Eyes & Ears 30.01.26
When is a bar not a pub? An important question this week. Plus, our poor are getting poorer, secret societies, female engineers, professors becoming presidents, and the Matchbox car worth £22k
The quiet revolution
With surprisingly little fanfare from the national media, the Hamburg Declaration was signed this week.
The Hamburg Declaration? It’s a pact between the UK and its North Sea neighbours to build enormous offshore wind projects, link electricity grids, and turn the North Sea into a shared clean energy powerhouse.
The North East is in prime position to play a leading role.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband put pen to paper at the Future of the North Seas Summit in Hamburg along with counterparts from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg the Netherlands and Norway.
The declaration is designed to bring forward an “unprecedented fleet” of offshore wind farms built to supply more than one country at once, with shared planning, shared grid links and faster delivery - thereby increasing energy security, cutting reliance on fossil fuels and lowering long-term costs.
Huw Lewis, who leads on communications for the North East Combined Authority, said on his LinkedIn: “That is incredibly exciting for North East England, where we already employ 25,000 in Green Energy and are building a future right now to double that number by 2035.
”We could not be in a better place to take advantage of this international investment: We have the wind, the sea, the ports, the innovation, the people and we are investing in skills and infrastructure.”
Face the music
Pubs and music venues are to get a 15% reduction in their business rates next year - but the support is not being extended to the rest of the hospitality sector.
What constitutes a pub anyway? Hotels have bars where people can pop in for a drink. Some pubs, especially country pubs, also have bedrooms. What about licensed cafe bars? And what’s the difference between a food-led pub and a bistro or restaurant that also has a bar area where people can go without the expectation of eating?
Ollie Vaulkhard, whose Vaulkhard Group operates a range of venues in the North East including Wylam Brewery, called the relief to just a part of the hospitality sector “underwhelming” and “incoherent”. And South Shields Labour MP Emma Lewell said: “Government support must expand to the whole sector, not just pubs and music venues.”
There may be trouble ahead…
Late-night levy review
Newcastle City Council is considering scrapping a levy on licensed premises which sell alcohol after midnight - a move welcomed by the boss of Business Improvement District company NE1, Stephen Patterson, who says Newcastle is the only city outside London that has such a charge.
“The Newcastle of today is a vastly different environment from that of 2013 when it was introduced,” he said. “At the time, we had 13 nightclubs, and now we only have four. The city’s licensees of today have developed an offer based on quality as opposed to vertical drinking and offers-led promotions that were prevalent in 2013.”
‘Poor getting poorer’
The latest poverty report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation makes for grim reading.
More than 20% of the population will remain in poverty even after the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, and the poorest are getting poorer with the average person in poverty now living 29% below the poverty line, compared with 23% in the mid-1990s.
Chief analyst Peter Matejic said: “Poverty in the UK is still not just widespread, it is deeper and more damaging than at any point in the last 30 years.”
Beth Farhat, Chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission, said: “The growing and avoidable depth of poverty evidenced in this report is absolutely mirrored across the North East, including increasingly for families in work.
“Despite the incredible efforts of voluntary organisations and public services to step in and mitigate this, we know this persistent, grinding hardship can have the most corrosive impact on children, families and local communities.”
She said the Government’s 10-year child poverty strategy cannot just be about stopping an enormous problem from getting even worse: “We have to be more ambitious than this, if we are going to genuinely shift the dial on this issue and with the urgency it requires.”
Port first
Port of Tyne has become the first commercial business to support the North East Mayor’s Fundamentals Fund, enabling more baby boxes from the Children’s Foundation to be distributed to first time parents.
The port’s donation, which will see 120 families take delivery of a baby box, comes at a time when Mayor Kim McGuinness is urging businesses to support her £28.6m Child Poverty Action Plan.
Metro fares capped
The cost of a single journey on the Metro will be capped at £2.50 under a new fare structure announced by North East Mayor Kim McGuinness which could cost the combined authority £1m.
Lib Dem councillor Greg Stone said: “I am concerned that the mayor is making a short-term decision to buy popularity in a pre-election period to distract attention from what appears to be a significant budget gap problem at Nexus, which this splurge is very likely to increase.”
Operator Nexus said the new fare deals would make the Metro more attractive, grow its passenger numbers and help them meet their running costs.
Storm(s) damage
South Shields’ South Pier has been closed to the public after being damaged by waves during Storm Ingrid on Saturday night. Days later Storm Chandra put the Shields Ferry out of operation because of damage to the landing at North Shields. A replacement bus service is running through the Tyne Tunnel.
On Sunday
Eyes & Ears is sent to inboxes every Friday and Sunday at 6am. This weekend there’s the Northern Debut Novelists 2026 list - and the reason behind it - plus, why sport can no longer look away from brain injury.
In case you missed it
Newcastle’s loss…
Another senior figure is leaving Newcastle City Council with deputy chief executive Matt Wilton set to be confirmed as chief executive of Hartlepool Borough Council at a meeting of the full council on Thursday. He will take over from Denise McGuckin, who will retire later this year after nearly 30 years with the authority.
Chair replaced
The Chair of Hartlepool Mayoral Development Corporation has been replaced after just seven months - at a time when the corporation may need a cash bail-out from the Tees Valley Combined Authority, reports Peter Morris in North East Bylines.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen appointed retail and regeneration expert Mark Robinson to the 33-days-a-year post but now feels it important that the Chair is someone who is based locally and can “navigate the current financial position facing the corporation alongside the local council who are a key partner to help regenerate the town.”
Step forward Councillor Pam Hargreaves, Labour leader of Hartlepool Borough Council and Cabinet member of the combined authority.
The £22k car in a box
I used to collect Matchbox cars when I were a lad. Dinky and Corgi ones as well. Don’t think I ever possessed a 1968 yellow Mercury Cougar though. The colour makes it rare, apparently, and Vectis Auctions in Stockton have just sold one for a world record £22,050.
A bidding war between two potential buyers saw the price soar past £13,500, the previous record for a Matchbox car.
A quick word
Sunderland University chaplain the Reverend Chris Howson, who chairs Sunderland City of Sanctuary, has criticised Reform UK for handing out flyers across the Washington and Gateshead South constituency which contains false and misleading claims about asylum seekers. Newcastle City Council, which took back control of the city’s parks in March last year from the charity Urban Green, is closing the cafes at Exhibition and Paddy Freeman’s parks saying they are no longer viable. Newcastle International Airport is set to recruit more than 100 new staff ahead of what is expected to be the busiest year in its history. There will be a mix of seasonal and permanent roles available in the security, passenger services, operations and cleaning departments. A new fleet of 29 electric buses will come into service in Newcastle, Gateshead and Durham in the coming weeks, meaning around 10% of Go North East’s buses will be electric. Santander is to close 44 banks in the coming months including Berwick (April 28), Bishop Auckland (May 5) and Northallerton (May 6). The regeneration of Gateshead’s Baltic Quarter has edged closer after the council struck a pre-development deal with developers Muse and ECF (the English Cities Fund) to push on with the 1,600-home mixed-use scheme. The council in Middlesbrough is looking for two volunteers to sit on an independent panel to decide what councillors should be paid. Planning permission has been granted to turn a section of Teesside Park’s Rainbow Casino, which closed in 2016, into a swimming pool. Former North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll has been confirmed as a Green Party candidate for Newcastle’s Monument ward in May’s council elections.
Professors and presidents
Three academics from Northumbria University have been appointed to president positions across three national organisations. Professor Jane Entwistle (above, left) has become president of the Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health for two years.
Professor Robert Newbery will also serve a two-year term at the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Professor Greta Defeyter has been appointed President of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Food & Health Forum.
Steph’s engineering drive
Broadcaster, journalist and author Steph McGovern returned to her Teesside roots to officially launch a major new scholarship programme aimed at increasing the number of women becoming engineers.
The Steph McGovern Women in Engineering Scholarship powered by Enginuity will provide support for every first-year, full-time female engineering student at Teesside University.
Steph, who was an engineer at Black & Decker where she won the Young Engineer for Britain award at the age of 19, said: “I can't tell you how delighted I am to help make this happen.
“If we want to make the world a better place for everyone, we need more women involved in the designing, making and running of it, and to me that means more female engineers.”
Business bites
North East-based investment firm Develop North has followed the publication of its prospectus and the launch of a proposed £58m fundraise by announcing the appointment of former Newcastle City Council Director of Place Michelle Percy as chief executive. Her appointment comes as Develop North, which is advised by Newcastle-based fund management specialist Tier One Capital, aims to evolve into a £300m assets-under-management platform. Barbour has made a “generous donation” to its charity foundation after a year in which revenues increased by 9% to more than £350m and operating profit increased by £10m to £49.5m. Newcastle-based property firm LSL has launched a £12m share buyback programme, reflecting the group’s financial strength and its capital light operating model. A £7m share buyback programme was recently completed. NETPark-based Quorum Technology, which provides IT infrastructure to the UK’s energy industry, has been acquired by Norwegian company Volue. North Shields accountancy firm Blu Sky has strengthened its senior leadership and support teams after a year in which revenues grew 20%. The company is on track to meet a £3m turnover target by 2027. Hargreaves Services chief executive Gordon Banham has announced he is stepping down after 20 years - as the Esh Winning company said it will return up to £15m to shareholders after recording “substantial” revenue and profit growth. Sunderland-based education recruitment company AK Teaching has been acquired by international education staffing technology platform Zen Educate. Accounting giant Sage has reported a strong start to its 2026 financial year with revenue growing across all of its regions. Dr Jo North is leaving Port of Tyne to become chief executive of Harwich Haven Authority in Essex. Newcastle-based Iamproperty has bought The ValPal Network, an AI-driven valuation and lead generation platform for estate agents.
2017 ad break
A lot of companies go to considerable time, trouble and expense to show an ad during the Super Bowl (a 30-second ad now costs more than $7m). But Avocados From Mexico? Really?
It’s not a consumer brand as such. It’s a produce-marketing group whose sole job is to boost the sales of avocados. Mexican ones.
Their first Super Bowl ad was in 2015 and they’ve been back every year since with a series of entertaining and award-winning ads.
The Super Bowl is the biggest guacamole weekend of the year (can’t believe I’ve just written that) and a small percentage increase in demand across the entire US market justifies the spend. This one is from 2017 and features a Secret Society who can’t keep all of their secrets.
It’s very good, but not good enough to tempt me try guacamole - nothing’s that good!
THE WIDER VIEW
Another Secret Society
I thought the biggest secret in corporate America was the exact blend of 11 herbs and spices that Colonel Sanders put into making Kentucky Fried Chicken. It could well be WD-40 instead. You know, the stuff that stops things squeaking.
The formula for the lubricant was jotted down in a spiral notebook 70 years ago, along with the 39 previous attempts to get it right, and is now kept in a lockbox at an undisclosed Bank of America location, I read in The Knowledge yesterday.
It has been removed only three times in the past 30 years, and the handful of executives granted access have to sign multiple non-disclosure agreements. CEO Steve Brass told The Wall Street Journal it was “like getting into Fort Knox”.
United against fakes
The issue of fake, AI-enhanced experts making their way into media articles has prompted Britain’s two leading public relations bodies to join forces for a campaign.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) are calling for journalists to check sources and the credentials of PR people they deal with.
Press Gazette has been reporting for months on fake psychiatrists, royal cleaners and gardeners who have featured in articles thanks to rogue PR operators using AI to generate press releases which then secure lucrative links and brand mentions for their clients.
The issue damages both the press and the PR industry, said Sarah Waddington from Newcastle who is chief executive of the PRCA.
“It undermines trust at every stage of the information chain,” she told Press Gazette. “Journalists need reliable sources to inform the public and hold power to account, while ethical PR depends on accuracy, transparency and accountability. When false or unverified expertise is promoted, it weakens confidence. Access to credible data and professional opinion is vital to critical thinking – something that’s increasingly needed when ‘flooding the zone’ tactics are in play.”
Nicholas
Feedback welcome
Here’s an example of something I’d like to get more of - someone leaving a comment at the end of the edition. I’ve not really made it clear before that I would welcome your thoughts on what you’ve read. I’m correcting that now!
This is from Eyes & Ears 16.01.26 in response to the green energy and innovation summit held earlier this month in Newcastle.
“Solid roundup on the green energy summit. The timing with Lloyds’ £1bn commitment and the offshore wind auction really shows momentum building. What struck me most is the potential to generate half the UK’s energy needs from offshore sources, don’t know if people grasp how transformative that could be for the grid infrastructure. I worked on a similar infrastructure project years ago and the gap between ambition and execution is always about scaling capacity fast enough to match demand.”
Comment as requested! I love how you put that at the end, like a reminder to read the whole exam before you start writing 😁.
SO much in today's edition, it's like a whole NE newspaper in my phone (which is bonkers when you think about it).