Newcastle has often been seen as something of a downtrodden city that is rife with unemployment. While the city suffered like the rest of the North of England in the 1980s, it has recovered better than most. Much of the city’s gritty reputation probably comes from its stature during the Industrial Revolution where it was a leading coal miner and manufacturing location. However, the coalpits have been closed for almost half a century and the shipbuilding industry has died with it. This has all been replaced by a modern city that is an important retail centre in the North of the country.

The city of Newcastle is seen as the educational, cultural and commercial heartland of the North. Newcastle is part of the huge Tyneside area and the city has a GVA of £13 billion. There are a host of shopping centres in the city and the nightlife is second to none. The city has a great strategic location and is absolutely vital to the health of the North of England. It is partnered with Gateshead and together, these two areas make a formidable team.

Sectors

In Newcastle, the retail sector is king. The city is the ninth largest retail location in the UK in terms of expenditure. The Eldon Square Shopping Centre is one of the UK’s largest shopping centre complexes. It includes an enormous Debenhams store and one of Britain’s largest John Lewis stores. Northumberland Street is Newcastle’s busiest shopping street and has the most expensive rent in the UK outside of London for shops. Other large shopping centre complexes include Monument Mall, Newgate Centre and Central Arcade. Kingston Park, which is located on the edge of the city, has Britain’s largest Tesco store. The MetroCentre in nearby Gateshead is the biggest indoor shopping centre in the whole of Europe.

Travelling

Newcastle is served by every conceivable method of transport. There is an international airport located just 6 miles from the city which can be reached via the Metro Light Rail system in approximately 20 minutes. The airport serves almost 100 destinations worldwide and handles more than 5 million passengers a year. This is expected to double by 2016. The airport is the tenth largest in the UK.

There are a trio of large bus companies that operate in the city: Arriva North East, Go North East and Stagecoach North East. Haymarket and Eldon Square are the two major bus stations in Newcastle. Go North East serves locations predominantly South of the Tyne, Stagecoach operates within the city and Arriva concentrates on the North of the Tyne.

Newcastle Central Station was opened in 1850 and was the first train station in the world to be covered. The Tyne and Wear Metro is a public transport network that is suburban and underground. It was opened between 1980 and 1984 in five different phases and has had two extensions since. Nexus controls the network which serves 37 million passengers a year. It travels to the airport and as far as Wearside. There is a green and yellow line on the Metro with the green line focusing on the city centre, the airport and Sunderland while the yellow line begins at St. James Park and goes onto Gateshead.

Accommodation

If you are looking for a job and are in need of cheap accommodation, Newcastle is a good location for you because there is a raft of student apartments available for a reasonable price. If you work in the City Centre, there are a number of purpose-built conversions and apartments in the centre of Newcastle or in Lemington and Throckley & Newburn. If you have a family and are in need of suburban semi-detached housing with three bedrooms, you should seek out Newcastle West and Fenburn. These areas are known to be expensive but they still attract wealthy students and young professionals because of the high quality of rented accommodation on offer.

If you have a job offer in the North of England, remember that Newcastle is possibly the most important city in this part of the country. It is a lively and vibrant city with some incredible nightlife and is filled with people who just want to enjoy life. So if this sounds like your kind of city, start packing your bags!