THE chief executive of the North-East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) is stepping down at the end of the year.

Michael Bird, former president of the Tyne and Wear chamber, leaves at Christmas.

He joined the NECC shortly after its formation in January 1995 and has managed the development of the organisation into the UK's largest, with more than 5,000 members. Under his guidance it has developed a range of new services to members, becoming one of the region's major training providers.

It was the first chamber to produce a business manifesto for the 1997 General Election.

It has also confronted the Government and the European Parliament over the way red tape is choking competitiveness out of business.

It is also spearheading a drive to secure a share of the £180bn promised by the Government to invest in transport infrastructure in the next decade.

Mr Bird said: "Looking back, we have done an awful lot and there is much of which to be proud. However, I always said I would retire within a couple of years of my 60th birthday, which falls in August, and seven years in this type of job is about right."

He said: "I believe my successor will inherit a great team and a flourishing chamber with a solid base and sound plans for the future."

Mr Bird began work in his family business, Harton Cleaners and Dyers, which was sold to the Johnson Group after the death of his father. He then held senior roles with that company at home and abroad until joining the chamber in 1995.

A former High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear, he is a deputy lieutenant, a school governor, a director of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland and chairman of the North-umbria Coalition Against Crime.

No successor to Mr Bird has yet been appointed.