North East automotive firms are boosting their skills base by teaming up with Gateshead College (www.gateshead.ac.uk) to invest in apprenticeships.

Companies including Evans Halshaw, Hodgson Motor Group and Premier Truck Hire, along with SMEs such as Springfield Motors, Arnold Clark Body Shop and Durham Motor Services, have created three-year apprenticeships for 14 students, who have all completed various courses at the college.

Their new roles cover a range of automotive disciplines, from warehousing and mechanical service and repair to vehicle body repair and production management.

The apprentices will combine study at Gateshead College’s Skills Academy for Automotive, Engineering, Manufacturing and Logistics with on-the-job training at their respective companies, which have turned to apprenticeships as a way of tackling long-term skills shortages.

The North East is home to around 240 automotive firms, which generate more than £11 billion in sales per year, employ 30,000 people and export items worth more than £6.5 billion.

The North East Automotive Alliance predicts that the sector has the potential to create around 10,000 more jobs in the next 5-10 years, but this will only be achieved with an influx of new skills.