REGIONAL development agency INWARD reports an exceptionally successful year.

In the year up to March 31 INWARD and its partners assisted 31 businesses to locate or expand in the North-west.

The moves secured an unprecedented 4,244 direct jobs and injected direct capital investment of £117.25m.

INWARD Chairman Tom Weatherby said: "A key highlight of the year is the sharp increase in the number of direct jobs we have helped bring to the region. "Not only is this our highest ever recorded jobs figure but it is almost 50 per cent higher than we have ever achieved in one year in our ten-year history."

He said a number of projects from across the world were under negotiation and that 1996-97 looked extremely promising.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.