『This Is The North』のカバーアート

This Is The North

This Is The North

著者： Alison Dunn
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2026年5月12日まで。4か月目以降は月額1,500円で自動更新します。

概要

The gap between the rich and the poor, the North and the South is greater than ever before.

And yet, the North has a rich history of world changing industry and innovation. So, what’s happened? How have we got here and what are we going to do about it?

On This is the North, we explore these questions. With expert guests, including academics, local business people, and charity leaders, we discuss why the poverty gap matters and what we can do about it.

Hosted by Alison Dunn, charity Chief Executive and dedicated social justice advocate, This Is The North is a podcast that comes from the North, is about the North, and celebrates our creativity - past, present and future.

We’ll ask how can we all use our influence to create a better future for the North.

...

Connect with Alison: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisondunncag/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alison Dunn 2023 マネジメント マネジメント・リーダーシップ 政治・政府 政治学 社会科学 経済学
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  • Ep. 47 Claire Malcolm MBE

    Ep. 47 Claire Malcolm MBE
    2026/04/06

    Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn.


    In this episode, Alison is joined by Claire Malcolm MBE, founding Chief Executive of New Writing North, the organisation she built from a small startup in 1996 into a nationally recognised force shaping opportunities for writers across the north of England.


    Claire grew up working class in York, a passionate reader placed in low sets for English because she was a bad speller. Nobody in her family had been to university. She ended up doing a fine art degree because the system had already decided English wasn't for her. In 1996, when everyone she knew in Leeds was heading to London, she went to Newcastle instead, and decided to put it on the map.


    For the first twenty years, New Writing North was about building bridges to London, helping northern writers access the agents, publishers, and deals concentrated in the capital. It worked. But Claire reached a point where she started asking a different question: we are supplying London with brilliant writers, so where is the investment coming back?


    The conversation turns to the reading crisis. Only one in five schools in the North East has a school library. Book ownership among children is lower than the national average. Claire makes the case that books were, for her, "the steps out of the place I was from," and that when you strip away the library, the books in the home, and the teacher who takes you seriously, you close the door to everything that comes after.


    Claire has now raised £10.5 million to build a Centre for Writing in Newcastle, backed by the public sector, Northumbria University, and the combined authority. Hachette UK, the second biggest publisher in the country, has opened a Newcastle office with 20 staff and together they have launched an MA in publishing. The Centre is due to open in early 2028.


    The episode also covers the working-class voices magazine The Bee, youth and community programmes in Newcastle's West End, regional screenwriting, AI and copyright, and what Claire is reading.


    Timestamps:

    00:00 The reading crisis

    01:20 Growing up working class in York

    04:31 Reading, wellbeing, and empathy

    05:29 Why children lack access to books

    07:54 Libraries, loneliness, and connection

    09:31 Building bridges to London

    11:03 The Centre for Writing in Newcastle

    12:14 Regional voices on the global stage

    16:52 Working-class voices and The Bee

    18:29 The Northern Writers Awards

    20:22 Skills programmes in libraries

    21:31 Youth partnerships and Excelsior Academy

    25:54 Screenwriting in the North East

    28:39 The Booker Prize and what Claire is reading

    37:49 Legacy and the Centre for Writing


    This conversation is a reminder that who gets taken seriously as a writer, a reader, or a person with something to say is still shaped by class, geography, and access. Claire Malcolm has spent nearly thirty years proving that the talent was always here. Now she is building the infrastructure to match it.


    Host: Alison Dunn

    Guest: Claire Malcolm MBE


    This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    39 分
  • Ep 46. "If I'd Known That, It Would've Affected My Vote"

    Ep 46. "If I'd Known That, It Would've Affected My Vote"
    2026/03/16
    Welcome to the This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn.In this episode, Alison is joined by Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England and member of the Monetary Policy Committee. Sarah grew up in Stockport, went to the local comprehensive, and has spent the last 34 years at the Bank. She describes her childhood as "bog standard, northern, normal", and her journey from putting parsley on airline meals at Manchester Airport to becoming one of six people in the Bank's senior leadership team.Sarah reflects on the work ethic instilled by her parents, both local government workers, and the commitment to public service that has driven her career: "Not for money. Because it makes a difference." She describes what it was like to be on the phone to Northern Rock directors as the queues formed outside, the reforms that followed the financial crisis, and why a resilient banking system matters not for the banks themselves but for the businesses and households that depend on them.As a member of the MPC, Sarah explains how interest rate decisions are made, not based on where inflation is today, but where it will be in two years, and why the Bank spends weeks each year visiting businesses around the country, from Cardiff to Newcastle, gathering on-the-ground intelligence on sales, wages, hiring and prices. The MPC announces its latest decision on Thursday and Sarah is one of the people making it. She discusses why food inflation hits harder than any other kind, how global commodity shocks, wage costs and packaging regulations are driving prices up, and why deflation (not just inflation) is something western economies guard against.The conversation turns to economic literacy and who gets access to it. Sarah describes citizens' panels where, after a single conversation about how the economy works, one woman said: "If I'd known that, that would've affected my vote." With only 1% of economics degree students coming from the North East, Sarah makes the case for the Bank's expansion into Leeds and its regional presence in Newcastle, not just to access talent, but to hear the voices that should be shaping policy.Sarah also discusses the progression of women in the Bank's leadership, having founded its women's network in 2007 and co-chaired it for eight years. The senior team is now 50/50, but she is candid that the layer below is not bringing women through at the rate she had hoped. The episode also covers digital money and stablecoins versus Bitcoin, and why cyber risk is now the thing that keeps her most awake at night.Timestamps: 00:00 Why stability matters01:20 Stockport roots and a "bog standard" childhood03:47 Finding economics05:17 Airline meals, pubs, and the Protestant work ethic07:06 Joining the Bank of England10:50 Fixing the system after the financial crisis13:20 How interest rates are set15:43 What businesses are saying now18:08 A small open economy in a volatile world19:24 Four pints of milk: food prices explained23:45 "If I'd known that, it would've affected my vote"26:59 Women in economics and the Bank's leadership31:24 Digital money demystified35:58 Cyber risk rising37:50 Building the Bank beyond London39:50 What still drives her after 34 yearsThis conversation is a reminder that the decisions made at the Bank of England affect every household in the country, and that who understands economics, who gets taught it, and who is in the room when those decisions are made are not separate questions. Sarah Breeden is proof that a girl from a Stockport comprehensive can end up setting interest rates. The question is why, given the pipeline, she still largely remains an outlier.Host: Alison Dunn Guest: Sarah BreedenThis podcast is produced by Purpose Made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    42 分
  • Ep 45. Inclusive Capitalism, Regional Investment, and Why the North Can't Wait

    Ep 45. Inclusive Capitalism, Regional Investment, and Why the North Can't Wait
    2026/03/08

    Welcome to the 'This Is The North Podcast, your source of transformative conversations. An intentional challenge to the systems holding back the North of England. Hosted by Alison Dunn.


    In this episode, Alison is joined by Sir Nigel Wilson, Chairperson of the Canary Wharf Group and former longtime CEO of Legal & General, and an advocate of "inclusive capitalism." Nigel reflects on growing up in County Durham, his belief that the UK must be bolder in seizing opportunities, and his view that Newcastle and the wider region have "muddled through" due to a lack of leadership, investment, and ambition.


    He compares the UK's pace of change with the US and China, argues that robotics and automation will help drive growth, and highlights UK strengths including world-leading creative industries and top universities, several of them in the North, while criticising over-regulation and a lack of incentivisation.


    Nigel outlines his path from Essex University to MIT on a Kennedy Scholarship, a pivotal moment that moved him from academia to McKinsey, and reflects on generational advantages like free university education and cheaper housing, arguing his generation needs to give back by supporting younger people with jobs that pay real wages.


    The conversation explores inclusive capitalism as the opposite of "exclusive capitalism", broad access to skills, capital, and support so more people can build and scale businesses. Nigel explains why he deliberately pushed for investment outside London, argues the UK economy won't grow unless towns and cities beyond London grow, and says "levelling up" was never implemented meaningfully. He believes the world is "awash with money," but the UK is failing to connect private capital with productive regional opportunities.


    He shares examples of how US states actively courted investment, discusses the importance of networks among devolved mayors, and draws lessons from leading Canary Wharf (Europe's biggest regeneration project). He also explains why he prefers business over politics, calling HS2 a poor capital allocation versus investing in intra-city transport across northern cities.


    Looking ahead, Nigel says the North could become home to some of the best cities in the world, pointing to rapid transformations like Shenzhen and Austin. He references initiatives including Sunderland's battery factory and a data-centric project in Blyth, but argues the region needs much more entrepreneurial activity and better access to capital.


    Timestamps:

    00:00 Leadership, investment, and ambition

    01:26 Growing up in County Durham

    01:59 Optimism as a mindset

    02:45 UK vs China and the US

    04:05 From Essex to MIT to McKinsey

    05:58 A selfish generation?

    06:58 Leadership and mentors

    07:55 Why it's easier than ever to start up

    08:57 What is inclusive capitalism?

    10:05 Beyond London

    11:32 Private capital vs public leadership

    14:04 What northern cities need

    16:17 Mayors, networks, and learning from America

    17:20 Proving it works

    21:20 The North in 10–20 years


    This conversation is a reminder that the money exists, the talent exists, and the ambition exists and what's missing is the will to connect them. Sir Nigel Wilson makes the case that the North isn't a charity case, it's an investment opportunity the UK keeps ignoring.


    Host: Alison Dunn

    Guest: Sir Nigel Wilson


    This podcast is produced by Purpose Made.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    23 分
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