BOBBY Moncur, former captain of both Newcastle United and Sunderland, visited manufacturing firm BHK to congratulate staff on increased productivity.

Bobby was invited to the Peterlee chipboard plant to meet 80 production workers who are on a training course with the Automotive Sector Strategic Alliance (assa).

He said: "When I began my career I could only kick a ball with one foot and only by continuous improvement, practising and training with the other foot, did I develop my skills. BHK has introduced a culture of continuous improvement with help from assa for all its staff and we can see here that it has not only influenced the success of the business, but made each employee more productive."

Operations director, Ian McDonald, said: "We are working with people who have been out of the learning environment for some time but whose enthusiasm to improve their productivity comes from their interest in the businesses success."

The assa course aims to improve the productivity of businesses by developing staff and measuring them against national standards.

All the BHK staff taking part in the course have received a NVQ Level Two in performing manufacturing operations.