Business people swapped suits for war paint and combat fatigues at a weekend training course.

The team building event, at Redworth Hall, near Darlington, included an Army sergeant major, tanks, marching, salutes and an inflatable assault course.

A dozen people working in the conference and meeting industry donned tin helmets to take part having received "call-up" papers from organisers.

Leadership experts suggest that military thinking can be usefully applied to the business environment as a contrast to modern management techniques.

John Gallery, of Great Potential PR and Marketing, in York, who helped come up with the concept, said: "We are trying to provide something different to stretch the imagination.

"The whole point of this is to show how a team of people working together can make things happen by using their initiative. There's more to these hotel conferences than just arranging chairs and looking at flip charts."

Sergeant Major Phil Forsyth, from Catterick Army camp, in North Yorkshire, was called upon to give an inspirational talk to the delegates.

Topics for discussion included the use of propaganda, the gathering of competitive intelligence, plus tactics of avoidance, attrition, manoeuvre, pre-emption and surprise.

To complete the military theme, Yar, company Big Boys and Their Toys lent an armoured all-terrain, personnel carrier for the occasion.

Carol Hodgson, of CEM Event Management, Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, who was one of those taking part, said: "The whole ethos is that it's completely un-pressurised and fun for people to take part in."