In the north-east of England they joke that the region is better connected to the UAE than it is to the rest of the United Kingdom.
There is some truth in this. Since 2007, there have been daily flights from the region to Dubai with Emirates and there is pressure for additional flights.
In contrast, road journeys from the south to north-east cities are long and arduous. It is the only part of England not connected to the rest of the UK by a continuous motorway. This is despite the fact that the region is only one of three areas in the country to have a positive balance of trade. About 75 per cent of what is made there is exported.
James Ramsbotham, the chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, says the region has benefited from its UAE ties. “We have seen phenomenal growth, and most of it can be attributed to having a direct flight into the Middle East, which is also a hub to China, Turkey, Australasia and India for exports.”
Paul Woolston, who leads the region’s local enterprise partnership, says he is keen to raise awareness of the north-east.
“We want to tell the people in the Middle East about the skills we have here and how we can work more in partnership with them, whether that is in the oil and gas sector, in healthcare research, through links with medical schools or life science sectors,” he says.
After the UK last month shelved long-overdue rail upgrades to London and between regional big cities, the UAE is an even more crucial revenue generator for the north-east – which covers a region spanning seven separate councils and the cities of Sunderland, Newcastle and Durham.
Mr Ramsbotham says it is all the more important, as local companies have yet to convince the region’s authorities of the benefits of its project. “The Northern Powerhouse is a good plan but it needs life breathing into it at several different levels. The business community has to find a way of making it clear [to local politicians] it is in their interests.”
Meanwhile, in the north-west, the UAE is an ongoing driver of growth in the form of Abu Dhabi’s ownership of Manchester City football club. In June last year, for example, it was announced that more than 6,000 new homes would be built in once rundown parts of Manchester thanks to a £1 billion (Dh5.73bn) 10-year agreement with the Abu Dhabi United Group (Adug), the company that bought the club.
More than 830 privately rented homes will be built in the first phase this year in areas of east Manchester near the team’s Etihad Stadium.
“The deal adds another commercial dimension to the already significant investment made by Manchester council and Adug in east Manchester, and in doing so progresses the regeneration story that began in the 1990’s and was accelerated by Adug’s recent development of the Etihad Campus,” says the Manchester council leader Richard Leese. “The planned transformation is the single biggest residential investment Manchester has seen for a generation.
“Building thousands of quality new homes will be a fundamental part of our growth story and will deliver significant socioeconomic impact. ”
It seems the north can look with more optimism to the Arabian Gulf than London. Are those road and rail links so crucial after all?
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