.45 million less to run every year than it would in London. There are more than 10 networks and meet-ups for games developers and artists.
The North East is a life science centre
Bioscience enterprises contribute over £390m (GVA) to the Tees Valley economy and employ more than 6,000 people.
International companies like GSK, Accord Healthcare, MSD, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies and Piramal Healthcare, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, KD Pharma and CPI are continuing to invest in the North East, alongside SMEs such as Hart Biologicals, Absolute Antibodies and Cambridge Research Biochemicals.
The National Horizons Centre is one of the most well-equipped bioscience training facilities in the UK. It has industry-leading facilities, equipment and resources for bioprocessing, biological imaging, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, biosynthesis and bioinformatics
The national Government is moving there
The Darlington economic campus was opened in 2020, employing over 500 people from different economic departments, including Treasury, business, energy and trade. As then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak said when. he appeared on Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future, it is so the Government can reach a new and different talent pool at might approach problems in a different way.
The people
When we spent several days in the North East recording our special episode of Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future, we asked everyone what the best thing about doing business in the north east was, without doubt the resounding answer that came back was the people. You can check out the whole video below.
I said in the YouTube video if we got to 20,000 views then we would return to do a 2nd episode, as we got to around 8k after just a few days, that would seem a likely prospect.
Amazingly the trailer, has been viewed well over 100k times across our social platforms.
The full 45 minute podcast episode can be found here.
This was a Jimmy’s Jobs partnership with Sunderland Software City, if you are interested in how you might partner with us, check out our partnerships page.