AN apprentice at a firm renowned for its work on nuclear-powered submarines has been shortlisted for an award.

Jordan Wales, who works at Applied Integration, in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, has been put forward for the Apprentice of the Year Award at Hartlepool College.

Mr Wales was nominated after gaining distinctions in the first 12 months of a two-year HNC course in instrumentation and control, funded by Applied, which is also based in Stokesley.

Garry Lofthouse, Applied’s director, who himself began as an apprentice, praised Mr Wales’ work.

He said: “It’s just fantastic to have an up-and-coming engineer showing such initiative, working hard and delivering outstanding results in his studies and working environment.

“Jordan shows great potential and his work ethic and commitment ensure he stands out.

“He has set goals and achieved them.

“Having seen his attitude and ability for ourselves, we weren’t at all surprised to learn of his nomination.

“Jordan has adapted really well to the working environment, accepts responsibility, takes on tasks and has become part of the project team.

“As a result, he’s working on some of our most exciting and complex projects, including systems for Astute-class submarines.”

“We hope he’ll enjoy a long and challenging career with us.”

Applied says it will double its apprentice numbers in September when two more join the business, taking its workforce to 32.

Last year, the company secured a multi-million-pound deal to design and develop control systems for HMS Agamemnon and HMS Ajax submarines.

It has also designed software for the HMS Audacious and HMS Anson submarines.