invest north east england

REPRESENTATIVES of the North East’s software industry will travel 14,000 miles this month as they bid to break into one of the world’s most lucrative markets.

TYNESIDE construction giant McNulty has awarded a £2.3m contract to fellow North East firm Mech-Tool Engineering for work in the renewable energy sector.

The university’s Centre for Advanced Electrical Drives developed light motors to propel the Zephyr plane, which operates up to 12 miles high in temperatures as low as -60C.

NISSAN has kick started the production of the new Juke SUV at its Sunderland base – having secured more than 25,000 initial orders throughout Europe.

ONE year on from its launch out of the rubble of a collapsed North East giant, a fledgling video games developer has seen a 75% surge in business, landing deals with a string of global clients including Warner Bros.

A TECHNOLOGY firm has landed a deal to keep submarine crews in the Dutch Navy safe when plumbing the depths of the world’s oceans.

JAPANESE car giant Nissan was boosted yesterday by news of a £43m low-carbon car incentive plan from the Government.

Champagne corks were popping across the Tees Valley today after Teesside University won a major prize at the Times Higher Education magazine Awards ceremony for its work with businesses in the region.

Business Minister Ian Lucas, made two welcome announcements in North East England after visiting the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles.  Elecscoot, based in Consett, County Durham, has been improving its electric scooters over the last two years and now have scooters with UK-made running gear delivering world beating performance and reliability.

Siemens Energy has awarded a major offshore wind contract to supply the second substation platform (Galloper) for the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Greater Gabbard, to McNulty Offshore Construction Limited based in South Shields. The multi-million pound project began in January this year and is expected to be completed in May 2010.

An £7.8m fund to roll-out electric vehicle charging points across North East England has today been announced by Regional Development Agency One North East and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

Is a global provider of subsea power cables, offshore umbilical systems and specialized marine cables.  The company has just been awarded the contract for the supply of subsea power cables for the first phase of what will be the world’s largest wind farm: the London Array offshore wind farm, which will deliver enough power for approximately 470,000 homes.

The largest car plant in the UK for the past 12 years and the largest exporter for 10 years, Nissan’s Sunderland plant has earned a notable track record in embracing new technologies and securing new business.  Set to commence manufacture of the new Nissan Juke in summer 2010, the plant is also generating widespread excitement.

Back in 2001 Regional Development Agency One North East’s ‘Strategy for Success’ identified potential growth areas for the region. The intention, to move away from the manufacturing based industries which had traditionally dominated, to more modern, high-value sectors.

The development of Electric Vehicles has been given a new urgency by the growing need to tackle climate change.  For many firms, this presents new challenges and opportunities but one North East engineering business has been at the forefront of this technology making controls for electric vehicles since the 1960s.

World leading US-based turbine technology developer Clipper Windpower has been carrying out research and development at Narec’s Blyth facilities since 2007.  This activity will facilitate Clipper Windpower’s development of Project Britannia, the world’s most powerful commercial wind turbine. 

ReInnervate was founded in 2002 as a spin-out from Durham University, where it is still based. ReInnervate specialise in developing technologies to facilitate cell culture and thus cell-based research, particularly in the field of stem cell biology.

Established in 1926 and based in Consett, Thomas Swan is one of the UK’s leading independent manufacturers of performance and speciality chemicals for a range of different industries. In addition to the Consett site, the company has offices in both the USA and China, which aid the international distribution of Thomas Swan’s products.

CAV Aerospace is one of the North East’s key aerospace companies. Founded in 1990, the company’s headquarters are still based in Consett today.  The company operates two separate business units, the Aerostructures unit, and CAV Aerospace’s Ice Protection unit.

Set up in 1977 as a UK distributor of diagnostic products, IDS established its own laboratories in 1981 to develop and manufacture immunoassay kits. From there it has grown to become an internationally leading developer and manufacturer of healthcare diagnostic kits focussing on Vitamin D and bone and skeletal biomarkers. In 2004, IDS floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange.

Avecia is an innovative bio-technology and bio-processing company with sites in both the UK and the US, and which develops advanced medicines. The company was founded in 1999 after a leveraged buy out from its previous owner, AstraZeneca, and immediately became Europe’s largest privately-owned speciality chemical company.