CONTINUING economic growth in the construction industry will provide thousands of new jobs in the North-East over the next five years according to a new 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 in 2001 to attract more young people into the industry.

It predicts that in the North-East 15,900 recruits will be needed over the next five years, with the UK construction industry needing to attract 370,000 over the same period at all levels.

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 sector and currently employs one in 14 of Britain's working population.

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

The occupations with the biggest recruitment requirements 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 as an apprentice." For details visit the website www.citb.co.uk.