AT the risk of sounding like a latter day Ronnie Biggs I have been trying to get inside the De La Rue banknote factory for ages.

We often talk about North-East businesses being hidden gems, but none have been more reluctant to shout about what goes on behind their unassuming facade than the Gateshead manufacturer of more than three billion banknotes a year. That’s right, three billion.

Most companies are falling over themselves to feature in the local press. Many employ PR companies to secure coverage. De La Rue is at the other end of the scale.

Pulling of this particular job was no easy matter.

All of our requests to write the inside story of De la Rue - a company that employs 600 North-East workers and is one of the region’s biggest export success stories - had been politely rebuffed.

A veil of secrecy hangs over the high security factory that this year marks 50 years in our region. Even the people who work there are encouraged to tell family and friends that they work elsewhere. It is all a bit cloak and dagger. “There is more than a touch of James Bond about this place,” said one worker, whose identity must remain a closely-guarded secret.

A chance meeting with a senior member of staff at the plant led eventually to De La Rue giving me unprecedented access. From a business reporter’s point of view it felt a bit like finding one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets.

At the front gate I was asked to surrender my mobile phone, wallet, cash and car keys, as well as have my picture taken, hand over my passport and submit to a body search. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill factory tour.

I was told under no circumstances should I reveal the identity of any people who work there, nor could I take any photographs.

What I saw was mind boggling. It’s not every day that you see pallets stacked with enough cash to buy every house in your street. It also showed that while its product might be remarkable, the challenges faced by the team at De La Rue Gateshead are shared by scores of specialist manufacturers across our region i.e. to produce a high quality product for very demanding customers, beat the competition, and generate profit.

Making money out of making money is no easy feat.

Read the report of my visit on pages 30 to 31.

Thanks to everyone at De La Rue for being so accommodating.

Follow me on Twitter @bizecho