Firms were spurred to get together to try to combat the rise in national contractors securing local contracts in the region through frameworks that favour big firms in the prequalification process.

The new regional initiative – Construction Alliance North-east – has been launched by trade bodies the Northern Counties Builders Federation, Federation of Master Builders, National Federation of Builders and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association.

Jeff Alexander, director at Surgo Construction and representative of the NCBF, said: “Through CAN we will demonstrate the benefits of using a regional workforce, not only because of their local knowledge, their skills and experience but also because of the benefits to local supply chains.

“Given the Government’s current plans for the Northern Powerhouse, I believe this is exactly the right time for us to press ahead with CAN.

“We aim to be a power for good in reforming procurement methods within the North East construction industry.”

National frameworks operated by Scape and the Education Funding Agency have come in for criticism because of the way they favour national contractors to carry out work once delivered by regional contractors.

The move also comes after the collapse of several construction firms in 2014, including Koru Property Services, Southdale and Turney Wylde Construction.