Stronger together – the North East unites

Our managing director, John Sayers, provides his thoughts and hope for the North East

This has been a year of growth for Hodgson Sayers backed by positive developments for the North East region.

If business can ask for one thing to be in place so that growth can be achieved, it would be economic and political stability.

While there is more that we would wish from the Government in this respect, we at Hodgson Sayers, see it as a very positive move that all eight local authorities within the North East are to join together as one truly unified Mayoral combined authority.

As a company that has a long standing and successful relationship with the region’s local authorities, we congratulate them on the move. The North East has always had to stand up for itself and to create its own future, the enlarged combined authority should enable us to take this to the next stage.

Such a move will attract additional funding in areas such as highways and transport. The money will be invested by bodies based in the region who understand what is needed for the creation of a truly integrated transport system that meets the needs of individuals, families, communities and employers.

The benefit of a truly combined authority is not just about greater levels of funding, it also sends a clear statement to companies thinking of investing in our region, either through the acquisition of firms based here or by opening their own subsidiaries, that the North East is politically stable at a local level and has joined-up strategies that will assist economic growth and  prosperity.

As the process of integration moves forward, we would also be delighted if there was a unified approach to procurement and the award of projects. In this regard we would reiterate one of the aims of the Construction Alliance North East Campaign (CAN) that local authorities in awarding contracts will support our regional supply chains by leaning into home grown companies when looking to award contacts. This would provide a huge boost to the regional economy.