Deindustrialisation

• De-industrialisation is the reduction of industrial activity or capacity in a region or economy, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry
• De-industrialisation is one of the most significant economic processes to have occurred in the UK
• De-industrialisation in the UK has involved the decline of heavy industries such as coal mining, shipbuilding and steel manufacturing
• During the twentieth century, the UK went from over 3000 coal mines to just 30
• The last working deep coal mine in the UK closed in December 2015
• Decline of coal mining in the UK

  1. Mechanisation

  2. Increasing costs of extraction

  3. Growing availability of cheap imports
• Decline of coal production in the UK

  • Graph showing rapid decline in coal production and growth, then rapid decline of imports
• North East England was one of the first industrialised regions in the UK, with tens of thousands employed in heavy industry including coal mining and shipbuilding
• North East England was also one of the first regions to be affected by de-industrialisation, with the closure of coal mines and shipyards
• De-industrialisation led to a negative multiplier effect, with many smaller businesses that supplied and supported heavy industries also closing
• North East England has suffered huge job losses and a rise in unemployment as factories and industrial sites closed
• Many of those employed in heavy industries struggled to find new jobs with the skills they have
• The closure of the Easington Colliery in 1993 devastated the town, with over one thousand men made unemployed
• Unemployment in the Easington area is still high and many people are on low incomes
• Successive UK governments have tried a range of strategies to re-energise economic opportunities in North East England, including investing in new infrastructure, encouraging foreign investment, and setting up regional development agencies