A great place for workers

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), March 14, 2006

North East employees are better off than their higher-earning cousins in wealthier parts of the country, according to a new report.

The Hay Group, a firm of management consultants, says its research shows the North South divide has ended because better paid workers in the South East are struggling to keep pace with their higher cost of living.

The company says people in the North East, along with the Scots, enjoy "relatively generous salaries" and lower living costs.

It adds: "The North East experiences a 5.8% lower cost of living, while pay at most levels is significantly higher than the national average.

"Real wages average out to just under 1% the national norm, making the region the third most affluent in the UK."

The best-off live in inner London but workers in other parts on the South East are 6% worse off than the national average in real terms.

Ben Frost, Hay Group reward consultant, said: "Employers in the North are offering their workforces a better standard of living and they should be shouting it from the rooftops."