A LANGUAGES hit squad charged with raising the awareness of the importance of multi-lingual communications in the export business is stepping up a gear.

The team is to stage a series of events, at venues from Middlesbrough to Morpeth, Northumberland, helping bosses understand the significance of national diversity.

The Regional Language Network NorthEast has recruited partners to take the international communications message into firms across the region to help them break down language and cultural barriers to international business.

The network is a joint initiative by One NorthEast and the Languages National Training Organisation (LNTO), and was set up in response to an audit in 2000 that showed that one in five exporting companies in the region believed they had lost business because their international communications skills were not good enough.

"This project is all about improving the North-East competitiveness in international markets," said Zlie Gurin, senior executive at the network.

"The aim is to encourage companies to include the development of language and cultural awareness skills in their strategic planning, and to ensure they take advantage of the grants and other support that is already available to help them."

"Financial assistance through partner organisations, including Trade Partners UK and the North-East Chamber of Commerce, is already available to support activities including translating marketing materials, making overseas visits, and for specialist consultancy, and we need to ensure companies are fully aware of the opportunities."

For more information, visit the Regional Languages Network's ww.rln-northeast.com website.