A CENTRE of excellence which is hoped could save councils across the region millions of pounds a year was launched yesterday.

The North-East Centre of Procurement Excellence is designed to share ideas on how public bodies from Berwick to Redcar can make cost efficiencies.

The centre, launched at the Hilton Hotel, in Gateshead, believes it can help make savings of up to three per cent on the annual budget by sharing ideas and best practice, as part of the Government's modernisation agenda.

The aim is for the centre to encourage collaboration between councils and other public services, including the NHS, emergency services and educational institutions.

As well as benefiting residents across the region, the centre hopes to boost the local economy by looking at ways to make it easier for local businesses to find out more about, and tender for, public sector contracts.

Director David Wright said: "The North-East Centre of Procurement Excellence is all about creative, collaborative thinking and sharing best practice. We are not here to provide goods and services, but to help public bodies think more strategically about the way they source and buy them."