Jonny Harrison is sailing to Australia from the UK via the Panama Canal before he starts work in Sydney on a secondment at his firm PricewaterhouseCoopers »
Andrew Hebden is Assistant Editor (Business) of The Journal »
Katie Pringle has started her own business, Rock, Paper, Scissors »
Andrew Mernin is the Digital Journalist for nebusiness »
Matthew Rippon is an IP lawyer for BHP Law »
Formerly editor of a national business lifestyle magazine, Jez Davison is a business writer for the Evening Gazette in Teesside »
Ross Smith, Head of Policy and Research at the North-East Chamber of Commerce »
Julian Christopher from Footprint Public Relations, on media and marketing »
Norma Foster from the North East Regional Portal writes about e-business »
Ian Brown, Northumberland farmer and businessman writes about the agricultural industry »
Accessibilty Champion Steve Wilkinson on the importance of inclusion »
Andrea Wilkinson of Shared Interest is visiting Swaziland to deliver business training »
Jonathan Wheatley from Stokesley-based MC Ware writes about IT matters »
Mark Lisgo is a Northeasterner who works for law firm Eversheds in Abu Dhabi, UAE »
Adam Lopardo is director of the Sponsors Club for Arts & Business, bringing business and art together »
Curator Danielle Pender shares the peaks and pitfalls of working with 21 designers on a month-long exhibition »
Paul Williamson is from Deloitte »It's barely six months since I was running the newsdesk at a newspaper in Aberdeen and each day we were excitedly tracking the cost of a barrel of oil to see if (or more like when) it would breach the $100 mark.
At the time is seemed a very significant milestone - especially for a business community whose fortunes are so tightly connected with the price of oil - but now it seems like a lifetime ago.
Today we report on nebusiness.co.uk that the cost of a barrel has broken new ground by reaching $142. We have become so accustomed to such rises that it barely seems important any more. Yet, of course, it is.
None of us can confidently predict how long this economic downturn will last, but one thing is for sure: we will not get back on the straight and narrow until the price of oil falls back drastically.
The picture is certainly bleak in the near term. Opec has warned that prices could balloon again this summer - possibly as high as $170 a barrel, according to its president.
The implications of all this to business are fairly terrifying as the cost of overheads soars. However, it has been interesting in the past couple of days to see bullish statements from the likes of Arriva and National Express who have said the current conditions are actually driving more passengers on to public transport. Their statements have followed on from the likes of Go-Ahead and Stagecoach who have made similar points.
That suggests that perhaps the rising cost of petrol is beginning to have an effect on people's behaviour. If the soaring cost of oil is to have just one positive legacy, then the way it forces people to consider more environmentally-friendly lifestyle options may just be it.
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