In December, a spectacular steel sculpture designed by local youngsters was unveiled at Tata Steel in Teesside. The 10-foot work of art, nicknamed 'Earth Guy' was designed by pupils at Redcar's Sacred Hearts School as part of a competition launched by Tata Steel at the start of the year. The sculpture, which is situated at the entrance to the company's steelworks in Skinningrove, has been made from off-cuts of the special profiles that are produced on the site.

Steve Simms, works manager for Tata Steel's Teesside beam mill and special profiles site, said: "This competition gave local youngsters the chance to combine their artistic talents with engineering. The aim was to introduce young people to manufacturing and engineering and, at the same time, create something that would help form a good first impression for people visiting our site."

Tata Steel joined up with Action for Employment (A4e) to launch the competition. The theme was earth moving, wind energy and ship building - three key market sectors for the business. The winning design was chosen from eight entries after the team faced a Dragon's Den-style panel in the final.