ABSTRACT
At the end of the 1980s, many people in the North had begun to believe that the economic recession might, at last, be over in the region. Signs of new economic growth were clearly evident: a wave of Japanese inward investment; large-scale retail development; and waterfront redevelopments planned on the Tyne, Wear and Tees. Nissan’s car plant at Washington, the MetroCentre retail complex in the Gateshead Enterprise Zone and the proposed redevelopment scheme for Newcastle Quayside became well-used symbols of the region’s rebirth. Unemployment had been falling, house prices continued a belated rise. Most people in work enjoyed rising standards of living and shared in an unprecedented consumer boom. The North’s ‘moaning minnies’, harangued by Mrs Thatcher in a legendary outburst on a rare visit to the region in 1986, became almost silent. The region’s economic development agencies, the local authorities and the media were busy spreading optimistic ‘hype’ about economic recovery in ‘The Great North’.
