Published on 28 July 2016
It is 30 years since Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK started production at their Sunderland plant.
In that time they have moved from making 12.5 cars every hour to 118. With the company investing £3.5 billion in the city over those years, how were they first attracted to come to the North East?
Ged Parker, the man responsible for researching inward investment during the 1980s, will present a talk on how Sunderland won the battle for the Japanese giants, as part of the University of Sunderland's Community Lectures 2016.
Ged worked for the Washington Development Corporation between 1979 and 1988, and was responsible for carrying out market research and marketing programmes to attract investors to Sunderland, with Nissan first establishing the plant in 1984.
Now more than one-in-three UK built cars are Nissans, and since 2010 the Sunderland plant has been on 24 hour production to meet demand. The plant employs over 6,000 people and has created thousands more jobs within the supply chain.
The talk will be held on Wednesday, August 3, at 2.30pm at the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's. Tickets are free and there is no need to book.
The University of Sunderland's Community Lectures are open to all and each entertaining lecture is given by authoritative speakers between May and August.
Lectures start at 2.30pm and last about one hour. There is no need to book but those attending are asked to arrive at the Prospect Building between 2pm and 2.30pm to register before the lecture begins.
There is (pay) parking in the grounds of the campus and St Peter's Metro Station is within a few minutes walking distance. Alternatively the regular 700 bus service runs from the Park Lane Bus Station to St. Peter's Campus itself.