BACK in the 1960s, a group of engineering bosses in the Nelson area decided to bury their commercial differences and work together to train the next generation of apprentices.

Pendle training was formed to train up to 90 apprentices a year for the engineering industry which was the lifeblood of the local economy.

For the best part of 30 years, the organisation stuck to its training remit, expanding both the range and scale of its services to other parts of the local workforce.

Today, renamed Northern Technologies, it is one of the North West's leading business support operations, working with companies from Glasgow to Cardiff.

It provides a wide range of services that incorporates training and recruitment, product design and prototyping, IT support services, marketing, computer-aided engineering and process improvement.

A new division, Northern EHS, offers extensive support to ensure companies meet environmental and health and safety legislation. A state-of-the-art conference and exhibition centre is part of the group's Nelson headquarters where an innovation centre has been built to support growing small businesses.

Northern Technologies remains a non-profit-making organisation, controlled by its member companies which now total more than 180. And according to business development director Steve Wilkinson, those are the factors that have been so critical to the organisation's success.

"We were originally set up to meet the needs of our members," he said. "Today, our Board of Directors still comes from local manufacturing companies who are not shy in telling us where we should be going.

"We believe we provide services that are relevant to the needs of local companies. And with being a not-for-profit organisation, our assistance is affordable and there is no pressure on us to sell services that companies do not need."

Northern Technologies' growth began in 1994 when it moved into engineering-based design and prototyping services. In 1998, a more comprehensive package of assistance was introduced in response to requests from member companies.

New services are being added all the time to help manufacturing remain competitive. A new website - ntlive.net - has been launched this summer which acts as a gateway to a mass of business information and a satellite office has been opened in Keighley. Discussions are taking place with local authorities and developers over the construction of new innovation centres and plans are advanced for a new demonstration centre, showcasing the best of integrated manufacturing technology.

In the New Year, an Advanced Education Programme will be launched to ensure apprentices and young engineers have the skills needed for the increasingly high tech world of engineering.

Northern Technologies now has a turnover of £2.5 million. A cocktail of grants from sources such as the North West Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund supplements income from the companies it supports.

Private sector funding means that support programmes can be offered to eligible companies at subsidised rates. Most small to medium-sized companies in East Lancashire qualify for assistance. Even though assistance is offered to all types of businesses, Northern Technologies remains focused on manufacturing industry.

Steve Wilkinson believes companies in East Lancashire are well-placed to meet the challenges posed for the future of engineering.

"There is no doubt that companies will have to change," he said. "Organisations such as the North West Aerospace Alliance and companies such as BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce are all warning that supply chains will need to adapt.

"There will be fewer sub-contractors and those who thrive will have to change to meet their clients' needs. Areas such as e-business will have to be taken on board by our members."

Something that does concern him is the shortage of talented young people choosing manufacturing as a career.

"We are struggling to attract the right calibre of young people," he said. "Everyone now seems to want to go into information technology. It could be an image thing, but the industry has to start selling itself."