£10m boost to North of Tynes digitial economy

Up to 500 new jobs could be created if politicians agree to invest £10m into the North of Tyne’s digital economy. 

The North of Tyne is a combined authority that covers Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The area has a population of 880,000, a local economy of £17bn, and is home to 23,000 businesses.

If the £10m investment is approved, North of Tyneside has said that £1.5m will be invested into small and medium-sized businesses in the area to help them to adopt digital systems and work practices.

The money will also be used to train hundreds of people for digital skills, with the aim to grow the digital sector with new business start-ups and business acceleration programmes.

It is estimated that the £10m funding will attract a further £25m of private sector investment.

The investment will be considered by the cabinet next Tuesday (January 28).

Cllr Forbes, who is the leader of Newcastle City Council, said: ‘This is great news. We can’t be an analogue region in a digital world if we are to compete successfully at home and abroad.

‘Big data, cloud computing and 5G give us new opportunities to create jobs and grow our economy, that’s why we’re are looking to make this major investment now.

‘Our devolution negotiations with the government were all about people.

‘This investment underlines that by showing confidence in our communities, businesses, and their ideas which we can use to create the jobs of the future in our region.’

North of Tyne Mayor, Jamie Driscoll said: ‘We want to have decent jobs in the North of Tyne area so that people don’t have to move down to Leed or London.’

Earlier last year, New Start reported on the North of Tyne Mayoral elections, in a paper, the think tank Centre for Cities called on whoever won the election to focus on attracting high-skilled businesses into Newcastle city centre.

Photo Credit – Pixabay