TOM Dower is having trouble with his tie.

Every time the photographer’s finger threatens to press the button, a breeze grabs hold of his blue and green neckwear, sending it flapping in various directions.

Fighting its fluttering, he quickly grabs the tie, making sure to rearrange his blazer as the camera snaps into action.

It’s a trivial inconvenience.

In fact, it’s the only thing coming close to taking the large smile off his face.

Under a crystal clear sky, with autumnal sunshine providing welcome warmth, Mr Dower is proudly standing on the site of the new £10m South Durham University Technical College (UTC).

Ground was officially broken last week on the base, which is close to train builder Hitachi’s £82m factory.

What is now grassland will become a centre of excellence.

Led by the University of Sunderland, and designed by Newcastle-based Ryder Architecture, it will open next September.

For Mr Dower, wearing a hard hat and high-visibility vest, the remit is simple; help attract youngsters into engineering and advanced manufacturing and give them the skills to earn sustainable careers at companies in the region.

Based on Aycliffe Business Park, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, the UTC is supported by Hitachi and Aycliffe-based car chassis maker Gestamp Tallent, who both need the next generation to maintain their growth.

The site will concentrate on teaching youngsters aged between 14 and 19-years-old, who will gain technical qualifications in a business environment.

As Mr Dower talks about the transformation of the bare land all around, a yellow JCB digger appears like a kind of giant mechanical artist carrying out a ceremonial dance.

With black exhaust smoke puffing, the excavator’s operator lifts its rear stilts lift and shifts levers to make its arm move sideways, while its bucket caresses the earth.

The performance, which also includes a driving in a circle, is at the behest of a cameraman.

This time next year though, it’ll be Mr Dower orchestrating proceedings.

With tie now firmly under control, he says: “This is incredibly exciting; we are building relationships and companies are coming together.

“We’ve already got our first students signed up and when I’m talking to youngsters, I can see excitement in their eyes at this project.

“This is an incredible opportunity for pupils and their families.

“You speak to a lot of children and they say they want to be an engineer, but they don’t know fully what that means.

“My job is to give them experience in the businesses in the area, so they can work out what they want to do in the future.

“The ground breaking is the next chapter in achieving that, and we will be up and running by next September.

“We are a school with a strong focus.

“We’re a small school, so we will know our students well and can focus on an individual’s needed to provide in-depth support.”

A key strand within Mr Dower’s brief to nurture youngsters is a drive to attract more women to the manufacturing sector.

The industry has long suffered from stereotyped images of oily rags and dirty spanners, and perceptions it is a male-only domain.

However, Mr Dower, a former Teesside-based ICI chartered engineer, says the UTC will work on ending such clichés for good, confirming its first student to come on board was a girl.

“We’ve got students already signed up, including two girls, and we want that to continue because a job can be done just as well by a woman as it can be a man”, he adds.

Modelled on 1940s technical schools, UTCs provide extended work placements as well as core GCSE subjects, such as English, maths, science and IT, to improve skills.

At the South Durham site, students between 14 and 16-years-old will have their studies split between those mainstay topics and technical subjects.

For learners over 16, the landscape will change, with time devoted to A-Level and Btec studies in chosen technical areas and maths, with potential for some to do further A-levels and go out on placements.

The UTC aims to take on 240 pupils in its first year, made up of 120 Year Ten and 120 Year 12 pupils.

That number is expected to swell to 540 in the 2017/2018 school year, including 300 Year Ten and Year 12 pupils and 240 Year 11 and Year 13 students, and 600 in 2018/2019, with 150 youngsters across every group.

However, the project’s journey has not been without difficulty or delay.

An initial bid for the UTC was snubbed by the Department for Education (DfE) early last year, despite receiving support from Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.

DfE ministers, who sanctioned submissions from London, Peterborough, Lincolnshire and Lancashire at the time, were understood to be uneasy at how ready the proposal was.

The decision was met with obvious disappointment, but, just two months later, The Northern Echo exclusively revealed the bid was being revived.

Bosses, sure their offering could succeed, talked to employers and parents and pupils across south west Durham to strengthen their plans.

It worked.

When Chancellor George Osborne confirmed the success, the verdict was met with great jubilation, most notably from heavyweight backers Hitachi and Tallent.

Darren Cumner, Hitachi’s Aycliffe plant manager, is unequivocal in his view, saying it will deliver major benefits for the company.

"This is all about a long-term legacy; we need a talent pipeline", he says.

“We will help set up the UTC to ensure students receive the very best education needed to help them into employment or further education.

“Our vision is these people will become future engineers, technicians and managers at our Aycliffe plant.”

Peter Gallone, plant director at Tallent, adds: “There are large skills deficiencies in engineering and manufacturing across the UK, so having the UTC here in Aycliffe is the ideal platform to address that.”

For Professor Gary Holmes, the university’s pro vice-chancellor, the UTC will bring optimism to the area.

Speaking on the grass site, as Mr Dower holds down that tie for a photograph, he says: “We want to create a college which makes a significant contribution to the region’s economy and prepares young people for successful careers.

“The idea of a modern educational institution in the heart of a business park is quite a radical step.

“We will be bringing our own share of jobs to the area, but this is a partnership between education and industry at a time when companies need to find the right skilled people.

“We have still got significant unemployment numbers in this region, but we have also got powerful industries coming here that are going to need the right people.

“We are also committed to addressing the gender gap that distorts the UK engineering labour market.

“The misconception is that engineering is oily, greasy work, but it’s an immensely hi-tech career using sophisticated electronics and mechanics.

“This is about the whole spectrum of employment too.

“The older generation have memories of technical colleges but we have to make younger people better aware of manufacturing and engineering and what they mean.”