Author: Graeme Pallister
Graeme Pallister
Graeme Pallister spent fifteen years in operations management across the North East before he started writing about the businesses that kept the region running. He came up through logistics at a mid-sized haulage firm on the Team Valley, moved into procurement at an engineering outfit near the Tyne, and ended up running supply chain for a renewables contractor during the offshore wind build-out. He left the corporate side in 2021 and started covering North East business because most of the people writing about it had never seen the inside of a Gateshead warehouse at six in the morning. He writes about manufacturing, construction, logistics, and the firms between the Tyne and the Tees that rarely make the nationals but employ half the region. Graeme lives in Jesmond with his wife and two lurchers. He thinks the phrase "levelling up" should have been retired in 2022, and that anybody who describes Newcastle as "up and coming" has not been paying attention.
Storm Boelo has arrived in the North East, bringing heavy rain and winds that could reach 80mph, with amber and yellow weather warnings now in force across the region. ChronicleLive is reporting live updates as conditions develop.A yellow warning covers the North East from 12:00 on 24 October. A second, more serious amber warning runs from 21:00 on 24 October until 21:00 on 25 October, taking in Scotland, north Northumberland, Carlisle and the North East of Northern Ireland. The Met Office says the amber zone faces a chance of power cuts, damage to buildings and trees, and disruption to rail,…
An RAF F-35 jet conducting a planned training exercise was behind the loud aircraft noise that startled people across Tyneside on the evening of 21 October, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. ChronicleLive reported the story after residents living below the Newcastle Airport flight path flooded social media with questions about what they had heard.The jet, operating from HMS Prince of Wales, landed at Newcastle Airport. Residents in areas including Longbenton and Killingworth were among those who noticed the noise, which some described as unlike anything they had experienced before.What people heardReports on social media described the sound in similar…
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a health warning ahead of winter after new estimates linked approximately 2,200 deaths to cold weather across five cold snaps in England during winter 2025-26, as reported by ChronicleLive. Four groups in particular face the greatest risk from cold weather deaths this season.The worst single episode was a nine-day stretch in early January, which the UKHSA linked to an estimated 1,563 fatalities. The North West had the highest regional mortality rate, reaching 52 deaths per million population attributed to cold, with the East Midlands and Yorkshire and The Humber the next most…
A retired offshore worker has been fined £70 at James Cook University Hospital despite paying for his parking, after being stuck in what he describes as ‘severe gridlocked traffic’ that prevented him from leaving the car park. ChronicleLive, citing Teesside Live, reports that George Grainger, 71, from Tollesby, was visiting the Marton Road, Middlesbrough site with his wife Denise for an appointment in May.Mr Grainger paid £3.60 for up to two hours of parking and returned to his car at around 5pm. When he tried to leave, he says the couple found themselves unable to exit the site due to…
Two North East secondary schools have landed in the national top 20 for unauthorised absences, according to figures published by ChronicleLive, citing the Department for Education. The data covers the autumn and spring terms of 2025/26 and reveals just how wide the gap has become between schools across England on school truancy rates.Studio West in Newcastle upon Tyne recorded an unauthorised absence rate of 10.6% across those two terms, placing it 13th in the national rankings. Washington Academy in Sunderland came in at 10.4%, putting it 15th. Both sit well above the national average for state-funded secondary schools, which stood…
Durham Women FC Willie Kirk is making his mark in WSL2, and the early signs suggest a team rediscovering exactly what made them so hard to face in the first place.The backdrop is an unlikely one. Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso Season Four has planted itself in the Women’s Super League landscape, with the fictional Ted returning to England to coach a new team in WSL2. One of the show’s most prominent images, a sign reading ‘Believe’, threads through the current series. For Kirk and Durham, it turns out to be more than good timing.Durham Women FC Willie Kirk on…
The real Bridget Sullivan Lizzie Borden connection is far more complicated than Netflix lets on, and a lot less intimate. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story puts Bridget Sullivan at the centre of its drama, but the historical record tells a quieter, more ambiguous tale of a maid who witnessed something terrible, spoke plainly at trial, and then got on with her life. Who is Bridget Sullivan in Monster? In the Netflix series, Bridget Sullivan (known to the Bordens as Maggie) is played by Vicky Krieps, whose previous credits include Phantom Thread, Corsage and Old. The show depicts her arriving as…
Joe Willock Newcastle goal fans have been waiting for: Willock has fired Newcastle United into a 1-0 lead against Hull City at St James’ Park, giving the Magpies the perfect response to a bruising week.The early strike came after Hull only half-cleared a Harvey Barnes shot. Lewis Miley won back possession, the ball found its way back to Barnes, and he picked out Willock with a clever pass. Willock did the rest, lashing a left-footed effort past Tzolakis to put Newcastle ahead. A dream start.Bouncing back from the Leeds hammeringNewcastle needed this. Monday’s 4-1 defeat at Elland Road ended Matthias…
The US Greenland security agreement is done, at least in principle. Donald Trump announced on 19 September 2026 that the United States, Denmark and Greenland have reached a deal granting the US ‘permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland’, with a formal signing expected at the UN General Assembly the following week.The announcement ends months of escalating pressure from Washington. Trump had previously called on Denmark to sell the island, repeatedly threatened annexation, and argued Greenland was indispensable to US national security. Denmark and Greenland consistently replied the island was not for sale.What the US Greenland security…
Nick Woltemade’s first Nick Woltemade Juventus goal arrived in style: a penalty in the 35th minute as Juventus hammered NEC Nijmegen 5-0 in the Europa League, and his old club and former teammates were watching closely.The Newcastle United loanee opened his account for the Italian side on Thursday, converting from 12 yards to make it three in a rout that featured five different goalscorers. Nico Gonzalez got the ball rolling, Kerim Alajbegovic added the second, then Woltemade stepped up from the spot. Zeki Celik and Randal Kolo Muani rounded off the scoring to complete the demolition job.For the 24-year-old, it…