Peter Fall is president

A CHARTERED surveyor from the North-East who began his career as a trainee with Middlesbrough Council has taken over as president of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Peter Fall, now senior partner of Peter Fall Cowie, based in Newcastle, took up his appointment on Monday, heading the professional body, which represents more than 110,000 members in 120 countries.

On track: BP yesterday said it was on track to hit annual production targets after a key site came on stream. BP said second-quarter oil and gas production was likely to be up about five per cent on the same period last year at more than 3.5 million barrels of oil equivalent. BP attributed the bulk of the rise to the King field in the Gulf of Mexico, which came on stream in the three months to June 30.

Top ten: A North-East advertising agency boss has been voted one of the top ten advertising gurus in the UK by his peers. Ben Quigley, of Newcastle-based Different, joined luminaries such as Cilla Snowball, chief executive of industry giant Abbott Mead Vickers and Rovert Saville, partner at London hot shop Mother in the list. The vote was compiled by the industry body, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

Expansion move: An automotive group is expanding its presence in the North-East following the acquisition of Anderson Mercedes-Benz in Sunderland. Rycroft Vehicles, part of Ryland Group, has also acquired the Mercedes-Benz dealership from Patons of Carlisle for a combined figure of £3.2m, to add to its existing Mercedes-Benz operations in Newcastle and Stockton. The 1.4-acre Sunderland site, in Wessington Way, employs 34 and last year had a turnover of £13m. It sold 600 vehicles last year.

One stop: Two friends who set up a home furnishings and accessories firm plan to expand. Osis, the acronym for One Stop Interior Shop, opened 18 months ago in Station Road shopping precinct, in Billingham, Teesside. Partners Susan Armstrong and June Knight launched Osis with Start Right in Business support from Walker Hall Associates. They hope to have a chain of up to five North-East shops, and plan to open the second in south Cleveland this year.