THE chairman of the new Tees Valley Urban Regeneration Company will be named today.

Alistair Arkley, chairman of the Tees Valley Partnership and a board member of regional development agency One NorthEast, will make the announcement at Teesside International Airport.

The man tipped to get the job is Peter Middleton, of Japanese finance house Nomura, who comes from Middlesbrough.

The Urban Regeneration Company was one of a package of support measures announced by the Government in the wake of major job losses in the steel industry.

Its central aim will be to harness the strengths of leading private sector figures, both local and national, working alongside key public sector interests.

One of its main tasks will be to encourage private sector investment into the Tees Valley.

The company will be involved in a number of key projects, including the Middlehaven development, formerly Middlesbrough Dock, the regeneration of the north bank of the Tees, at Stockton, and further expansion of Teesside International Airport.

It will also look at enhancing Darlington's role as a gateway to the Tees Valley and the North-East as a whole and investigate opportunities for a new light rapid transport system for the area.

The new chairman has a strong track record of involvement in major business and City institutions, as well as having long-standing personal connections with the area.

Mr Arkley said: "We think it is very important that, with the creation of the urban regeneration company, we shall have a body, led by a high-profile national figure, which can specifically target sources of investment, especially from the private sector."