The Road to the EU Referendum

In "The Road to the Referendum" we travel the length and breadth of the region looking at how the North East will be affected by the EU Referendum on 23rd June.

In the second of our pieces, we travel across Wearside and Teesside to see how businesses will be affected by the public's decision.

This week, the Treasury released figures showing that Brexit would push the North East into recession and increase unemployment by 20,000.

But Vote Leave, who want the UK to get out of the European Union, say the figures are simple scaremongering.

According to the most recent North East Chamber of Commerce report in 2014:

German-owned Elringklinger has invested millions of pounds in a plant in Redcar, where 280 staff make parts for some of the biggest names in the motor trade including Honda, Jaguar and Renault.

Managing Director Ian Malcolm believes the UK should remain in the European Union:

Meanwhile in Hartlepool, Bill Abott started his own water treatment business 30 years ago. He now has just over 80 employees and wants to expand his business without EU laws and regulations.

He believes the UK should leave the European Union:

The region's biggest business, Nissan, trades with Europe. The company has a turnover of more than £5.3billion and has 6,700 employees on site at their Sunderland plant.

Nissan has said they won't publicly be supporting either the Leave or the Remain campaigns:

So what about North East workers? We canvassed opinion at the North East Business and Innovation Centre in Sunderland: