What Newcastle could unlock at UKREiiF and the Great North Summit

As people prepare for UKREiiF — and as attention builds ahead of the Great North Summit on Monday — I reflect on my time as Leader of Newcastle City Council and  how I would set out Newcastle’s proposition in the conversations that will shape investment thinking across the UK in the days ahead.

Not as a collection of opportunities, and not through slogans or positioning language, but through a clear articulation of what this city is, how it operates, and why that matters for investment outcomes.

If I were presenting Newcastle, I would start from a simple point: cities are now competing in an environment where everyone is making similar claims about ambition, excellence and investability.

The language of opportunity is widely shared. And in that context, differentiation does not come from what is said, but from what can be demonstrated in practice.

That is why I would place greater emphasis on how Newcastle actually behaves as a city — how relationships are formed, how decisions are made, and how trust is established over time.

Newcastle is a core UK city with a distinct civic identity.

It does not need to be translated or softened for external audiences, because its value lies in being immediately legible once you understand how it works.

This is a place where things are direct. Where relationships are formed quickly and taken seriously. Where straight talking is preferred over performance. And where trust is not abstract, but built through repeated delivery over time.

In investment terms, that matters more than is often acknowledged.

Because capital does not only move towards opportunity. It moves towards environments where confidence is reinforced by behaviour — where complexity is reduced by culture, and where commitments are more likely to be followed through in practice.

Newcastle offers that environment.

This is also a city where industrial legacy is not distant history, but still visibly present in its physical form, its institutions, and its identity.

From engineering and shipbuilding to energy, rail and global trade, Newcastle was central to the creation of modern Britain. That legacy has not disappeared. It continues to shape expectations around capability, scale and delivery.

And it matters again now, in a period defined by energy security, industrial renewal, technological change and infrastructure investment.

These are national priorities. But they are not abstract to Newcastle. They align with a city whose economic and civic DNA has long been connected to making, building and delivering at scale.

But Newcastle’s case is not only industrial.

It is also a city of identity — and that identity is not curated, but lived.

A city of story and song. A city of humour, pride and directness. A city of writers, musicians, engineers and working communities whose culture is expressed through lived experience rather than presentation.

That identity is not separate from economic value. I would argue it is part of how value is created here.

Because cities that retain a strong sense of themselves tend to be more coherent in how they function, more stable in how they operate, and more reliable in how they deliver over time.

In Newcastle, identity and economy are still closely aligned.

The way the city feels is closely connected to the way it functions. Industry is still part of everyday reality. Innovation is still rooted in place. Culture is still lived rather than packaged. And civic pride still plays a visible role in how people relate to the city and to each other.

That creates something increasingly rare in the UK economy: a high degree of trust in how the city works.

Trust in relationships. Trust in delivery. Trust in continuity. Trust that commitments made will not simply be announced, but followed through.

 In my view, it is also important to recognise the context in which these conversations now take place. 

Across the UK, many cities and regions would present themselves in similar terms — as places of opportunity, excellence and investability.

The language of ambition is widely shared. And in that context, differentiation does not come from what is simply said, but from what can be demonstrated in practice.

That is why, if I were setting out Newcastle’s proposition, I would place greater emphasis on the underlying characteristics of the city — how it behaves, how it delivers, and how trust is formed — because these matter more in a crowded and increasingly standardised investment narrative.

In a competitive environment where many places are making similar claims, credibility becomes the real distinguishing factor.

That is why I would also argue that part of what strengthens Newcastle’s future position is the ability to define its own understanding of impact.

Not through abstract national averages or generic benchmarks, but through a set of city-specific measures that reflect what value actually means this place — for residents, for the economy, and for long-term investment performance.

Because too often, investment conversations focus on activity rather than outcome. What is missing is clarity about what success looks like in local terms.

A more grounded, place-specific approach would allow residents to see clearly how investment translates into real change across the city, while also giving investors greater confidence and certainty about what their investment is contributing to over time.

In that sense, measurement becomes part of the investment proposition itself — reinforcing trust, accountability and alignment between capital and place.

If I were setting out Newcastle’s ambition, it would therefore not be to compete in generic terms with every other UK city.

It would be to be recognised for what it uniquely is: a core city where industrial capability, civic identity, economic function and a clear sense of impact remain closely connected in practice, shaping a place where investment has a higher probability of becoming real, sustained delivery.

A city that is confident in its identity. Clear in its offer. And ambitious in its role within the wider UK economy.

Not a city trying to replicate others.

But a city with its own operating logic, its own civic character, and its own way of turning opportunity into delivery.

That is the Newcastle I would set out for UKREiiF and the Great North Summit.

 Not as assertion of achievement.

 But as a statement of how this city should be understood — and what it is still capable of becoming.