I’d make a rotten pundit, writes Rachel Anderson.

The very fact I’m writing this column suggests I haven’t yet made the right call on the lottery numbers and the £20 on Leicester City this time last year was beyond me.

But then, a quick look back at the headlines for this time last year suggests no-one else (some that are paid far more than me to be experts) was much cop either.

Last September, the national press was predicting one of the worst winters on record, Jeremy Corbyn was given four months in the leadership, Republicans were mildly amused that Donald Trump was measuring curtains for the Oval Office and, the “Remain” campaign would walk a referendum victory…..oh.

Closer to home, we were about to announce a 13,000 net job gain in the Tees Valley, new investments and the demons of the 2008 financial crash were receding.

Then on September 18, SSI UK announced a pause in production at its Redcar plant.

OK, it wasn’t the best news but we’d dealt with something like this before.

What nobody could predict at the time was just how quickly the situation would worsen and by October 2 production was ceased at the site and 2,200 people were without jobs with another 800 or so affected in the supply chain.

The national press descended, predicting the end for Teesside (Merthyr got some respite that week) and the gloom laden stories abounded.

But just as Trump, Leicester and the referendum confounded the pundits, so it turns out has Teesside.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is still work to do, the giant and complex SSI site is still to deal with; but the predictions of a workforce thrown on the scrap heap and long-term unemployment have not come to pass with more than 2,000 finding new training or employment and the fantastic news that 135 businesses have been started by former SSI workers and more than 700 new jobs created using the funds, which came to the area to help deal with the collapse.

In addition, all of the former SSI apprentices have been found new jobs and will complete their apprenticeships.

Work will continue but all the above are real signs of a resilient area and not gloom laden at all.

So, my only prediction is that all the predictions in the press for the coming year will be chip paper tomorrow, but £20 on the Boro?....well maybe.

Rachel Anderson is head of policy and representation at the North East England Chamber of Commerce