As a North East native, I've always been passionate about where I came from. That's why I moved back up north in 2009, after growing tired of the bright lights of London to set up Onyx Health in 2009, a specialist health marketing communications agency
It is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I’ve never looked back. One of the things that bothers me about working in my industry is the lack of national recognition the North East health and life sciences sector receives. We have world leading assets in the region, with a unique environment for medicines manufacturing and health innovation located right on our doorstep. The trouble is people just don’t know about it.
The North East economy and beyond
Many people don’t realise it, but the region is a major location for the global pharmaceutical industry. It makes an estimated contribution of between £0.73b to £1.28b to the UK economy and supports between 18,800 and 23,500 jobs. There are a number of large global pharmaceutical manufacturers located in the region such as Glaxo Smith Kline, MSD and Fujifilm Diosynth. So much so that health and life sciences have been designation as a key area of strategic economic importance by the North East LEP.
We all know the North East has an export-led regional economy, but what is perhaps less well known is the contribution pharmaceutical manufacturing makes. In 2017 the North East exported £12.9 billion of goods: including £7.4 billion of machinery and transport and £2.8 billion of chemicals (including pharmaceuticals).
The pharmaceutical manufacturing sector is a key driver of the region’s export success story. 86% of the North East’s pharmaceutical products are exported, with 64% of finished products going to the United States.
Our Region’s Golden Assets We have an array of golden assets which constitutes the North East’s key unique selling points as a region. They have the potential to act as a catalyst for change and a lightning rod for future inward investment, creating jobs and generating skilled employment. The North East houses a strong academic base in life sciences and healthcare. Through the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), our leading universities and the NHS are able to develop more innovative approaches to manufacturing. Newcastle leads the UK in respect of clinical trials, presenting a significant opportunity for the region. There are also key assets in County Durham, including the CPI Healthcare Futures Centre and the CPI National Formulation Centre. The CPI is one of the leading independent technology innovation centres in the UK and a member of the UK Government’s High-Value Manufacturing Catapult giving it national influence. Moreover, the creation of the National innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA), and the National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD), also represents a major commercial opportunity to exploit the connection between the region’s digital and healthcare sectors. Despite these advantages we often get overlooked as a health and life science destination. The need for a national voice One of things holding us back as a region is the lack of a single united voice for the health and life science sector to get our businesses seen and heard on the national stage. We have an embarrassment of riches in the North East, but there is a pressing need to make some noise about the great work we do. There are several organisations that help other sectors of the North East economy make their mark with key decision makers in Westminster and Whitehall. Whether its NOF Energy or The North East Automotive Alliance, these sector alliances are now giving North East businesses a distinctive voice, as part of a national conversation in their respective fields. The North East health and life science sector lacks the equivalent organisation with the same fire power behind it. For too long the sector has been one of the best kept secrets about the North East economy, it’s time that we stopped hiding our light under a bushel and showcase what we’ve got to offer. This is vital to create growth, inward investment and job creation we need to power out of the coronavirus downturn. At a time when the Government’s levelling up agenda is focussed on rebalancing growth across all regions of the UK, establishing a dynamic sector led body could help us take advantage of this opportunity with long term economic benefits for the North East economy.
