Newcastle has a strong manufacturing heritage from the days of the industrial revolution when the city introduced inventions like hydroelectricity and steam turbines, leaving a lasting impact on the global landscape.
Newcastle continues to lead the way in advanced manufacturing and engineering, with established clusters around life sciences, offshore wind, subsea and automotive.
Across North East England, advanced manufacturing contributes £8.4bn to the regional economy, employing 67,000 people in almost 4,000 businesses.
Newcastle offers convenient access to three deep sea ports and along the River Tyne, there is abundant development land for manufacturing and industrial use. Companies located on the Tyne include global offshore leaders such as Technip FMC, Bridon Bakeart and Baker Hughes, which each design and manufacture cutting edge products and solutions.
Newcastle is also home to Accord Healthcare, which has a large pharmaceutical production facility in the city, and a number of other life sciences companies who are manufacturing drugs, devices and systems for international markets.
The skills pipeline in Newcastle is regenerated by two city centre universities, which between them enrol 60,000 students each year. There are also 67,000 students studying a STEM subject across North East England – the highest proportion in the country.
The North East is also celebrated for its automotive manufacturing capabilities, with Nissan’s Sunderland plant accounting for 30% of all UK car production.
Newcastle is playing a key role in the drive towards Industry 4.0, leveraging a dynamic ecosystem of startups dedicated to the development of cutting-edge automation and robotics technologies.
£8.4bn advanced manufacturing industry.
67,000 STEM and computing students within an hours’ drive of the city.
Close to the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing.
Newcastle University is home to the Institute of Electrification and Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing.
Sub Sectors
Take a look at the advanced manufacturing clusters driving growth in Newcastle.
Pharmaceutical
Newcastle offers access to a diverse regional ecosystem of pharma production companies who export globally including Accord Healthcare, MSD, Aesica and GlaxoSmithKline.
Offshore Wind
Newcastle is closely located to the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank off the North Sea coast, with Port of Tyne acting as a strategic operations and maintenance provider for this unique piece of infrastructure.
Automotive
Newcastle offers access to the International Advanced Manufacturing Park and Nissan car plant in Sunderland.
Robotics
Newcastle is home to a growing cluster of companies that are applying robotics technology and electro-mechanical processes to drive efficiency in the engineering and manufacturing sectors.
Who's here
Infrastructure
Explore the assets local companies are using to power innovation.
Centre for Process Innovation
CPI focuses on advancing processes and technologies across various industries, collaborating with businesses and research institutions to drive development in manufacturing, healthcare and energy.
Newcastle University
Newcastle University is a Russell Group university with a global reputation for academic excellence and groundbreaking advancements in fields ranging from healthcare and ageing to data and sustainable development.
Northumbria University
Northumbria University is a former Times Higher Education University of the Year that continues to raise the bar on research and innovation in fields such as biotechnology, aerospace, energy systems…
Shepherd Offshore
Shepherd Offshore is strategically located on the River Tyne providing easy access to the North Sea coast and offering thousands of acres of development land for advanced manufacturing and industrial…
Zero Carbon Futures
Zero Carbon Futures UK aims to research and develop new technologies as low carbon vehicles become a major part of the world’s transport systems.
Newcastle College
The Newcastle College Energy Academy provides a centre of innovation, training and development for the energy sector delivering qualifications from level two through to degree level in energy technologies, manufacturing and maintenance as well as apprenticeships.
Key Partners
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