It has been another year of successes and challenges for North-East businesses. Business Editor Andy Richardson and Deputy Business Editor Steven Hugill look back at the region’s industry sectors in 2013

CONSTRUCTION

THE North-East’s beleaguered construction industry remained frail at the start of the year as bosses repeated calls for Government support.

The Northern Echo joined forces with leaders from The North-East Civil Engineering Contractors Association, the North-East Association of Consultancy and Engineering and the Institution of Civil Engineers to send Chancellor George Osborne an open letter, calling for him to safeguard thousands of jobs in the region.

Bosses warned companies were teetering on the brink of collapse, and wanted more power for smaller projects to get work started, which they said could create up to 3,000 jobs.

The warning came as construction output shrank for the fifth month in a row in March due to heavy snowfall and flagging demand.

Whether Mr Osborne chose to read his letter remains unknown, but his Help to Buy scheme, revealed in his Budget, was a start.

The programme aimed to kick-start the housing market and give confidence to housebuilders.

Only a month later, Yorkbased Persimmon Homes was saying it had seen increased demand, and the UK’s largest house builder, Barratt, founded by the late North-East property tycoon Sir Lawrie Barratt, launched a major recruitment drive to take on 150 graduates.

As the year progressed, North-East bosses tentatively hinted at recovery.

Brian Manning, chief executive of construction firm Esh Group, and Dan Robinson, chairman of Hartlepool-based Gus Robinson Developments, offered hope that the worst is over.

That optimism was reflected in reports showing firms were now taking on workers at their quickest rate for six years, with housebuilders driving the market and commercial and civil engineering work also increasing.

MANUFACTURING

WHEN you consider the battering they have taken, it is remarkable that the region’s shipyards, steelmaking and manufacturing industries still possess world-class businesses.

Yards on the banks of the River Tyne, and Teesside’s iron and steel plant are once again supporting thousands of North-East jobs thanks to OGN, in Wallsend, and SSI UK, in Redcar, east Cleveland.

Last year, Nissan Sunderland smashed production records, but this year has perhaps been even more remarkable for the plant that supports tens of thousands of jobs.

The launch of the Leaf, the world’s first mass market electric car and an electric battery plant, was followed by the start of a factory expansion to accommodate production lines for Nissan’s luxury sister brand Infiniti, and the unveiling of the next generation Qashqai, which goes into production on Wearside in the new year.

Nifco, Cleveland Bridge, Thorn Lighting, Kromek, Gestamp Tallent, ElringKlinger, Heerema and Ebac were among those that continued to fly the flag for the region, while Samsung C&T rescued the historic Whessoe Engineering in Darlington and announced ambitious plans to rebuild a business which for decades has been a byword for engineering excellence.

The start of preparation work on the site where Hitachi will construct its train-building factory next year, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was the first tangible evidence of a project that will revive another icon of North-East engineering.

EXPORTS

THE country that once banned British beef surprised everyone when it was shown to be the second largest importer of North-East goods, helped by its penchant for the region’s meat products.

France, which outlawed UK beef for six years, and d e r i d e d Brits as Les RosBif for their love of roast beef dinners, was unmasked as buying about £1bn of North-East exports every year, including nearly £12m of livestock and food.

The Netherlands was shown to buy more goods than anywhere else in the world this year, ousting the US from t h e number one spot. Thailand was the region’s fastest growing market thanks to SSI UK’s shipments of steel slab from Teesside.

However, political rumblings over the UK’s presence in the European Union (EU) put some of the region’s firms on alert.

About half of the North- East’s export business is done with EU members, supporting an estimated 140,000 jobs in the region.

Hitachi, Sunderland car maker Nissan and Siemens, which has operations in Stockton, Durham City and Newcastle, all raised doubts over future investment if the UK left the EU.

TRANSPORT

THE region’s airports both issued bold plans to shape their futures.

At first glance, they looked to be worlds apart.

On the back of recovering passenger figures and a succession of new routes – among them Dublin, Brussels and Gatwick – buoyant Newcastle International bosses laid out a vision to create more than 2,000 jobs and double passenger numbers by 2030.

Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA), on the other hand, admitted defeat in its bid to get p a s s e n g e r numbers back to the halcyon days of 2007, when nearly a million people used the facility.

To stem annual losses of £2m, owner Peel proposed turning part of the site into a housing estate and developing onsite businesses, underpinned by KLM’s flights to Amsterdam and Eastern Airways services to Aberdeen.

Common to both DTVA and Newcastle’s plans was an acceptance that regional airports are no longer simply transport hubs and those that hope to thrive in the future will have to generate income from multiple sources.

Tees Dock marked its 50th anniversary by hosting a visit from Prince Charles.

David Robinson, chief executive of operator PD Ports, said: “After opening in 1963 with only two cranes and a warehouse, we have grown into an international hub handling goods from all over the world.”

Now part of the Teesport estate, it employs 1,250 workers and handles about 34 million tonnes of cargo every year.

AV Dawson in Middlesbrough celebrated its 75th anniversary.

The business started when Arthur Dawson paid £50 for a horse, her shoes and a cart to pull coal around the region.

It is now one of the UK’s leading distribution specialists over road, rail, land and sea.

ENERGY

THIS was the year when our region laid down foundations that will see it become the European centre for converting waste into power. Investment from Air Products, Sita, Sembcorp, Emerald Biogas, Scott Brothers and Northumbrian Water were among the examples of a drive to place the region at the forefront of a burgeoning industry which may lack glamour, but has the capability to create jobs and help tackle rising energy costs.

For an increasing number of households the ethical dilemma about how we save the planet was superseded by the struggle to pay bills.

The Autumn Statement showed that the Government’s support for onshore windfarms was cooling, with major offshore developments its preferred option. The new wind farm off the coast of Redcar gave the region a vision of what could become a common site along our coastline.

Government backing for the sector was welcomed by businesses such as Tag Energy Solutions and the region’s subsea experts.

Investment to extract North Sea oil and gas offered the North-East significant opportunities, but industry leaders warned of a growing skills shortage in many key areas.

CHEMICALS

TEESSIDE’S chemical heartland remained a vital artery pumping the region’s economy.

Chemoxy International, in Middlesbrough, is based on the site that gave birth to the region’s chemical industry in 1869, and revealed plans to create a number of North-East jobs in deals worth more than £2m.

Plans were revealed for the North-East to gain powers from Whitehall to stop regional economies withering away.

A Tees Valley bid was shortlisted by ministers to take greater control of tax and spending, regeneration projects, transport and skills training budgets, and included proposals to create more than 22,000 jobs and develop a super cluster of chemical companies.

Bosses at Cleveland Potash, in Boulby, east Cleveland, unveiled ambitious plans to extend the mine’s life by 40 years, creating hundreds of jobs in a £300m investment, with Sirius continuing plans for its own £1.5bn mine in the York Potash Project.

Family-owned Thomas Swan and Co, in Consett, County Durham, was buoyant with proposals to build a £5m North- East research and development centre thanks to Regional Growth Fund backing.

Fine Industries, in Seal Sands, near Billingham, said it wanted to create jobs after a £25m investment to expand its plant and specialist product range of crop protection.

TECHNOLOGY

DOUBTS over the future of a flagship North-East microelectronics factory were banished after a new owner took over the plant and raised hopes of employing up to 200 people.

US firm Compound Photonics, which makes high-resolution projectors, acquired the RF Micro Devices (RMFD) plant, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, which was the world’s most advanced microchip factory when the Queen officially opened it in 1991.

Two spin-outs of Durham University also enjoyed great success.

One of the region’s leading innovators won new orders for its airport bottle scanning machines to further cement its position in international markets.

Kromek, based at Netpark, in Sedgefield, County Durham, secured a deal to supply airports in Portugal, Cyprus and Belgium, as well as others across Europe.

The firm’s pioneering scanners can identify liquids in bottles, including explosives, alcohol and narcotics, without them being opened, in less than 20 seconds.

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM), in Redcar, raised £11m after floating on the Alternative Investment Market to fund its development of carbon material graphene.

Graphene can support the weight of a tentonne truck and conducts electricity a million times better than copper, despite being as thin as a human hair, and AGM said the investment could boost production to eight tonnes in the next 18 months and place it as a pioneer in a £400m global market.