7:47pm Thursday 18th March 2010
By Peter Barron
REPUTATION is at the heart of business success.
If a business acquires a bad reputation for product quality and customer service, it will fail.
But if it builds a reputation for excellence, success is very likely to follow.
That is certainly the case with Nissan's North-East plant. It has steadily built a world-class reputation for flexibility and delivery - and that was the key to the region winning the race to manufacture the Leaf electric car.
For too long, the North-East has suffered from a scatter-gun approach to its economy. It needs to build its future around niche industries and it is now in prime position to develop sustainable wealth around the low carbon vehicle market.
We have Nissan and its brilliant North-East workforce to thank for laying those exciting foundations.
But this economic success story should also send an important message to politicians about the effectiveness of the the North-East's regional development agency.
It spells out why we need a heavy-hitting regional body capable of pulling the strengths of the North-East together, instead of a collection of councils fragmenting the message.
It is one year ago next week since Nissan and One North-East signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the possibilities of a zero emission vehicle programme.
I question whether such an ambitious programme could have been delivered so swiftly without that regional voice.
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