Trains, awards and gamer cafés
5 things we learned yesterday
1 Tyneside transport giant the Go-Ahead Group says it remains in a “strong” position despite the threat of more disruption on its troubled Southern Railway.
Go-Ahead, which runs Southern through its Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) business, said the service has “stabilised” in recent months, but said a train driver overtime ban set to start next week would cause more “unnecessary disruption” for customers.
In a separate announcement, Govia has been shortlisted to carry on running the Southeastern line, though it faces competition from three other rail groups.
Go-Ahead also revealed that it had been awarded a 13-year rail contract by the Transport Ministry of Baden Württemberg in Germany. The route, providing links between Stuttgart and Nuremberg, will bring in around €20m a year, starting in December 2019.
2 Three new buildings in the North East have been singled out amongst the best in the UK at a top industry event.
Live Works, on Newcastle’s Quayside, Shawn House in Northumberland and The Word, National Centre for the Written Word in South Shields, were crowned at the 2017 RIBA National Awards.
The triumphant trio had previously been named along with two others at the regional finals of the annual search for the UK’s best buildings, run by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in pursuit of their architectural excellence.
3 A programme providing a springboard to business success for young
entrepreneurs has been rolled out in the North East, after software giant Sage teamed up with the first winner of BBC’s The Apprentice.
Aspiring entrepreneurs in the North East are being offered a brighter future through the launch of the Bright Ideas Trust charitable programme, funded by Sage Foundation.
The trust – which has been highly successful in London – is the brainchild of Tim Campbell, the first to win BBC’s The Apprentice.
Now Bright Ideas Trust has unveiled its new, entrepreneurial programme, Prosperitas, in the region after receiving a £25,000 grant from Sage Foundation. 4 Manufacturers are enjoying their strongest pipeline of orders for nearly 30 years as the weak pound helps boost demand for “Made in Britain” goods, according to a survey.
The CBI’s latest monthly report showed the balance of companies reporting that total order books were above normal surged from +9 in May to +16 in June – the highest reading since August 1988.
It revealed that export orders also rose to a 22-year high.
The report will boost hopes the manufacturing sector can help offset a slowdown in consumer spending as households feel the squeeze from surging inflation caused by the weak pound and tepid wage growth. 5 A video game cafe could soon opening its doors in Newcastle, bringing dragons, warriors and superheroes to the city’s streets.
Sophie Stephenson is planning to open the city’s first video game and costume shop, ARCAdium, after launching a crowdfunding campaign for the business.
Cosplay is the art of making, designing and wearing costumes based on fictional characters.