South Tyneside is the home to one of the most recognised and famous brands in the world: J. Barbour & Sons Ltd.

Founded in South Shields in 1894 by John Barbour, the 5th generation family-owned business remains rooted in the North East, with Barbour’s headquarters located in South Shields.

For over six decades Dicksons have been creating a selection of the finest quality products from South Shields. Now with over 30 shops, they are the region’s largest family-owned provider of meat and food products.

Based in South Shields, Katy Sue is one of the UK’s fastest growing craft businesses. Starting from a kitchen table in the town and now employing over 30 staff – with plans to get to 100 employees and revenue of £10m by 2025 – Katy Sue encompasses a real South Tyneside ethos.

Ford Engineering Group are specialists in their field of precision engineering; they have served global aerospace, automotive, defence and marine markets to name a few for over 100 years, from South Tyneside.

Metec – Metec are a market leading producer of galvanic anode Cathodic Protection Systems for the offshore renewable industries. Metec are supplying cathodic protection sacrificial anodes for the first two phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

Balaena Tyne is home to one of the largest commercial dry docks on the East Coast of England and a major hub for advanced ship repair, complex conversion, and heavy fabrication. The facility is also a major centre for defence sector expertise and has delivered a range of high-profile fabrication projects.