A GROUP of Darlington College journalism students visited The Echo offices last week. It remains to be seen if they have made the right choice of career but good luck to them all.

Brace yourselves for working hundreds of unpaid hours every year, pay freezes and the ever-present threat of jobs cuts, as well as experiencing all of the good stuff that made you choose this line of work in the first place. It’s certainly not a job for anyone wishing to make a fast buck.

In terms of lost income, few people can have made a poorer career choice than Dick Taylor.

The guitarist was in Darlington on Sunday, headlining the town’s Rhythm and Blues Festival with his band The Pretty Things.

More than half a century ago, Taylor formed a group with college mates Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, who were recruited by Brian Jones to join an outfit he called The Rollin’ Stones.

Taylor quit The Stones in 1962 to return to art college – six months before they had their first hit and went on to become the biggest money-making machine in rock.

Since 1989, they have trousered an estimated £1.8bn from touring alone.

Had he stuck around, Taylor could have headlined Glastonbury rather than Darlington Market Square this summer.

On the plus side, The Pretty Things – who had a handful of minor hits in the 60s – were pretty great on Sunday and Taylor’s chances of celebrating his 70th birthday earlier this year were no doubt greatly enhanced by his not hanging out with infamous hellraiser Keith Richards .

Taylor insists that he has no regrets about the path he chose.

Sometimes there are better things to aspire to than a healthy bank balance.

VINCE CABLE has warned about a new housing bubble and called for a rethink of Chancellor George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme.

He said the plan to allow people to buy homes up to £600,000 on a five per cent deposit could create an unsustainable boom.

Mr Cable – who represents Twickenham in south-west London – appears to have been spooked by rocketing house prices in the capital and across wealthy southern shires.

Up here we are still waiting for a sustained rise in house prices and demand to take hold.

It would be nice if the Government could allow the North-East to join the recovery before they put the brakes on.

MY colleague Steven Hugill was at Nissan’s Sunderland factory on Monday to see workers building the new Note hatchback, which will go up against the VW Polo and Ford Fiesta when it appears on forecourts in the coming weeks.

Business Minister Michael Fallon claimed the coalition’s promise to give the Japanese car maker £9.3m of taxpayers’ money to bring Note production to Wearside rather than Nissan’s factory in India had been the deciding factor.

Plant bosses said the hard work and consistently high performance by staff was crucial top the decision.

It was no doubt a combination of both.

Nissan Sunderland is the kind of ongoing success story that everyone wants to be associated with.

  • Follow me on Twitter @bizecho