THE foundations of what would become today’s North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) were created when a group of business leaders formed the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce in 1815. For more than two centuries NECC members have worked collectively for the region, developing ground-breaking innovations and playing key roles through decades of industrial and economic change.
This informative book contains a timeline of landmark achievements in the region. In 1833 Newcastle was given a licence to trade with the East India Company and in 1834 work began to build a modern quayside on the Tyne. Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Sunderland chambers of commerce were formed between 1863 and 1879.
In 1875 chamber members commissioned and paid for survey work to put in place the first deepwater wharves at Teesport. In 1907 Rington’s founder Samuel Smith began selling tea from a horse and cart. Among more recent developments, 1968 saw the constitution of the Port of Tyne Authority, and in 1981 the software giant Sage was founded.