A MANUFACTURING manager from the North-East has been shortlisted for a national award that recognises women who have broken new business ground.

Jane Atkinson, who works for SembCorp Utilities on Teesside, is one of five finalists in the manufacturing category of the CBI's First Women Awards.

Ms Atkinson, who is assistant vice-president for utilities at the firm's Wilton plant, near Redcar, has worked for the company for more than two years.

She joined the company after a 14-year career at British Steel and then Corus.

On joining SembCorp, she became the first woman to be promoted to the rank of assistant vice-president in the UK business.

In her role with the company, Ms Atkinson manages a team of 161 people, and oversees the running of Wilton Power Station - the first woman to have such a role - the water treatment plant and the Wilton 10 wood burning facility.

"It's absolutely amazing that I've been nominated and I'm delighted," she said.

"The other people in my category all work in very different fields so it's difficult to predict what the judges may be looking for, but it's brilliant to be shortlisted."

Ms Atkinson will find out if she has won at the First Women Awards ceremony in London on June 12.

The ceremony will be hosted by CBI director-general Richard Lambert, and attended by awards' patron Sarah Brown, the wife of Chancellor Gordon Brown.