In the past, Newcastle as a legal centre has rarely been mentioned in the same breath as Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester or even Bristol. The image of the northeast as a post-industrial region that had yet to regenerate itself to the extent of some of its rivals translated into a similarly poor view of the city’s professional services firms. These firms were not seen as having the expertise or the infrastructure to compete at a national or international level in the same way as their rivals in Yorkshire, Lancashire or the Midlands.
However, more recent times have seen considerable money and effort being poured into the regeneration of the cities of Newcastle and Gateshead. Hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent by European, national and local government on redeveloping an economy that was once reliant on heavy industry – particularly shipbuilding – into one ready to strongly compete in the 21st century economy.
