North East England

The defence & marine sector remains a significant contributor to the regional economy offering a wide variety of interesting and specialist roles.

This sector employs around 20,000 people within areas such as ship building & repair, marine scientific research and engineering.

The North East’s rich shipbuilding history is well-known and the area is still a leading centre for seabed cabling and trenching.

"The North East is recognised as a centre of excellence for marine and defence training with over 50 masters level courses and 30 undergraduate degrees."

Future contracts for the sector are expected to be boosted by the new £2.3 million Marine Design Centre in Newcastle and the North East is also home to the largest marine school in the country in South Tyneside, ensuring a highly skilled workforce.

Major employers in this sector include BAE Land Systems, which has a large armoured vehicle factory in Newcastle, Joyce Loebl electronic engineering and Parker Domnick Hunter, a world leader in the filtration and separation of compressed air and gases.

The North East defence industry is home to one of the UK’s most significant clusters of high-tech manufacturers of military vehicles, equipment and components. These supply the British Army and overseas governments as well as a growing range of international contractors.

It’s expected that the marine sector will benefit from continued business supporting the search for oil and gas in North Sea, and as a major exporter, it is well-placed to win International orders as the world economy picks up.

Professions include: welders, systems engineers, project mangers, metalworkers, electricians, software designers and naval architects.

As well as marine apprenticeships, useful qualifications include NVQ in Marine Vessel Operation and NVQ in Engineering Maintenance (Marine).