Voice Of The Region: North East – Manufacturing intent

A red hot logistics market has powered the North East’s industrial sector through lockdown but an exciting future beckons for manufacturing, particularly in green technology, believes Naylors Gavin Black partner and industrial specialist Keith Stewart.

Stewart leads the way in the North East’s individual dealmaker rankings with 396,000 sq ft of space transacted so far this year while Naylors Gavin Black sits at the top of the region’s industrial rankings. He says the demand for space is now so strong that occupiers are forced to look beyond the region’s historic hotspots of Gateshead, Washington and Newcastle.

The North East was recently given a boost with Nissan’s announcement of a £1bn Gigafactory - the region’s second – and Stewart believes the area can develop further as a major hub for green technology, not just through the companies that will be attracted to the area by Nissan but also through the development of offshore wind power and partnership with the region’s universities.