A CAR parts firm is creating 300 North-East jobs in a bid to overtake rivals, but the industry must do more to fill a regional skills void, a senior boss last night warned.

TRW Automotive is bolstering the production line at its factory in Peterlee, east Durham, with plans to take on 100 staff this year, and 300 by 2018, to take its workforce to about 1,000.

The firm specialises in safety electronics, such as forward looking cameras and airbag control units, with Robin Finley, TRW’s Peterlee plant manager, telling The Northern Echo he has proposals in place to take on significant projects with major car companies.

However, Mr Finley said the industry must find ways to strengthen the North-East skills pool to deliver the next generation of workers, after being forced to look abroad for some staff.

He said: “This is a long-term plan and have ambitions to take it to the next level.

“This is quite a significant move when you look at where we have come from and where we are going to.

“After the downturn, we went from about 500 people to about 350, but we are now back up to about the 750 mark.

“These are all top end jobs, from engineering technicians, to quality engineers and process engineers.

“We will be close to 1,000 in the next two years.”

The company’s announcement comes just days after the launch of The North East Automotive Alliance, which aims to promote and support the sector’s growth.

A key strand of the industry-led organisation’s attention will be skills, with about 8,500 people expected to retire in the next ten years.

Mr Finley said he would use his involvement with the scheme to push for greater focus on increasing workers’ competence.

He added: “We are looking for skilled engineers but they are hard to come by, and I’ve had to get some international people in because they have the electronics experience.

“We would always rather have people from the North-East but you cannot always find the right people.

“We have got to increase our skills pipeline.

“This is a very exciting time and we want to attract people who share our ambitions.”

Last year, TRW was backed by Government Regional Growth Fund cash, which Mr Finley said had been used to buy production equipment, and he added he would look at fresh investment support opportunities to help its expansion.

Based in Peterlee since 1989, it operates from a site on the North West Industrial Estate.

The US-headquartered company has a sister a sister factory in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, which focuses on steering systems, and employs 65,000 people at 185 sites across 24 countries.

Its growth plans add to previous strong announcements across the North-East’s automotive industry, with Nissan’s record-breaking Sunderland plant due to start work on a new luxury Infiniti model later this year.

Plastic parts maker Nifco UK, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, has also secured a £50m agreement to supply Ford with millions of pieces of equipment for low emission engines, while electric vehicle company Sevcon, based in Gateshead, earlier this year strengthened its order book with a deal to develop and supply controllers to a German company for starter generators.