Innovation and Invention in the North East
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Tom Kennedy takes a look at innovation across time and space in the North East of England
When it comes to innovation and invention the North East has a long and illustrious history. If you leave the Newcastle offices of the North East England Chamber of Commerce, cross the road and look up, you will see a blue plaque marking the achievements and life of Sunderland born physicist Joseph Swan. On 3February 1879, Swan made nearby Mosley Street the first street in the world to be lit by electric light. The idea of lighting streets with electricity caught on rather quickly and his incandescent lights went on to illuminate streets, homes and iconic buildings across the world, including the Savoy Hotel, London.
Another North East innovator, George Stephenson, son of Northumberland, pioneered the first railways. Stephenson was responsible for the first locomotive to carry passengers, the first inter-city railway line in 1830 and the ‘Stephenson Gauge’; the model on which the majority of global rail transport is run on to this day.
The long bloodline of inventive and forward-looking organisations still runs today, with our region full of some of the best examples of innovation in the UK.
Our region is home to five innovation ‘catapults’. Sector-specific clusters that aim to spur growth and innovation in emerging technologies including energy systems, advanced manufacturing, offshore renewable energy, advanced digital technologies and satellites. Along with these, Advanced Manufacturing parks in both the North of the region and the Tees Valley allow innovative firms to develop the North East’s proud manufacturing history well into the 21st Century.
Solving problems with new ideas is the key driver of innovation investment. A National Innovation Centre for Data hopes to contribute to government’s ‘Grand Strategy’ of growing the Artificial Intelligence and Data-driven economy from the centre of Newcastle. The first ever ‘Maritime Innovation Hub’ is in the North East, bringing together a number of businesses including Port of Tyne, PD Ports and Nissan in order to collaborate and develop solutions to challenges facing the maritime and logistics industry moving forward.
Our Health and Life Sciences sector sits at the cutting edge of the industry too. From Newcastle University’s ‘world-leading’ research in biological sciences to developments such as the National Centre for Ageing at Newcastle Helix and Central Park in Darlington, the North East is home to innovative Health and Life Sciences sector with every step of the process, from research to pharmaceutical manufacture present. Central Park – which is far more interesting than its namesake in New York – brings together Teesside University, Darlington College, the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre and the National Horizons Centre which carries out research, teaching and training in state-of-the-art facilities, a stone’s throw from international pharmaceutical and chemicals manufacturing firms in the Tees Valley.
One area where innovation perhaps stands out more than any other, as well as offering the most potential, is in low-carbon technologies and attempts to decarbonise the British economy. The North East sits at the forefront of green technologies with developments right across the region. Blyth is home to the Offshore Renewable Energy Centre, a world leading test, validation and demonstration facility specialising in wind, wave and tidal energy generation technology. The Port of Tyne based ‘Dogger Bank’ wind farm is set to be the world’s largest upon completion while the Tees Valley Combined Authority continues to demonstrate innovation in hydrogen fuel technologies and hydrogen powered transport solutions. Durham and Northumbria Universities find themselves in the top 20 in the UK for offshore wind research and Newcastle University, alongside Durham, are pioneering new energy solutions at the Integrated Smart Energy Lab (ISE Lab) – the world’s first multi-site energy laboratory. New meets old, where innovative renewable technology meets the North East’s proud manufacturing history in the production of Electric Vehicles – the only type of vehicle to still increase UK sales in 2020 despite COVID. Over 200,000 Nissan Leaf’s, the most popular small electric vehicle in the world, have been produced in Sunderland while innovative battery production and drivetrain research continue to grow in the North East both by academia and automotive manufacturers.
The challenges that present themselves today, the recovery from COVID-19, climate change, Britain’s departure from the European Union demand innovative and creative solutions. The North Easts commitment to forward-thinking problem solving, its world-class research and innovation centres along with a resilient business community mean that our region will be sure to contribute towards the solutions to all these challenges and are just one amongst many of the great reasons to do business in the North East.