Sunderland has reinvented itself twice
- Once the largest shipbuilding town
- Glass since the seventh century
- One of Europe’s most productive car plants
- A deliberate digital shift
How Sunderland grew
The short version, in order. Pick a year.
Glass at Monkwearmouth
Glassmaking arrived with the monastery at Monkwearmouth in the seventh century and never entirely left.
Ships, glass, and what came after
Sunderland was once described as the largest shipbuilding town in the world, and before that it made glass — a trade that arrived with the monastery at Monkwearmouth in the seventh century and never entirely left.
Both industries went. What replaced them is the interesting part: a car plant that became one of the most productive in Europe, and a deliberate civic effort to build a software and digital sector on top of the engineering skills that were already here.
It is a city that has had to reinvent its economy twice in living memory, which tends to produce businesses with a realistic view of what marketing can and cannot do.
What that means if you trade in Sunderland
Sunderland is a proud city with a strong preference for local firms and a well-developed radar for businesses pretending to be local. It also sits close enough to Newcastle to be constantly compared with it, which most Wearsiders find tiresome.
A website that is unmistakably from Sunderland, rather than from "the North East", does better here than anywhere.
What Sunderland businesses ask us for
Sunderland, not the North East
The regional label reads as a call centre. Name the city and the areas.
Prices in plain figures
A value-conscious market with long memories. Be straight about cost.
Real faces
Local firms win here on being known. Put the people on the page.
How well do you know Sunderland?
Five quick questions. Get all five right and you win a 10% off discount code for your website. Every answer is somewhere on this page, so have a read if you get stuck.
Sunderland quiz · 1 of 5
What was Sunderland once described as the largest of?
Common questions
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