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Minister gives North East economy a vote of confidence

Lord Digby Jones, Minister for Trade & Investment, praised the innovation and dynamism of companies in the North East during a visit to the region last week. Lord Jones was visiting companies in Gateshead and Newcastle at the invitation of UK Trade & Investment, the government’s international business development organisation.

As part of his visit, Lord Jones held a lunchtime meeting with Northern Defence Industries, the organisation that represents more than 200 regional SMEs in the defence and aerospace industry, contributing £2 billion per year to the regional economy.

He also visited Newcastle-based Orla Protein Technologies, a nano-biotechnology company spun-out of Newcastle University in 2001. The firm specialises in an aspect of biotechnology called protein-engineering. The technology is enabling the convergence of materials and electronics with biotechnology.

Lord Jones said: “These companies know that to succeed they must make use of all the opportunities globalisation offers. They also need a skilled workforce. We cannot compete with economies like China and India on price alone but what these two companies prove is that we can compete with them on quality.

“Orla Protein is exactly the sort of company that the region should be proud of. It is innovative and the university is helping to produce a skilled workforce and provide entrepreneurial companies in the region’s economy.”

Dale Athey, CEO of Orla Protein Technologies Ltd, said: “We have shown that when leading edge science and technology, good products and people are combined with quality support, we can compete on the world stage.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .