Business confidence in the North East fell 15 points to 54% in June. Firms’ optimism in their own trading outlook rose seven points to 72%, while optimism in the economy dipped 38 points to 36%. Overall UK business confidence fell three points in June to 44%.

A Yorkshire-based manufacturer of water-saving valves has joined a delegation of small British businesses in London to pitch directly to international buyers and attend a reception at 11 Downing Street. SealStop, based in Pocklington, was among 40 small firms selected for the Great British Pitch India initiative.

This year’s Crypt Factor singing competition was won by Richard Bamford, who performed Dakota by Stereophonics in front of almost 1,000 members of the North of England’s property community at Elland Road. The event is expected to raise around £100,000 for Leeds charities St George's Crypt and Yorkshire Property Charitable Trust.

The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) has opened applications for eight paid apprenticeships in countryside management to help young people enter the environmental sector. The 18-month programme combines practical training with academic study.

Students from two of the region’s top universities have been named winners in the 2026 Women in Property Yorkshire & North East Student Awards, recognising emerging talent in the property and construction sector.

The North East secured 22 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects in 2025, a 48% year-on-year fall and the region’s lowest total across the last decade, according to the latest EY UK Attractiveness Survey. The EY 2026 UK Attractiveness Survey ranked 259 regions across Europe according to the number of FDI projects each attracted in 2025.

A new owner has been found for the premises formerly owned by Hexham and District Ex-Service Club at 1 Hallstile Bank, Hexham, almost a year after the chimney stack collapsed onto neighbouring Bob’s Barbers, closing Hallstile Bank. Gillian Sayburn and Andrew Little, partners at BTG in Newcastle, were appointed joint liquidators of the club in September 2025 following its insolvency.

Portakabin has been awarded a major multi-million pound contract to design and deliver a new headquarters for The Workdry Group in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire. The new project will see the delivery of a flagship, three-storey office building at The Workdry Group’s Headquarters site, constructed using sixty-six bespoke modules.

With under a week to go until this year’s Crypt Factor, 16 budding performers are now preparing to swap their day jobs at companies in the property and construction sectors, to sing on stage at Elland Road in Leeds in front of almost 1,000 of their industry peers.

Broadband provider Quickline Communications has partnered with Enterprise Cube CIC to launch "Better Business," a support initiative designed for start-up and early-stage companies across North Yorkshire. The programme provides workshops, practical training, and peer-to-peer networking intended to help rural entrepreneurs transition from initial launch to sustainable growth.

David Whitehouse chief executive of Offshore Energies UK has presented evidence to the Energy Security and Net Zero select committee showing that rapid implementation of the Treasury’s proposed Oil and Gas Price Mechanism (OGPM) would radically boost revenue from the North Sea oil and gas industry.