A SUBSEA apprentice will help to educate North-East school pupils on the opportunities available to them in the thriving industry sector.

Thomas Young is the latest apprentice to join Darlington-based Modus Subsea, which uses underwater robots to carry out seabed and deep water work

As part of his apprenticeship the 18-year-old, who joined the firm two weeks ago, will take part in Foundation for Jobs projects aimed at highlighting to other young people the wide range of opportunities the subsea industry offers.

Last year, Modus established the C-State Subsea Training at Darlington College to address a potential impending skills gap in subsea, which is also set to affect the wider engineering sector.

This is despite subsea being a rapid growth sector worth £9bn a year to the UK economy, with more than 50 firms in the North East alone employing 15,000 people and with annual revenues of £1.5bn.

Mr Young said: “I am excited about it, it is not your everyday job, it is quite a niche industry with a lot of variety and in terms of my career it is an exciting opportunity.”

He had had previously completed two years of an electronic engineering apprenticeship at Middlesbrough-based TTE Technical Training before joining Modus and said it was important to highlight opportunities to young people.

Modus has staff both onshore and offshore ranging from mechanical engineers and geologists to maritime lawyers and, like many engineering companies, its apprentices have the opportunity to go on to study to HNC, HND and degree level.

Mr Young said: “I didn’t know about the opportunities around the North-East.

"It is important to get the message out there and I am looking forward to it.”

Modus HR manager Samantha Leask said: “It is very important to get that information out there.

“Training our own young people is something we are really keen to do, to bring them in, train them on our equipment and invest in them so they have these skills going forward.

“It is really important we address skills gaps and bring fresh young ideas into the business.”

Darlington is recognised as a fast growing UK centre for subsea engineering with firms including Modus, DeepOcean and Reef now based in the town.

As a major part of the region’s economy engineering is a key area for Foundation for Jobs in its aim to match young people’s aspirations with the North-East employment market.

Many young people were not only unaware of which industries are set to create the most jobs in the North-East in the years to come but also had outdated perceptions of those industries and the varied range of jobs and skills required.

Now a national award-winning project, Foundation for Jobs is a joint initiative to tackle youth unemployment involving The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and the Darlington Partnership of private firms and public sector organisations, which has also enjoyed support from businesses and industrialists across the whole North-East region.

For further details contact owen.mcateer@darlington.gov.uk or go to www.foundationforjobs.co.uk