How Northumberland is plotting a course from heavy industry to future technology

The North East of England, and Northumberland in particular, has a long and illustrious past as a centre of heavy industry. Renowned for its shipbuilding and coal mining, it supported thousands of jobs in what were often very hard but rewarding roles and brought prosperity to the communities that worked in them.

Times have changed, and with the demise of these industries, once bustling areas found themselves with pockets of economic and social deprivation, with little hope of long-term regeneration. But as a county which prides itself on being a ‘Land of Great Opportunities’, Northumberland County Council has worked tirelessly over recent years to bring a business revolution to the north east of the county – once the engine room of the UK.

Council Leader Glen Sanderson explained: “Driving growth and jobs’ is one of our three corporate priorities and our administration, along with our Economic Development & Growth team, has worked extremely hard in recent years to position our county at the forefront of new technology.

“The county’s economy now boasts a growing, internationally-recognised offshore and renewable energy hub delivering clean and green growth, and we also have a strong manufacturing base, in pharmaceuticals and life sciences.

He explained “another key focus has been on developments in the digital economy and this reached a spectacular milestone in April 2024, when the Council agreed a deal with Blackstone, a leading global asset management firm to enable the development of a data centre campus at our Northumberland Energy Park (NEP3) at Cambois on the River Blyth – an area which had suffered significant economic decline since the closure of the power-station decades ago.”

“This was an investment of over £10 billion. We believe this is the largest single inward investment in UK history which is expected to create approximately 1,200 construction jobs and hundreds of additional indirect jobs are anticipated.”

As one of the world’s leading investors, Blackstone is already at the forefront of data centre development. In 2021, it acquired QTS, which is the fastest-growing data centre provider in the world, with more than 75 facilities in development or operational across Europe and the United States.

A key part of the deal is that the Council will receive a £110m fund which will drive long-term investment in growth and jobs, including in schemes in the economic corridor along its new Northumberland Line – a rail link which connects Ashington to Newcastle in just over 30 minutes (read an LGIU feature on the Line here).

This £298.5m rail investment reversed more than 60 years of closure caused by the Beeching cuts, and has already seen more than 300,000 passenger journeys in its six months since opening – bringing forward this new economic corridor.

Cllr Sanderson explained: “This Growth and Investment Endowment Fund (GIEF) will maximise opportunities across the county to deliver further jobs growth.

“It will provide a significant lever to the Council to deliver on its vision, enabling the delivery of growth projects, while also advancing long-term, transformational investment programmes for employment sites.”

An independent assessment of the potential economic impacts of the fund forecasts a total of 5,535 direct FTE jobs created in Northumberland over 20 years, generating £865m GVA in the local economy, and £381m in private sector follow-on investment would be attracted.

With local and regional innovation and research assets and industrial clusters in these sectors, there are exciting opportunities to develop cutting-edge technology at the forefront of new industries.

Linking these opportunities with skills and employment opportunities for local communities will be key to ensuring the investments benefit Northumberland residents.

Simon Neilson, the Council’s Executive Director for Place and Regeneration, added: “The Data Centre Campus investment in Cambois is progressing at pace with outline planning approval secured and such is its scale, it is now classed as ‘critical national infrastructure’.

“An investment of this size and scope clearly involves a great deal of partnership working with QTS, Blackstone and many other stakeholders. Through our investment company, ‘Advance Northumberland’, we have made the NEP3 site a very attractive place for global companies to do business and we’re thrilled to have attracted the interest of one of the world’s largest investment firms with strong operational expertise and a track record of success.

“This was underlined when our Prime Minister, endorsed our deal in New York and said the investment showed that the UK was “open for business” …and Blackstone’s investment was a “huge vote of confidence in the UK” and proved Britain was back as a “major player on the global stage”.

“It was a massive vote of confidence in the County Council and the County itself, showcasing what we can do and what Northumberland has to offer on a global stage.”

Moving forward, construction on the new data centre campus is expected to start later this year, while JDR Cables, a global leader in the supply of cables for fixed and floating offshore wind cabling and specialist offshore energy power, is set to open its new £130m facility directly across the road from the QTS Blackstone site by the end of 2025.

With some of the world’s most cutting-edge industries setting up home in Northumberland, the Council remains determined to stay at the forefront of developments in the new digital economy.