Plenty of good moments in 2009

Dec 9 2009 By Andrew Hebden, The Journal

IF 2009 was never going to be - and certainly hasn't been - a vintage year for North East business, as we come to reflect on the year it's important to remember where we were 12 months ago. The region went into the festive period in 2008 on something of a low ebb, with the headlines dominated by the troubles at Nissan in Washington.

Workers there had seen their hours slashed over Christmas and nobody could say with any great certainty what the future held for the plant once staff returned from their extended festive break. Who would have thought, then, that 12 months on we would be looking back at 2009 and saying that Nissan proved to be one of the success stories of the year?

In fact, that’s just what has happened. With sales buoyed by the Government’s scrappage scheme when it finally came, Nissan has actually expanded its workforce over the past year and the plant has been at the centre of one of the most exciting developments of 2009 – the emergence of the low-carbon vehicles sector in the region.

Over the course of the year, the vision of electric cars being built in the North East has gathered momentum and the region has been named the first low-carbon economic area in the country by the government.

The Journal has followed the progress of this sector with keen interest, in particular since June when we launched our Great North Revolution campaign, in conjunction with the CBI.

This campaign has focused attention of the growth industries of the future – such as low-carbon vehicles and renewable energy – where the region has the chance to become a global powerhouse. It is an area that we will continue to give close attention to in 2010.

The past year will, of course, be remembered for the continuation of a recession that has been generally regarded as the most intense since the 1930s. While Northern Rock has happily been away from the front pages for most of the year – and indeed is staging something of a remarkable turnaround in its fortunes – the downturn has been felt more severely in other sectors of the economy, in particular manufacturing.

Sadly the unemployment toll has continued to rise in line with company failures whilst even more successful firms have been forced to downsize in order to remain profitable.

The year is ending on an upbeat note, however, with encouraging signs of a pick-up in activity and house prices beginning to rally again. We will not, of course, know if this is a sustainable upturn until we are well into 2010.

Throughout the year, The Journal has sought to provide support to businesses facing some of the toughest economic conditions in memory.

Our Think North East First campaign launched in January aimed at encouraging consumers to buy local goods and services where possible and, in February, we teamed up with One North East to support its Real Help for Businesses Now campaign.

More recently, we have partnered the North East Chamber of Commerce on the Go Global campaign to encourage firms to look at export markets as a route out of recession while we have also campaigned against Air Passenger Duty rises through our Tax Too Far campaign.

So, all in all, a tough year, but perhaps not quite as bad as pessimists may have forecast 12 months ago.

And, as we will endeavour to prove in the pages that follow, there have been plenty of good moments too along the way. As for 2010, well a certain event in May will be the focus of much attention and it remains to be seen whether a change of face in Number 10 will be good or bad news for the economy.

Andrew Hebden is head of business at ncjMedia