Chancellor is in a jovial mood on visit to Otley

Gordon Brown MP, believed by many to be the Prime Minister in waiting, was the guest of honour at the Technology Forge's redeveloped mill offices at Wharfebank Business Centre.

Visiting as part of a northern publicity 'blitz' on Friday, Mr Brown was keen to celebrate how the IT software firm's success had mirrored economic improvements in the area.

But the Chancellor also took the opportunity to confirm, before live TV cameras, that the G7 group of industrialised nations had agreed to freeze debt repayments for countries recovering from the Indian Ocean disaster.

Beginning his visit with a tour of the offices, Mr Brown was in light-hearted mood as he chatted informally to the staff.

"You've got some great views here," he said to one employee.

Invited by Leeds North West MP Harold Best, Mr Brown also talked to Labour's Prospective Parliamentary candidate Judith Blake (who hopes to become Otley's next MP) about the new Wharfedale Hospital.

"They can sometimes have teething problems," he said.

Confounding his popular image as an earnest and slightly dour politician, the Chancellor enjoyed a joke or two with staff.

"I'm very grateful to this company because if they're growing at four per cent a year it does help me meet my growth targets," he quipped.

"If you can continue that it would be very helpful!"

Publicly addressing the Chancellor, Mr Best said: "I'm very grateful for you coming to encourage this company, which is typical of the radical developments you have been involved with from the start - it's about innovation and technology, and it's working Gordon, it's here - unemployment here has halved."

He added: "Gordon is particularly interested in genuinely seeking contact with people who will give him first hand experience of their company and any difficulties or financial issues it may be facing.

"There's nothing like being 'on the shop floor', it cuts out all that kind of sycophantic stuff. Technology Forge is a classic example of how innovation and a favourable economic climate can deliver hope."

Mr Brown also paid tribute to the firm, which started out six years ago with three members of staff and now employs 25 people, with more being recruited.

He said: "It's a pleasure to see a company which has grown so fast over these years.

"It is a great pleasure to see this great mill which has been redeveloped and renewed so well, it's a tremendous facility.

"It is good to see companies such as this managing to use the facility, so it's good for them and good for the local economy. I wish you well for the future."

Technology Force's Managing Director Mark Wardman, who founded the company with two colleagues in an Otley attic in 1998, said: "This was a very nice surprise.

"A lot of what we do is to do with collecting data for councils, ultimately to feed back to the Treasury, so there's a nice sort of circular relationship there. between Gordon Brown and the firm.

Asked if he could have dreamt of being visited by the Chancellor of the Exchequer six years ago, he said: "I couldn't have imagined it, or that we'd be hearing a G7 announcement made here!"

Development manager Ian Bond said: "We knew for a while that an MP was coming but didn't know who it was until last Wednesday - it was a complete surprise, a very nice one!

"This visit will be fantastic for our business, especially since one of our main markets is the local authorities and Gordon Brown is very popular with them."

After his tour Mr Brown gave his live G7 TV announcement, which confirmed that the

group had agreed that debt payments for countries including Sri Lanka and Indonesia should be put on hold.

The G7 was due to put that proposal to creditor nations at a meeting in Paris yesterday.

But the move would not actually write the debts off, as some campaigners have demanded.

The G7 has also called on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to carry out an urgent assessment of the

reconstruction needs of the

affected countries, to be completed by the end of the month.