Member Article

One NorthEast lays out challenges

The challenges for the future of the North East are to be laid out today at One North East’s Annual Review Meeting. The gathering of the agency’s chiefs will also see them look back on the region’s success over the past year. Chairman Margaret Fay and Chief Executive Alan Clarke will tell an audience of business people and public sector partners that the region has solid foundations on which it is building an increasingly diverse business base.

The North East’s reputation for innovation and excellence in the sector of life sciences will be at the heart of the keynote speech by Professor John Burn from the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University.

Mrs Fay will also tell the event at Ramside Hall, County Durham, that the North East is now far more able to withstand the fluctuations of the global economy and the knock-on effects of job losses and economic uncertainty. In the last financial year, One NorthEast reportedly created more than 17,000 new jobs and created or attracted over 3,400 new businesses.

Mrs Fay said: “It has been an enormously busy year for the agency, not least because it’s been a time of such huge change for the region. “There will be a real emphasis on the public sector within the Comprehensive Spending Review to provide increased value for money in all that it delivers. “One NorthEast is already meeting that challenge and is determined to build on its track record of performance, working increasingly with partners to deliver sustainable economic growth for the region.”

Mr Clarke said: “North East England is experiencing economic growth in excess of the national average. The challenge now is not only maintain this, but to increase and sustain it against the backdrop of tighter resources and the challenges set out for the North East in the [Government’s] Sub National Review.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .