Time the North East was allowed to prove what we are capable of
PART of the Chamber’s role is to connect businesses, creating an environment that is investmentready.
That’s why we strongly backed the recent cross-sector campaign which called on the Government to provide financial support for Crown Works Studios in Sunderland.
Seeing the momentum behind the project is incredibly exciting and I warmly welcome it receiving the backing of political leaders from all sides and all parts of the North East. That spirit of collaboration will serve us well long into the exciting future ahead.
Crown Works Studios is set to create more than 8,000 jobs in the region, provide a £336m annual economic boost to the North East and secure £450m in private investment. It also has the potential to attract global productions worth £644m a year.
Let those numbers sink in. This generation-transforming project really will kick-start the creation of an entire production ecosystem and place us front and centre of the UK’s creative industries.
With its family roots in Sunderland
for over 100 years, it’s fantastic to see Fulwell 73 once again investing in the North East. They too can see the huge potential in this great region.
It was fascinating to hear from Leo Pearlman, co-founder and managing partner at Fulwell 73, at our sold-out President’s Supper last year. Leo shared FulwellCain’s ambitious plans to build one of Europe’s largest and best equipped filmmaking complexes in the region, and commented on the North East’s strength of character and stubbornness to survive and thrive.
He invited the region’s businesses to join him on the journey to make the region a “production powerhouse” for TV and film. Chamber members in the room agreed with Leo when he said it’s time for the North East to prove what we’re capable of.
The Crown Works Studios project strongly aligns with the Chamber’s new Stronger, Fairer North East policy plan, which aims to deliver fair and inclusive growth for the North East and the UK across five pillars of the region’s economy: people and work; education and participation; enterprise and growth; international trade and green innovation.
Through the unparalleled benefits the project will bring, Crown Works Studios targets growth across each of the five pillars, indicating just how significant the project will be not just to the North East but to the whole of the UK because as I’ve said before, investment in this region is a downpayment on the future prosperity of the nation.
We at the Chamber offer our full support to FulwellCain and look forward to seeing the opening scenes of this blockbuster project.