Fastest 50 awards bring in good news
Brian Aitken, Editor of The Journal
WE could do with some good news, couldn't we? For too long now the talk has been about recession, double-dip, national debt and budget cuts.
Last month’s cuts announced by One North East just piled on the misery – £33m taken out of the regional economy with business support bearing the brunt of it.
And we know there’s more bad news to come.
So it’s a real pleasure to say welcome to the Fastest 50, a celebration of companies who are prospering during such difficult times. For over 10 years The Journal, with the backing of Ward Hadaway, has been celebrating and showcasing the hard-working, innovative, creative and dynamic businesses that we have in the region.
The 50 companies in this year’s list deserve huge credit for combating difficult market conditions and it will be interesting to see in 12 months’ time what impact the public sector cutbacks have on the ability of companies to do business here.
The demise of the regional development agencies will have a significant impact on the North East in particular and we are all waiting to see what life after the RDAs will look like.
The Journal has a proud reputation for its campaigning and we have had several major successes with business campaigns in recent years.
Our most recent campaign, however, is more political. Case For The North East highlights the successes we have had by acting as one unified region and calls for the retention of an over-arching body to look after job creation, inward investment and the sourcing of European investment finance.
If we get that then maybe, just maybe, we’ll have some more good news to celebrate.
