Financial, professional and business services

The North East has a strong and diverse financial, professional and business services sector.

We are home to the headquarters of Virgin Money and Newcastle Building Society, specialist teams, shared services centres and the local offices of well-known national brands. Also based here are leading regional companies in law and finance and specialist consultancies supporting key areas of opportunity like offshore energy.

A critical factor in this sector’s success is the strong flow of graduates from the North East’s four universities.  Retention of more of these graduates will further strengthen the sector.

Work is ongoing to ensure office accommodation is readily available across the region in places like Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland City Centres and on key employment sites.

New digitally driven and automation business models, processes and services are changing the competitive environment in the shared services sector. To ensure the sector remains competitive, North East businesses must adopt and apply new digital technologies to their business model, whilst supporting their employees through this change.

The Strategic Economic Plan supports this sector through:

  • Transition plans to support the sector are a specific priority, as digital transformation, automation of service centres and EU Exit drive change.
  • Continuing investment in transport connectivity is required to ensure the optimum flow of people and goods into and out of the region to ensure we remain competitive within the UK and global markets.
  • Skills supply into the sector and a strategy to drive up the demand for higher quality employment.

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