RICHARD Lambert, the director general of CBI, spoke out this week about the need to encourage young people into business.

It was a view shared by many of the public and private sector representatives at the first CBI North-East Christmas Question Time, hosted in Newcastle on Thursday evening.

The event sparked debate on how businesses build trust, engage young people and support the growth of the business community. Mr Lambert spoke of the need for businesses to encourage the younger generation to work in the private sector.

He said: "I listened to the comments as about the strength of the public sector here in the North-East and how young people aspire young people to work in the public sector - and not so much the private sector - with interest. I think it is up to businesses to get out there and get into schools and colleges to educate people and look for talent.

"In the UK as a whole over the next few years, there is not going to be the growth in public sector jobs that we have seen in the past five years because of the tightening in spending. Public sector job creation is going to slow down dramatically nationally, so there will be more onus on the private sector."

The event saw CBI members direct questions to a panel of experts, which included chairman of CBI North-East Jamie Martin, vice-president of Nissan Manufacturing UK Trevor Mann and Newcastle City Council assistant chief executive Paul Rubinstein.

Others taking part included Caroline Theobald, managing director of networking group Bridge Club, of Newcastle, and Dr David Campull, senior lecturer at Newcastle University.

Mary Coyle, of Common Purpose, was also on the bench, only weeks before taking over as the chief executive of Aspire - which exists to raise young people's awareness of job and career opportunities in the North-East.

Robin Bloom, senior partner of law firm Dickinson Dees, said: "I think the CBI and others such organisations should be going out there and banging the drum about what we do ... that is what wins the hearts and minds of people these days. That's what Tony Blair does, but its not what we do."

Mr Lambert praised Newcastle's Science City development.

He said: "The only other Science City even more advanced is in York, where there are now more people working in the science area than in tourism and certainly than in chocolate, so there are jobs."