Two industry heavyweights are coming to the North-East to support a new initiative for manufacturers.

Sir John Harvey Jones and Lord Sainsbury will be in Sunderland next week to launch the Regional Centre for Manufacturing Excellence (RCME), at Hylton Park.

Industrialists, directors and business support personnel will be at the event, at Nissan, organised by technology transfer specialists RTC North.

Lord Sainsbury will talk about the vital role of manufacturing and Sir John Harvey Jones will speak on fostering a competitive edge.

The centre, which is funded by the DTI and One NorthEast, will be responsible for delivering the DTI Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) in the region.

The centre will provide a focal point for manufacturing in the North-East.

A team of specialists, headed by centre director, Cameron Ross, and RTC North's best practice implementation team, headed by Carol Hodgson, will be delivering the service, visiting small and medium-sized manufacturers to help them solve their problems.

The centre will offer a clearly defined range of core services that meet the needs of manufacturers.

It will also strive to simplify access by companies to a much wider range of services, grants and support facilities available from other agencies at regional and national level.

The North-East RCME will work in co-operation with other RCMEs in England and Wales and with a nationally approved register of more than 200 Centres of Expertise in Manufacturing.