Business
North East England has always had a rich heritage of innovation, where Sunderland-born Joseph Swan pioneered the electric light, and George Stephenson built the first steam locomotive.
Today, the region continues to be a hot-bed of innovation and industrial strengths. Major blue chip firms such as Nissan and Komatsu are based here, alongside home-grown success stories such as Sage Plc, Reg Vardy and Greggs who employ thousands of people and invest heavily in the region.
The life sciences, biotechnology and healthcare sectors are growing rapidly here, with thriving clusters in diagnostics, medical devices, clinical trials and pharmaceuticals. There’s also Newcastle Science City, a £600m project supported by One NorthEast, Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council.
North East England has world-class capabilities in the renewable energy sector too, with the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) at Blyth leading wind, tidal and photovoltaic power generation. The region also has the world’s largest biofuels producing complex.
Process industries are thriving in the North East. The North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) consists of 200 pharmaceutical, biotechnology, speciality, petrochemical and commodity chemical companies. Their combined economic power provides about £8bn of GDP and over 25% of the region’s industrial base, employing 34,000 people. One third of all UK biotechnology companies are based in North East England, and the region has the highest retention of graduates outside London.
The region has made groundbreaking advances in the fields of nanotechnology and ICT. North East England’s world-leading digital sector includes microchip manufacture, robotics, software, informatics, e-commerce, games design and data manipulation.
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