THE president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said the North-East was a "shining example" of how regions could reinvent themselves after the death of heavy industry.

Nick Brooke said the area had used regeneration to its best effect to recover from major job losses in mining, shipbuilding and steelmaking.

He visited Faithful and Gould's offices, in Stockton, to address members of the organisation.

Mr Brooke is an authority on land administration and planning.

He said: "The North-East stands out as a shining example to others of how to successfully regenerate a region whose traditions are built on heavy industry. The region has a rich property heritage and world-renowned projects of which everyone in the North-East should be proud.

"I thoroughly enjoyed meeting members in Teesside.

"The open forum worked very well and provided me with an opportunity to find out how the RICS can continue to support the good work in the region."

Since becoming president in July, he has been keen to meet as many surveyors as possible and his visit to Teesside provided him with an opportunity to discuss how the RICS can help members improve their level of service delivery.

Richard Hall, managing director of Faithful and Gould, said: "We work hard to offer value to our clients and it is vital we are outward looking to remain informed about the market and its trends as well as telling the market what we can do.

"Regeneration is a key example of this, many of our members have played a pivotal role in the transformation of the Teesside skyline.

"We need to build upon this and inform local businesses about how they can save money by employing the services of a chartered surveyor."

Published: 16/12/2003