Sir Nigel Wilson 鈥 the North East-born chief executive of Legal & General, probably the country鈥檚 largest investment group 鈥 must have a thing about breweries.
Seven years ago he was on the former Scottish & Newcastle site in Newcastle city centre 鈥 then called Science Central, now Newcastle Helix 鈥 to announce a 拢65m investment in the scheme to build offices, laboratories and other facilities. Three years later it was the former Vaux brewery in Sunderland that attracted his firm鈥檚 interest, with Sir Nigel bearing a cheque for 拢100m towards the Riverside Sunderland project. Both sites aim to provide accommodation for new and growing and businesses, with the hope that the once derelict sites can provide thousands of new jobs.
And last week Sir Nigel was back in Sunderland, just days after announcing his intention to retire in the next year, to perform a topping out ceremony on the Maker and Faber office blocks being constructed behind City Hall. (High winds meant the ceremony happened on floor three rather than the actual top floor, making it something of a 鈥榤iddling out鈥 ceremony).
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And rather than rely on the usual corporate platitudes that are normally the hallmark of such ceremonies, he took the occasion to praise local leaders in Sunderland for their vision but also to highlight how Government efforts to 鈥榣evel up鈥 are still lagging.
鈥淚 grew up in this part of the world so it鈥檚 thrilling to come back and see how much progress has been made,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hat we see happening here is inclusive capitalism, where we鈥檙e trying to level up right across the country, invest in real projects and create real assets that support real jobs and real wages.
鈥淭his is one of a number of examples that we have across the country. But what we need in these situations is not the man from Whitehall or from London, we need local people to get behind these projects and political leaders with vision. We鈥檙e very fortunate that we鈥檝e got Patrick (Melia, Sunderland Council chief executive) here, who鈥檚 one of the great leaders who is committed to making things happen.
鈥淭he sad reality was that this site stood vacant for almost 30 years and if you went to Newcastle, you鈥檇 have seen the same thing with the Scottish and Newcastle brewery site. We鈥檙e in a process of modernising cities across the 海角视频. It鈥檚 called devolution but it鈥檚 devolution with a little 鈥榙鈥 at the moment and we need devolution with a big 鈥楧鈥 so that local people are empowered to make a difference, get access to capital and really create lots of new jobs in new industries.鈥
He added: 鈥淧eople have a view, and it鈥檚 a correct view in some sense, that cities in the North have been run down over the last 20 or 30 years. That鈥檚 one of the sad facts of life at the moment.鈥
Turning around those Northern cities, and those in other 海角视频 regions, has become a core mission for Legal & General under Sir Nigel鈥檚 mission. The company鈥檚 investment in Newcastle and Sunderland now stands at around 拢250m, with the many leading-edge businesses setting up at Newcastle Helix beginning to re-pay the company鈥檚 faith in the scheme.
Sir Nigel has been one of the country鈥檚 best known business figures of recent years, sitting on Government and industry advisory groups and winning numerous awards. But he grew up on a council estate in Newton Aycliffe until the age of 12 and has credited the education he received at the town鈥檚 Stephenson Way Primary School and Ferryhill Grammar School for setting him on the way to a PhD at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology before a career in business. He joined Legal & General in 2009 and became chief executive in 2012.
He was knighted last year for services to finance and regional development, and it is that latter commitment that has made him stand out, choosing to target his company鈥檚 huge financial resources towards developments in areas away from London and the South East.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing this for 14 years,鈥 he said, 鈥渟tarting in Cardiff and Salford. We look very much on these projects as long-term commitments 鈥 we鈥檙e really in the early days of transformation in Newcastle and Sunderland.
鈥淭hese are places that have been so neglected because our economic model has been so London-centric. So much of our capital has gone on developing London; we鈥檙e almost unique in the world in that. It means that there鈥檚 no town or city that has a higher per capita income than Dresden, Leipzig or Berlin, places in the former East Germany that were like medieval cities a generation ago. They鈥檝e just gone past us.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had underinvesment for such a long period of time. The big problem is that real median wages haven鈥檛 gone up since 2006, 2007. So we鈥檝e got invest capital to upskill people and help them make more money. That鈥檚 at the heart of what we鈥檙e trying to do. We hoped and expected lots of people to follow us but when we looked over our shoulder we realised we were a long way ahead. That鈥檚 sad. We need more people to step up and invest in the 海角视频 but the political and economic backdrop make it difficult.鈥
Despite those concerns, Sir Nigel is positive for the future of the North East, a region he thinks of as home.
鈥淢y heart鈥檚 still here,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y mum still lives here and my two sisters and a lot of my friends. I come up about once a month for social reasons and I鈥檓 very proud to have benefitted from a great grammar school and social teachers.
鈥淭hat social mobility that I was lucky to have 鈥 it led me to go on and do a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rest assured my infant teacher didn鈥檛 have that picked out for me but all along I had great mentors and coaches who helped me. I want to give back, that鈥檚 what levelling up is about. But there has to be a stepping up, and with money, because at the moment we鈥檙e getting a lot of rhetoric but not enough capital to make it happen.鈥
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