TWO of the North-East's leading organisations have joined forces to improve support services available to businesses and boost the region's economy.

The North-East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) and Business Link North East (BLNE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, signalling the creation of a joint working partnership to deliver a series of business objectives over the coming months.

The two bodies will share resources to streamline and simplify the processes that businesses wishing to access support services need to go through.

The partnership's success will be judged on its ability to make a positive difference to the productivity of businesses and the growth of the region's business stock through enhanced business support.

A dedicated project team has been created to deliver the framework outlined within the memorandum and the progress of its work will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

Alastair MacColl, chief executive of BLNE, said: "This partnership will mean more people in North-East England get access to business support they need in the simplest way possible.

"There is a wealth of support for start ups and businesses of all sizes out there.

What we will do is work together to ensure they get the right support to help them start up, survive and ultimately prosper here in the region."

NECC president Richard Bottomley said: "We expect this partnership to bring the best possible help, advice and support to enable firms to go from strength to strength."