GROWING businesses in the Tees Valley should benefit from £1m of new investment.

The investment by UK Steel Enterprise (UKSE), is part of a national £10m package announced by the company yesterday.

UKSE wants to step up its investment activities in existing and former UK steel areas, including the Tees Valley which has been affected by the recent restructuring within the steel industry.

Designed to boost regeneration programmes, the £1m fund will support business growth, job creation and other community projects.

UKSE regional manager Keith Williams said: "We are already working with several local projects designed to help people retrain for new careers.

"These include a multi-media training centre for the unemployed in Middlesbrough and a new IT drop-in centre in Hartlepool.

"We are also looking at providing significant funding to Business Link Tees Valley to support their work with small and medium sized firms across the area."

Nationally, UKSE is committed to a three-pronged approach to tackling regeneration. This includes increasing available finance for growing businesses, using community support funds for local initiatives and developing high specification innovation centres as a focus for regeneration.

UKSE's managing director Stuart Green, believes the new approach will help the company build on an already impressive track record.

In the past 26 years it has helped to create more than 3,700 jobs and 600 managed workspace units in seven centres in the UK.

He said: "This injection of funding has come from our parent company Corus and enables a substantial boost to our existing work in helping to stimulate new and existing businesses and create jobs.

"In short, it means we can achieve a lot more in a shorter space of time and continue to make a real difference through targeted regeneration."

In the past year, UKSE has invested more than £600,000 in the North-East.

A UKSE Innovation Centre development at Kirkleatham Business Park, near Redcar, will benefit from the new money.

l Nick Johnson and Simon Hamilton have been appointed as regional executives at Kirkleatham to help small and medium-sized firms develop