IT does feel as if we are seeing the future taking shape in front of our eyes at the moment.

Almost every week, we are learning of jobs being created as new investment comes into our regional economy, and the really exciting part of this is that they are in industries that are gearing up to meet new demand.

Some, like British Steel, are traditional industries that are refocusing to remain relevant: the steel profiles made at Skinningrove are to be used in the giant warehouses, or “fulfilment centres”, which are the future of retail as we move off the street and go online.

Others, like JustEat, are meeting a demand that didn’t exist a few years ago, as people use the power of the internet to dial up a takeaway delivery straight to the door.

Also coming to Sunderland is a £450m gigafactory – a word that didn’t exist a few years ago, but now we all understand that it is a place where powerful batteries for the new generation of electric cars are made. And, of course, those new generation cars are to be built at Nissan on Wearside.

And the new clean energy to go in those batteries to power those cars? On Teesside, the GE Renewables wind turbine blade factory isn’t yet complete but it is already increasing in size by a third as the demand for this new energy source grows rapidly.

We could go on, talking about hydrogen production or carbon capture and storage…

Many sectors do face challenging times which is why our headlines this summer have looked at the battle to save Cleveland Bridge, but we must also acknowledge that where once our region was viewed as being home to old fashioned smokestacks it is now playing its part in shaping the future.