Sir Nigel Wilson – the North East-born chief executive of Legal & General, probably the country’s largest investment group – must have a thing about breweries.
Seven years ago he was on the former Scottish & Newcastle site in Newcastle city centre – then called Science Central, now Newcastle Helix – to announce a £65m investment in the scheme to build offices, laboratories and other facilities. Three years later it was the former Vaux brewery in Sunderland that attracted his firm’s interest, with Sir Nigel bearing a cheque for £100m towards the Riverside Sunderland project. Both sites aim to provide accommodation for new and growing and businesses, with the hope that the once derelict sites can provide thousands of new jobs.
And last week Sir Nigel was back in Sunderland, just days after announcing his intention to retire in the next year, to perform a topping out ceremony on the Maker and Faber office blocks being constructed behind City Hall. (High winds meant the ceremony happened on floor three rather than the actual top floor, making it something of a ‘middling out’ ceremony).
