SUBSEA experts helped bring one of the North-East’s fastest growing industries to life for young people on the verge of choosing their GCSE options.

Working with Foundation for Jobs staff from Darlington-based Modus Subsea, which uses underwater robots to carry out seabed and deep water work, they attended a STEM robotics day at Hurworth School.

Apprentice Tom Young and project engineer Tom Bewley were able to demonstrate the firm’s work with the robots known as ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles) to Year Nine students who are set to choose their GCSE options.

A Foundation for Jobs spokesman said: “It was a really good morning at Hurworth School with the students genuinely engaged and interested.

“We really appreciate the support of Modus Subsea, as meeting people who work in the industry and getting a first-hand account of what is involved really brings it home to the students that these are sectors they could work in, requiring a wide variety of skills and abilities.

“It was also great to see the work going on at the school to promote and encourage engineering amongst the pupils at a time when thousands of job opportunities are being created in the sector right here in the North-East. “

Subsea is 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.

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.

Darlington is recognised as a fast growing UK centre for subsea engineering with firms including Modus, Deep Ocean, and Subsea Innovation Ltd 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.

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.

It has worked with more than 3,300 young people since it was launched in January 2012.

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