Fraser Nash, specialist in economic development and business competitiveness has been appointed as co-ordinator of the newly-formed Marine Industries' Taskforce.

The taskforce has been set up by the South East England Development Agency (Seeda).

Mr Nash, formerly a manager with Dorset Training and Enterprise Council, will work with Seeda's taskforce chairman, Martin Jay, chief executive of Vosper Thornycroft, to build a group that will provide powerful voice for businesses in this sector within the South-East.

Educated in England and Saudi Arabia, Mr Nash has a degree in civil engineering and, during his career in the private and public sectors, he has been actively involved with a wide variety of companies in the manu-facturing and engineering sectors.

He has been closely involved in urban development projects in the South-West and spear-headed successful bids for Government regeneration funding. He is currently managing a major Seeda event aimed at the South-East's marine industries, which follows on from the success of the marine conference he organised last year.

Marine South-East will be held at the Portsmouth Marriott Hotel on March 29, featuring guest speakers from key industry organisations, including the British Marine Industries' Federation, the Engineering Employers' Federation, and the National Training Organisation EMTA, as well as the recently-appointed director of the Seeda Business and Internat-ional Division, Marianne Neville-Rolfe.

Mr Nash said: "This event will provide a platform for the marine industries in the South-East to raise issues of concern and to find ways of working with Seeda to tackle industry problems at a strategic regional level. The event will be a focus for the work of the taskforce in championing the interests of all the businesses in this vitally-important sector."