HUNDREDS of jobs will be created across the North East after a network provider received a significant investment boost.

Openreach will create and fill around 140 more North East jobs during 2022 – including around 70 apprenticeships – as part of an ambitious bid to connect 25million homes to ultrafast Full Fibre broadband.

Around £1.2 million was invested to redesign and refurbish a training centre on Teesside Industrial Estate in Thornaby.

The centre now boasts 11 classrooms, 64 telegraph poles across four pole fields, virtual reality training, a fully live fibre and copper network and a state-of-the-art replica street, built from scratch to recreate the real network in the outside world.

Nicknamed ‘Open Street’, it enables engineers to experience a typical working day - from laying cables to building joints and making repairs, working underground or overhead and installing new services inside customers’ homes. Thousands of new and existing Openreach engineers will be trained at the centre every year.

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To celebrate the news Nadine Dorries, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, officially opened the new Thornaby centre.  

She said: “We are on a mission to level up the UK with better broadband and are investing a record £5 billion so hard-to-reach areas are not left behind. 

"I was thrilled to visit Openreach's new training centre at Thornaby where I met some inspiring young apprentices who will be at the heart of delivering our infrastructure revolution. It was great to see such a diverse group and I wish them all the best with their future careers.”

Abbie Thompson, 24, from Seaham, worked in corporate banking before joining Openreach last month after deciding life trapped behind a desk was no longer for her.

She said: “My mam has worked for Openreach for more than 15 years and I’ve always been interested in what she does. It always sounded like a great company to work for and after working behind a desk for five years I decided it was time to try something completely different.

“Working outside and having a hands-on job really appealed to me and I love that I’m making a real difference to people’s lives by helping to build a full network and improve broadband speeds. I’d encourage any woman looking to change their career direction to consider Openreach – it might be a step outside their comfort zone but engineering definitely isn't just for men.”

Clive Selley, CEO, Openreach, said: “These new recruits will play a crucial role as we continue to improve services for our customers and build the biggest and best broadband network in the UK, covering millions of rural and urban homes.”

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