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Engineering apprentices Melissa Millington and Nathan Smith
Engineering apprentices Melissa Millington and Nathan Smith

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Go North East celebrates its apprentices ahead of National Apprenticeship Week

Ahead of National Apprenticeship Week (8 – 14 February 2021), award-winning bus company Go North East is celebrating its engineering apprentices who help keep the wheels moving on over 600 buses.

Go North East employs 250 engineers, 19 of which are engineering apprentices, and four team members were given full-time skilled positions in September when they completed the fourth year of their apprenticeships.

Around 90% of Go North East’s engineers originally starting out as apprentices, including Colin Barnes, the company’s engineering director who started at the company when he was 17-years-old.

The company is also looking ahead to September where it plans to take on more first year apprentices, which will be part of a drive from Go-Ahead, Go North East’s parent company, to hire more than 1,100 apprentices across its bus and rail companies in 2021.

Colin Barnes, engineering director at Go North East, said: “We recognise that there is a shortage of skilled engineering people and that apprenticeships are vital in recruiting top young talent.

“Our apprenticeships are designed to provide an increased amount of on the job training and give youngsters the best chance to develop a career with us.”

To find out more about Go North East, visit www.gonortheast.co.uk.

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On the Go since 1913

Around 175,000 journeys are made on Go North East bus services every day to travel around this wonderful region. Travelling to work or education, to visit friends and family, to have a night out, or to visit one of the region's many tourist and leisure attractions.

For over 100 years, Go North East has connected the region's towns and villages with the cities of Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland and currently operates across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and into Tees Valley.

Employing over 2,000 local people, with a fleet of almost 700 buses and coaches and an annual turnover of £100m, the company is the regional subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group plc, one of the UK's leading providers of passenger transport.

Go North East
117 Queen Street
NE8 2UA Gateshead