Why invest in Sunderland?

The Botanist, RIO Steakhouse, Speyside Distillery and Mother Mercy are just some of the successful hospitality brands to have invested in the city recently, with more set to be served up over the coming months and years. This has contributed to F&B enjoying a 10.5% increase in spend, 2024 v 2023. 

The recently opened Holiday Inn at Keel Square brought the total number of medium sized hotels within two miles of the city centre to seven and there has been a 6% uplift in overnight visitors to the city last year, taking the total number to over 800,000 (Destination North East England). 

North East Screen, the region's screen agency, recently relocated its head office to The Beam at Riverside Sunderland. The organisation also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the BBC to provide the foundations for sustainable industry growth and catalyse a broader renaissance of the North East's creative and screen economy.  

Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce have all performed at the Stadium of Light in recent years, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. The opening of the £11m Auditorium at The Fire Station in Sunderland city centre and grass roots venue, Pop Recs, have also provided a significant boost to the city's evening and night-time economies over recent years. Sunderland launched its bid to become a UNESCO City of Music in June 2024. 

Countless high-profile events are scheduled to take place in Sunderland over the coming months and years, including the opening game of the Women's Rugby World Cup, which will take place at the Stadium of Light in August 2025, Expo Sunderland, a citywide programme of events designed for residents and businesses to experience the city's incredible transformation, as well as a regular packed annual events programme that animates the city centre including the Festival of Light, Restaurant Week, monthly food and drink markets and the annual Christmas Lights switch-on. 

The city's iconic Empire Theatre is the largest of its kind between Glasgow and Manchester, hosting West End shows and comedians from across the globe and last year welcomed approximately 375,000 visitors through its doors. The soon to be completed Culture House, just a stone's throw away, will house the 'UK's smartest library' and will further build on the success of cultural venues such as The Fire Station, Museum and Winter Gardens and Abject Contemporary Art Gallery. 

Boasting a family bowling and games centre, Omniplex Cinema, retro gaming bars, snooker clubs, escape rooms and laser tag centre, Sunderland's leisure offering has improved significantly in recent times with furthermore additions in the pipeline. The city also has a superb coastline, with fabulous blue flag beaches at Seaburn and Roker, a short distance from the city centre as well as several green flag parks.

Sunderland city centre is just an hour's journey from Newcastle International Airport and is directly connected to the Tyne & Wear Metro with three stations located within the city centre. It is also plugged into the East Coast mainline, with daily direct trains to London and has several reasonably priced multi-storey car parks, with EV charging, right in heart of the city centre, making it easily accessible to national, regional and local visitors 

Based in the city centre, Sunderland Altogether Improving Lives (SAIL) is a ground-breaking project that brings together partners including the city council, Northumbria Police and Sunderland Business Improvement District (BID) to tackle petty crime and disorder, as well as improving the environment of the city centre ensuring that Sunderland remains a safe and vibrant city for residents, businesses and visitors alike.  

Sunderland is perfectly aligned to balance the recruitment requirements of retailers with a healthy demographic of potential employees (29.5% of residents / routine and semi routine occupations 2021 census). Retailers also have access to fully funded training for potential recruits via a local training provider.  

The city was crowned UK Smart City of the Year in 2020, and the City Council won the Connected Britain award for Digital Council of the Year 2021 and more recently, the Community Improvement award in 2024. Our goal is to make Sunderland one of the most digitally connected cities in Europe. We have already secured a £62m investment in the City Fibre network and we have concluded a ground-breaking partnership with Boldyn Networks to deliver an ultrafast 5G network.  

A new smart city app, utilising the free citywide Wi-Fi, has been launched by Sunderland City Council providing news and updates to residents in real-time as well as downloadable vouchers and special offers from Sunderland's shops, cafes and restaurants.