THE chief executive of Enterprise Ayrshire John Lord yesterday said

that when his company was consulted by the Government on its views on

the reform of local government it backed the case for a single Ayrshire

authority.

''We thought that Ayrshire was a practical size and had the necessary

critical mass for an all purpose authority. In reaching that view, we

talked to a lot of people and held a series of dinners for business

people,'' he said.

Mr Lord, spending his final day with the Kilmarnock-based company

before moving to become Director of Strategy at Scottish Enterprise, was

commenting on Enterprise Ayrshire's annual report, presented by chairman

John Hornibrook to the company's AGM held at Prestwick Airport.

Mr Lord said that, despite the recession, business confidence in

Ayrshire had remained above the national average in the past year.

Looking back over a year in which the organisation assisted firms with

more than 1000 projects and which saw the start up of 400 new busineses,

Mr Lord emphasised the importance of Ayrshire as a major player in the

Scottish economy.

He said that 41% of Ayrshire's private sector workforce is involved in

manufacturing and while accounting for only 7% of Scotland's employed

workforce, Ayrshire turns out 13% of Scotland's exports.

Two of the most significant landmarks in the past year, said Mr Lord,

were the decisions of the Digital Equipment Company to switch hardware

production from its Irish plant in Galway to Ayr and that of British

Aerospace to switch production of its Advanced Turboprop aircraft to

Prestwick. Together these decisions safeguarded 3000 manufacturing jobs,

he said.

Congratulating PIK Holdings Ltd, the new owners of Prestwick Airport

on their achievement in changing perceptions of what he called ''a place

that was considered to be dead,'' Mr Lord said Prestwick International

Airport was Ayrshire's outstanding economic asset.