THE region received a double boost yesterday as troubleshooter Sir John Harvey-Jones and science and innovation Minister Lord Sainbury launched a new initiative for manufacturers.

The Regional Centre for Manufacturing Excellence (RCME) will be located at Hylton Park in Sunderland.

Lord Sainsbury launched the centre on a visit to Nissan's car plant in Sunderland, before opening a £6m materials chemistry building at Durham University.

The RCME is being established by regional technology centre, RTC North, to provide hands-on help for the North-East's manufacturers.

It forms part of the £15m DTI Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), established in partnership with regional development agencies in England and Wales.

There will be a network of 200 centres of expertise in manufacturing across England and Wales.

They will provide practical support on manufacturing issues, including site visits and diagnostic analysis, through practical workshops as well as via the telephone, e-mail and a website.

Lord Sainsbury said: "To be competitive in the world, UK manufacturing needs to focus on high value-added manufacturing of products which require a high level of skill and innovation.

"At the national level the importance of manufacturing is clear, a message that is welcome in all regions but particularly so in the North-East where 5,000 manufacturing businesses contribute more than £6bn to the regional economy.

"Those businesses employ more than 150,000 and generate export orders worth almost £7bn. Manufacturing is therefore of major importance to this region and modern manufacturing is central to its future in a leading knowledge-driven economy.

"Both the projects I have visited, the RCME and the Materials Chemistry Building, are so important to the success of the UK and North-East industry.

"The role of Government is to work in partnership with industry, unions and regional bodies such as universities to help businesses raise productivity and competitiveness, and these two projects are examples of that process happening."

Sir John Harvey-Jones, former chairman of ICI, said: "There has been a massive change in the North-East since my time at ICI.

"People in this region are real people with real values, who don't expect to have any effect on Government policy.

"But this Government is actually beginning to listen to what they have to say, although people in the North-East are not coming forward to let them know what they want. They have to step forward and act as a catalyst for change."

Cameron Ross, RCME director for the North-East, said: "The RCME affords local manufacturers an excellent opportunity to have a say in what the business support sector should offer.

"The new service will be proactive while responding to need, allowing local manufacturers to influence the role of the RCME in the region to the benefit of all."

The materials chemistry building was one of two developments opened on the science site of Durham University yesterday.

Professor Julia Goodfellow, chief executive of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council opened a £6m Integrative Cell Biology laboratory, where researchers can study how cells can interact and respond to different factors, building on recent genetic discoveries.