The History of NECC

Despite celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2005, the North East Chamber of Commerce's roots go much deeper, as far back as 1815 when the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce was formed shortly after the Battle of Waterloo.

Prominent industrialists, entrepreneurs and business people have presided over the smooth running of what was later to expand into the Tyne and Wear Chamber and the Teesside Chamber. These have included the Caribbean plantation owner John Graham-Clarke, industrialists including Sir Matthew White Ridley, H. W. F. Bolckow and Lord Joicey, and Members of Parliament, notably Somerset A. Beaumont, Sir Charles Mark Palmer, Isaac Wilson and Walter Raine.

In 1995 these Chambers along with the Tynedale Chamber decided that a strong united regional voice was the way forward for regional businesses and formed the North East Chamber of Commerce.

In 2004 NECC won Chamber of the Year at the British Chamber of Commerce national awards. The following year, NECC celebrated another significant milestone when it landed its 10,000th learner into full-time employment.

The current President who follows in the footsteps of many illustrious business people who have represented NECC over the years, is John Mowbray, who is in his first year in the role. The roll call of past presidents reads like a who's who of business in the North East, testament indeed to the influence and prestige which NECC has held through the times, and continues to hold in the North East business community.