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Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has launched a new campaign to encourage young people to consider future careers in the Tees Valley, as students across the region learn their A level results.

Stay Local, Go Far is part of the £3million TeesValleyCareers.com initiative to support the region’s 100,000 young people aged 11-18 to give them high-quality careers guidance and contact with more than 1,000 businesses across a range of sectors.

Every year, 30% of young people leave the Tees Valley to attend university or to secure an apprenticeship, training, or employment elsewhere despite the global businesses and innovative companies based right here. Job vacancy numbers too have recovered and, in July this year, were up 35.7% on the pre-Covid figures of February 2020.

This campaign aims to raise aspirations as well as highlight the fantastic career options available as we benefit from opportunities such as at Teesworks – home to the UK’s largest freeport – Treasury North and Trade North, which will bring in some of the government’s most important departments to Darlington, and our growing clean energy, biologics, advanced manufacturing and digital sectors to name but a few.

A host of information, videos and case studies will point to roles within cutting-edge businesses, with more details of how students can secure the skills they need to take advantage of them. The scheme will complement the TeesValley.Jobs website, which contains live job listings for roles of all types currently available in the area.

Mayor Houchen said: “We’re working hard today to secure the jobs of tomorrow, but there is no point creating good-quality, well-paid jobs if local people from across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool aren’t taking advantage of them. Businesses right here are leading the UK and the World, but young people still think they need to go to a big city like London, Manchester or Leeds to succeed.

“This changes now, with the new Stay Local, Go Far campaign. I want every young person receiving their A Levels today and GCSEs later in the week know that they can have a rewarding career in their hometown and help it to thrive, and there’s no need to travel for hundreds of miles to advance.

“Stay Local, Go Far will highlight brilliant firms like Middlesbrough’s Double Eleven, one of the country’s biggest independent games developers which has worked on some of the world’s biggest and best loved video game franchises, including titles for Minecraft and Lego Harry Potter. It has recently doubled its workforce and is looking to expand further.

“Or there’s Merlin Flex in Hartlepool, which has produced circuitry used in the steering wheel of Sebastian Vettel’s Championship winning Formula One car and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, which is currently in the process of manufacturing 60million doses of the Novavax coronavirus vaccine at its base in Billingham.

“That’s without mentioning the transformative Teesworks development, which will create thousands of jobs for decades to come in clean energy and advanced manufacturing over in Redcar and Cleveland.

“There are opportunities for everyone, to suit all tastes and through whatever route people feel most comfortable with – whether that be through university, training or apprenticeships. We now need to shout louder than ever to get our young people into these jobs so they can help shape our bright future.”

As the campaign builds over the coming weeks, further resources for young people and their parents/guardians will become available at TeesValleyCareers.com