ABSTRACT
The Newcastle Initiative (TNI) in Newcastle upon Tyne was the first Business Leadership Team set up by the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) Task Force on Business and Urban Regeneration (CBI 1988). The Task Force was set up at the CBI’s 1987 Conference; it consisted of 15 prominent business leaders and was chaired by Tom Frost, Group Chief Executive of the National Westminster Bank, working with consultants from McKinsey and Associates and Charles Barker plc. The objective of the Task Force was to:
identify what further steps business should be taking to assist in the process of urban regeneration. (CBI 1988:7)
The rationale behind the formation of this Task Force was that:
Business has a massive stake in the nation’s cities. Employees and customers live in them; many companies operate from city locations, and their balance sheets reflect the cost and value of the assets involved; the retail, banking, insurance, tourist, leisure, manufacturing and construction industries will all be affected by the economic vitality and social health of the communities concerned. (CBI 1988:7)
The outcome of the Task Force’s work was the report Initiatives Beyond Charity published in September 1988, which came to four main conclusions about the role of business in urban regeneration. First, the Task Force felt that it was the local business community that should provide leadership for regeneration, with highquality leadership being the key to building confidence in an area. Confidence, according to the Task Force, determines prosperity.
