North East Tech Scene

Intro

I'm Peter and this is the RoguePlanetoid Podcast where you will find insights about Microsoft or related platforms and technology, along with so much more whether you are beginner or an experienced professional or just interested in technology. Keep Current, Keep Coding!

Welcome

Welcome to episode eighteen of the RoguePlanetoid Podcast about the North East Tech Scene. North East England's thriving tech scene is unfortunately often overlooked by the rest of the United Kingdom and most likely elsewhere. I've lived in the North East of England in the United Kingdom my entire life, although I never picked up much of the local accent as growing up the Geordie accent didn't quite extend as far to my original home town of West Monkseaton, which gets its name from the monks that settled on the coast and formed Tynemouth Priory, the ruins of which can still be viewed there today. These days I live on the other side of the famous River Tyne having spent almost a decade living in Gateshead, but I have worked on both sides of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and further south in Sunderland.

History

Historically the North East of England has been the hub, focus and origin of many industrial innovations that not only impacted the region, but also on the rest of the United Kingdom and the world. The very first room in the world lit by electric light was the Lit & Phil in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England in 1880 thanks to the development of the incandescent light bulb by Joseph Swan. That name may not immediately be the person you think of when you consider light bulbs, but it was indeed thanks to Joseph Swan, a man born in Sunderland also in the North East of England who made his development independently of that other famous name in lightbulbs of Thomas Edison. Swan and Edison would actually work together with their brand Ediswan and their innovations help bring electric light into the homes and buildings of many more people around the world.

You can't talk about the North East of England without mentioning two other things that made it famous, the first is ship building - the RMS Capathia which helped rescue survivors from the Titanic was built in Wallsend just outside Newcastle upon Tyne and the other is the various coal mines that were scattered throughout the North East of England and helped coin the phrase "Coals to Newcastle", to mean a fruitless activity as it was a major exporter of coal although today would be ironic as there is practically no coal mines in the North East of England and the region now imports much of the coal used there today. Coal was the driving force behind many innovations that helped bring coal to the surface and others helped bring coal or used coal such as developments in the railway thanks to pioneers such as George Stephenson, including settling on the standard gauge of railways used throughout the world and locomotives such as Rocket which was built in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Newcastle and Gateshead are also famous for the many bridges that span the River Tyne between them, the furthest bridge down the River Tyne is the Gateshead Millennium Bridge which is open to cyclists and pedestrians and is the newest of all the bridges but tilts like a blinking eye to help smaller boats and ships pass underneath. Going upriver next is the Tyne Bridge which is the most famous bridge of all and an iconic structure that helps represent the North East itself and also resembles the famous Sydney Harbour bridge built around the same time. Next to the Tyne Bridge you'll find the Swing Bridge designed to help ships get to William Armstrong's factory upstream and is the site of the original bridge over the River Tyne which dates to the original Roman settlement of Pons Aelius.

Next to the Swing Bridge is The High Level Bridge which was the creation of George Stephenson's son, Robert that continues the innovations of the railways being the world's oldest combined road and rail bridge that still carries both types of traffic to this day. The next bridge over the River Tyne is the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge used by the Tyne and Wear Metro, a light rail system that has some of the oldest rolling stock in the country operating since 1980 although this will be replaced by new rolling stock starting in late 2024. The Tyne and Wear Metro was the first railway in the United Kingdom to use the metric system and when it first opened in August 1980 I was one of the first passengers when I was just a few months old and have probably travelled on that same Metrocar hundreds of times over the decades.

The next two bridges are the King Edward VII Bridge for the railway and the Redheugh Bridge for road traffic. There are many other bridges along the whole length of the River Tyne but those are the seven most famous bridges between Newcastle and Gateshead but for anyone travelling North or South of the River Tyne will have used one of the many crossings which also include the North Shields to South Shields Ferry forming part of the Tyne and Wear Metro or the Tyne Tunnel that goes under the river.

The North East of England has a proud history that you can see in the cities like Newcastle upon Tyne but also in towns like Gateshead, which is my current home town. Gateshead just over the river from Newcastle has its own proud and distinct identity and is home to places like MetroCentre which is one of the largest shopping centres in the United Kingdom, it also held The Gateshead Garden Festival back in 1990 which I attended myself and my first time visiting the town. These developments in Gateshead led to the famous Angel of the North sculpture by Antony Gormley being built in Gateshead and art has transformed Gateshead quayside with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, formerly known as The Sage. The Sage will instead be the name to a new arena and conference venue to be built between them. Sunderland was a town now city also famous for shipbuilding with a rich history of its own along with a large sporting rivalry between it and Newcastle upon Tyne.

Wherever you are in the North East of England it is not hard to see the history there that still echoes into the present with many indelible marks on the landscape from the structures and industry that either were or are still present in the region. There are also the remains of a more ancient history of the region with the castle keep of Newcastle upon Tyne itself that gave it its name, the priory at Tynemouth that housed monks naming much of the surrounding areas that demonstrates a long-lasting history of the region that has been the centre of many things in history and still has so much to offer in the present.

Present

Presently it is difficult for many people around the United Kingdom and maybe elsewhere to see and understand the changes that have taken place here in the North East of England. There is still that proud heritage and industry that is at the heart of the region and although it may be on a different scale than historically even today there remains a large amount of industry in the area. Today there are two large companies founded in the North East of England that many of those within the UK and even abroad will have heard of, the first large company is Greggs, that can be found in all corners of the United Kingdom selling steak bakes, sausage rolls and more. The second large company is Sage, which is one of the largest technology companies in the United Kingdom supplying enterprise resource planning software and formerly lent its name to what is now The Glasshouse in Gateshead and will instead be naming the conference, events and arena space to be built next to it.

However, the North East Tech Scene is more than just Sage, over the past couple of decades there has been a growing startup scene which has been aided by various projects, the most famous of which is Ignite which supports founders wanting to make the North East the start of their business although you don't have live or work here already and it has helped kickstart dozens of businesses over the years, many of which have gone on to be successful businesses and even end up being acquired. I have followed the Ignite programme since the start and seen many businesses pitch their ideas and although hubs like Campus North have come and gone there are new hubs for businesses around the North East of England especially in Newcastle upon Tyne which is the home of the Ignite programme and continues to support up and coming businesses to have their home in the region.

There are other programmes that help new businesses or existing businesses such as FIRST ran by Charlotte Windebank which holds the Startup Awards North East for skill ups which were people about to start their business journey which this year ranged from communicating to cube-sats, cannoli, webcomics, book shops, gym wear and places for young people to go to do things like podcasting. There were also startups from conserving buildings, making the most of drinking tea, rating sustainable businesses, wellbeing and coaching along with scale-ups who were expanding their businesses ranging from treatments, promotions and empowerment to supporting those going through difficult times with funerals and mental health. There were businesses and individuals returning from previous awards who were continuing their journey, and the awards were a great way to communicate the potential of those on their way to achieving success, those who had achieved success and those who were becoming more successful.

Communicating best what is going on in the North East of England's tech scene is the Newcastle Tech Digest by Jamie Hardesty which covers all the things that are going on in the region including what companies have started up what existing companies are doing to scale and anything else that is happening in the North East Tech Scene. There's often always a success story to celebrate and so many things are changing it is a great way for those here to keep apprised of all that is happening along with everything else that is going on that is of interest to those who are either part of the North East Tech Scene or are interested in what is going on. So if you want to know more about what is happening then you can subscribe to the Newcastle Tech Digest at newcastletechdigest.substack.com or you can check out the link in the show notes.

Events & User Groups

Events form another key part of communicating the successes as well as the needs of businesses and individuals in the North East Tech Scene with events such as Silicon Mingle giving anyone the chance to meet potential clients or customers in a casual setting or learn about what is going on, plus these meetups in Newcastle upon Tyne have also resulted in ones happening elsewhere in Northern England with events in Manchester. Platform organised by local super-connector Paul Lancaster, is a regular event in Newcastle upon Tyne and also has recently added Sunderland events that allows new companies to pitch their ideas or for established businesses to talk about the work they are doing in the North East Tech Scene, or learn about the help or support that is on offer.

Many user groups and meetups in the region also are held on a regular basis that focus on specific technologies such as the .NET Meetup Newcastle, or those that cover a wider range of workshops and presentations like Tech on the Tyne which also has a counterpart of Tech on the Tees. There are also more general tech agnostic meetups such as North East Dev Community and Dev Hub North which are opportunities for those interested in technology to learn from a variety of speakers about many different topics. I have also presented at .NET Meetup Newcastle, Tech on the Tyne, Dev Hub North and North East Dev Community about a variety of subjects such as Windows App SDK, Blazor, .NET and so many more along with writing about many of the events that are held in the region. The best way to find out about many of the events here in the North East of England is to check out the many articles I have written at rogueplanetoid.com/articles or check out the link in the show notes.

TechNExt

TechNExt is a week-long tech festival for the North East which in 2024 marked its second year in June after a successful launch last year which included many core events along with fringe events and this year was no different. One event was an opportunity for those going through the Ignite Pre-Accelerator programme to pitch their business ideas including helping people continue to buy the things they love while earning cashback to save for the future and travel businesses connecting travellers to independent travel agents or helping find peaceful and quiet places to stay or planning campervan trips. There were also ways to connect people together such as paid-for direct messaging to reach out to influencers, managing orders better with AI and so many other ideas such as helping stream VR content and saving money on energy.

TechNExt also had other fringe events such as talking about AI, leveraging technology for business growth and even an immersive audio experience held in the state-of-the-art facility of Proto which has a large wide LED wall within an advanced media production studio. TechNExt also has core events such as the Main Stage which had the theme of tech for good including talking about future tech trends and decentralisation, creating prototypes to improve people's lives, how dementia care can be improved through technology, helping to reduce child labour in global supply chains, when you have an idea what to do next and how performance can be improved in sport through technology.

TechNExt also helped highlight unique innovations happening right here in the North East of England with Wootzano who build robots here in the region that take on work where needed including the agricultural sector with post-harvest roles including a unique and affordable way for these robots to cost no more than the hourly wage of a human worker who can be much harder to find to perform this task and allows the task to be fully automated without variation, and allows them to perform post-harvest activities on a range of fruits and vegetables. It was amazing to learn about how Wootzano is taking advantage of a skilled workforce it has built in the region as well as continuing to expand their offering in the area but they mentioned how many people are surprised they are based here in the North East of England or hold events here that they get told should be in London but they see the value the area has to offer so they want to remain here, working with local universities and taking in interns as well as doing STEM activities with primary and secondary schools to help change the mindset of those who think those opportunities are outside the North East of England.

TechNExt is a showcase event for all that is going on in the region and is attracting more people from around the country and the world to see what we have on offer in the region and how it is encouraging businesses to start here, move here or have a base in the region to leverage the growing skills available and become part of this rapidly growing event. TechNExt helps represent those speaking about things that either matter to those here, are being done by those here and those people coming to see what is being spoken about here. There were dozens of events throughout the event to pick from and was pleased I was able to get to as many as I could. You can find out about TechNExt including the most recent event's sessions or topics as well as more information at technext.co.uk or check out the link in the show notes.

Future

Forward looking companies are making their home here in the North East of England and will continue to do so, there are new developments and new modern hybrid friendly offices appearing throughout the city. There are also many companies that are remote friendly for those who prefer to work from home offering flexibility and support that's possible today with a modern technology company, unless you're building robots it's great to be able to support people to work the way they want so businesses can get the people they want. Programmes such as Ignite and FIRST are helping ensure that small businesses can get their start here in the North East of England and the tech community here is supportive rather than competitive, I've seen for myself how people in the same sector or business within the North East Tech scene have helped each other with advice or to allow more work to be done.

Future developments are bound to bring in a new group of people to the North East Tech Scene such as The Sage Events and conference venue to be built in Gateshead. There are probably more tech events in the North East of England than there have ever been and am sure there will be more events that will help attract not only those from the region but also those from around the United Kingdom and the world. It is thanks to the supportive tech community we have here that means businesses can thrive better and work better together, when a business does well here then everyone here benefits and those benefits can impact long into the future.

Conclusion

The North East of England in the United Kingdom rightly has a proud history of industrial innovation, which is still a part of the heart of the region in many places. However, it is not an unchanging place that's stuck in the past, many events demonstrate our forward-looking approach such as TechNExt at a large-scale bringing people here to talk, listen or highlight what is happening here or smaller regular events where like-minded people can get together at specialist events that cover subjects like .NET or a plethora of other technologies.

I'm proud to play my small part in the North East Tech scene and much of what I do is to bring attention to what is going on here whether that be the events I attend here, articles I write from those events or this episode of the RoguePlanetoid Podcast. I hope that I help to bring into focus for those who may never have considered this region to be such a dynamic and thriving place for a modern technology business, or for those who are here already then it is great to repeat what you probably already know which is whether you've moved here, were born here or work here in the North East of England you can be proud to part of a region with a thriving technology scene.

Outro

Thanks for listening to the RoguePlanetoid Podcast where each episode you will find insights about Microsoft or related platforms and technology, along with so much more wherever you listen to your podcasts or at rogueplanetoid.com/podcasts for the RoguePlanetoid Podcast whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional or just interested in technology. Keep Current, Keep Coding!