Pride of Place

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The Chamber’s latest column for The Journal by Chamber president and Newcastle Building Society chief executive Andrew Haigh.

The challenges facing some of our region’s high streets are back in the news. Last month a coalition of UK retail associations highlighted the problems facing their members caused by ‘unprecedented levels of shop theft’ and we saw the demise of Wilko, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs and a well-known name from many of our towns and cities.

Whilst this might suggest we’re at risk of breaking a vital point of connection with our communities – one built over generations through our vibrant local high streets – it also serves to underline the importance of those high streets and how they help to create unique social and economic value. It’s for this reason that increasing pride in place and creating a stronger community connection to our locations and culture is a key element of the Chamber’s response to the Government’s levelling up white paper.

There’s also some good news to reflect on. According to the ONS, overall retail footfall is up 5% on this time last year, whilst high street footfall is showing signs of resilience over the same period, despite stuttering consumer confidence. Overall vacancies are down and John Lewis are reporting an increase in stores visits across its locations.

By their nature, high streets are constantly changing and continue to adapt to the shifting dynamics of online shopping and the embedding of hybrid working patterns. Since the pandemic the most successful high street locations have redefined their offer to include a mix of retail, leisure, services and residential, including the innovative use of shared spaces. With that in mind, Newcastle Building Society is creating a new community branch in the heart of Newcastle city centre, taking over the retail unit at Monument previously occupied by French Connection. As well as accessible financial services, we have big ambitions for the new branch, and see huge potential to create a vibrant place serving the needs of its community and location.

By reflecting their unique history, community-focused high streets will continue to encourage local visits and help grow the valuable connection between people and the place they want to be proud to call home.

As a region we should not be cautious with our ambition, but recognise that with thoughtful collaboration and creativity, the opportunity to shape our high streets, promote lasting growth, and create places which are full of life and proudly represent our communities is ours to take.

The Windsor Framework: Why it’s So Important to the North East

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Callum George’s latest for The Journal

Well, last week wasn’t the one I had – maybe too optimistically – planned for. The Monday I’d booked leave for wasn’t spent celebrating winning the Carabao Cup (although I’m sure Newcastle United will be back at Wembley soon), instead it was spent sat on the sofa with the news on in the background.

The UK and the EU have announced the ‘Windsor Framework’ – which allows businesses in Great Britain to trade within Northern Ireland with much less hassle. For a lot of businesses, this will be met with a sigh of relief, as it’s fair to say under past governments, news about the Northern Ireland Protocol was rarely positive.

Since the moment I joined the Chamber’s Policy Team, I’ve been asked why the Northern Ireland Protocol affects the North East. To be honest with you, I don’t think I appreciated the extent of how important it is to the North East before starting this role.

I suppose a good starting point would be to understand the North East’s relationship with the EU. In a nutshell, the EU is the North East’s biggest trading partner both in terms of buying and selling goods: so much so that if you were to take the rest of the world outside the EU, we still trade more with the EU than every other part of the world put together. With that in mind, it’s fair to say that a range of North East businesses depend on a healthy economic relationship with mainland Europe.

Of course, since Brexit, our relationship with Europe has been forced to change. A lot of British products that your average European could find on shelves simply aren’t shipped from the UK anymore. The variety of British products available in the Eurozone has decreased dramatically. Those who still rely on trading to and from the EU, can’t afford for business to be tougher.

That’s what makes solving the tensions around the Northern Ireland Protocol so important to the North East. Rewind to the middle of last year, and discussions about the Northern Ireland Protocol were worrying. Talks of increased tariffs on British goods going to Europe were rumoured, making trading in the EU even more difficult. With some firms already struggling following Brexit, this would have caused real damage to the North East’s economy.

The news of the Windsor Framework is extremely positive, as it provides businesses with more clarity and certainty for their day-to-day business. Hopefully, this can be the start of a stronger post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU. And – although the Carabao Cup wasn’t meant to be – I’m sure the North East’s relationship with the EU will be symbolised nicely by seeing a few more black and white shirts around Europe next season.

We need to evaluate the region’s ability to produce and store power

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Jack Simpson, international services executive, latest column for The Journal

It’s almost too hard to pick an issue to write about in this week’s column. From cost of living to geo-political instability, political leadership to Glastonbury. However, I want to be a bit more optimistic, and look at the North East’s role in the energy challenge.

According to our first Economic Survey of 2022, 89% of businesses were concerned about Energy prices. Socially, the North East has a higher than average UK fuel poverty rate, ranging 12-15%. As people and business are forced to make tougher choices on spending, it severely restricts growth, prosperity and health.

Following rising inflation, ongoing Ukraine conflict, and increasing demand, we need to evaluate the region’s ability to produce and store power to relieve the burden on business and people alike.

The region is already a leader in innovation of sustainable energy, attracting names such as BP and GE in recent months, but these are current short term research projects, an important piece of course, and compliments the dedicated workforce and skillsets of the region.

However, we need to ensure that this goes beyond innovation, that the region can manufacture and produce energy beyond the research board. Utilising energy enterprise zones, like Blyth’s Catapult, to foster SME growth is key for the regions long term energy goals.

Not to mention, the added economic boost to the region as a whole by attracting and developing energy innovation in the region. The North East LEP believes subsea sector alone, key to offshore wind, is worth 150,000 jobs and £1.5bn a year.

Port of Blyth has announced its own innovation zone in Bates Clean Energy terminal, acting as a hub of hydrogen, power generation and storage innovation, while on Teesside we have GE new blade facility opening.

We can also utilise the new service economy to support smarter energy distribution. Demand for energy is ever increasing, think about the rise of Electric Vehicles for example, so better use of data allows controllers to make smarter decisions based on local demands and regional capacity when directing energy.

The North East can also be a testbed of better energy policy. Across Gateshead, data is being used to influence policy and deliver low carbon energy to homes, while Chamber partners Thirteen, are working to install new home technologies to potentially save households 30% on their energy bills.

By targeting and developing net-zero energy network, we would create a more sustainable, resilient and prosperous North East.