Influencers have a vital role
Oct 29 2010 The Journal
A year of many high-profile comings and goings is reflected in the 2010 edition of The 500 Most Influential people in the North East, says Journal Editori Brian Aitken.
WELCOME to the third edition of our annual supplement celebrating the contribution made by the most influential people in the North East. As you flick through this year’s magazine, you will see many new faces – a reflection of the change that many organisations have been through during the past 12 months.
The region welcomed a large intake of new MPs back in May, there has been change at the top of many public sector organisations, and a number of the region’s largest and most influential businesses have also appointed new people to leading positions.
Those changes also mean that we bid farewell to some outstanding servants to the region of recent years who have moved on to pastures new.
That is especially evident in the arts and culture field where we have seen the departure of NGI chief executive Andrew Dixon, Arts Council boss Mark Robinson and Tyne and Wear Museums chief Alec Coles. All of them made an enormous contribution to the region during their time here and we wish them well in their new roles.
Nobody needs reminding that we live in very uncertain times. The economy is still only just beginning its recovery from one of the deepest recessions in living memory and the pending cuts in public sector spending are sure to have a significant impact on many people in our region.
Uncertainty also continues to surround the shape of regional governance under the new Coalition Government – a subject that has been much debated in the North East and beyond over the past few months.
What is for certain, however, is that right now the region needs its most influential people to exercise their influence. Be they in business, politics, culture, sport, education, science, religion or in the charitable sector, every one has their part to play.
As usual, selecting our 500 most influential people has not been an easy task. We have called upon the expertise of The Journal’s specialist correspondents as well as other experts to refine the list and done our best to make this year’s edition as up to date as possible and to reflect the changes that have taken place in organisations across the region over the 15 months or so since the 2009 publication.
Inevitably, we will have overlooked some individuals who warranted inclusion – and to them we apologise.
However, we hope the supplement will prove a talking point and source of debate at a time when our most influential people have a more important role to play than ever before.
