CONTINUING economic growth in the construction industry will provide thousands of jobs in the North-East over the next five years according to a report from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

The report, Construction Employment and Training Forecast 2001-2005, comes as the CITB begins a major campaign to attract more young people into the industry.

It predicts that in the North-East, 15,900 recruits will be needed in the next five years, amounting to 3,180 per year.

The UK construction industry will need to attract 370,000 new recruits over the next five years at all levels, from graduates to skilled crafts people, to keep up with demand - that's 74,000 every year.

Of this figure, 64,000 will be required each year to replace existing manpower and an extra 10,000 will be needed to meet growth in demand owing to the large number of building projects planned in the UK.

The construction industry is bigger than any single manufacturing industry, employing one in 14 of Britain's working population.

Major building projects in the North-East include the £62m project of a regional music centre in Gateshead, the £76m construction/refurbishment of two railway stations in Sunderland and the proposed £100m mixed development in Middlehaven dock.

The occupations with the biggest recruitment requirements over the next five years will be carpenters and joiners (2,500), managers (1,400), electricians (1,550), clerical staff (1,250), bricklayers (1,300) and plumbers (1,250).

To help attract new talent the CITB is investing an extra £2.8m in 2001 on top of the £4m already being spent on its recruitment and education work.

Alistair Collin, CITB's Cumbria and North-East area manager, said: "This report confirms that the construction industry is a really good career choice for graduates and school leavers, hopefully offering long-term employment prospects and great career advancement opportunities. At the CITB, we can help anyone interested in moving into construction to find training, either at a college or on-site as an apprentice. For more information just visit our website www.citb.co.uk