AN electronics firm from the region was last night in the running for a national business award.

Seaward Electronic, of Peterlee, County Durham, was shortlisted in the Manufacturing Excellence Awards held by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at London's Hotel Intercontinental.

The company was one of 16 finalists vying for success in categories including product innovation, customer focus, people effectiveness and best practice in IT.

Seaward employs about 130 staff, specialising in the manufacture of electrical instruments used to provide test and measurement solutions for electrical contractors and service engineers.

Small Business Minister Nigel Griffiths said: "The finalists have shown through excellence in design and product development that we can take on our global competitors and succeed.

"Manufacturing matters. It creates a fifth of our national output, it employs four million people and it produces the majority of our exports.

"It is a key driver of innovation in the rest of our economy through advances in technology, new goods and processes.

"The success of UK manufacturing is crucial to our country's prosperity, both now and in the future.

"Companies like Seaward show that with drive, with determination and with passion, manufacturers can, and will, win through.

"Even the doom-mongers, the doubting-Thomases who predicted no future for British manufacturing are beginning to take note."