Surrounded by windfarms but out of work: the reality of the green jobs boom on England’s east coast

Jake Snell, 20, sits near the giant ‘Gulliver’ wind turbine at Ness Point, Suffolk. The promise of ‘green jobs’ failed to materialise for most of his classmates on their diploma course. Photograph: Joshua Bright/The Guardian

On paper, Jake Snell, 19, sounds like the perfect candidate for a role in the UK’s burgeoning green energy sector. He has high grades in maths and physics A-level, a distinction in BTec engineering and another distinction in an extended engineering diploma. He has also done work experience at an engineering company.

He is from Lowestoft, a coastal town in Suffolk, outside Great Yarmouth. Both towns contain areas that fall within the most deprived 20% in England and are part of a wider pattern of coastal places with low employment opportunities.