AN award-winning York teenager who created a Twitter storm with a hoax about Woolworths has landed a job at an international creative agency.

Huntington School pupil Luke Castle, 18, revealed last year that he was behind the viral stunt which teased the return of high-street favourite, Woolworths. Now, he’s decided to defer going to university to take a job with creative agency, Rise at Seven.

The stunt - which went viral on social media and in the press - teased the return of Woolworths through a series of tweets and clever graphics, and was discovered to be the idea of Luke who thought it would be a fun experiment to test how easily things can pick up traction from social media.

Luke is currently at sixth form but will join the Rise at Seven team in September in a move that will act as a gap year and see him learning skills from industry experts before returning to his university path in the future.

Luke said: “I decided to ditch the idea of university straight after the announcement of the third lockdown. There are so many opportunities outside of university and education out there at the moment, with remote learning having drained me this past year and so much uncertainty around grades, joining Rise at Seven was a no-brainer. I can always go to university at a later date when the full experience returns.”

The hire has now inspired a major campaign from Rise at Seven, which is encouraging students who aren’t getting the full university experience to quit uni (for now), and take a ‘year out’ in industry, they’ll even refund any successful applicant’s first term accommodation rent as an incentive.

Carrie Rose, chief executive of Rise at Seven, said: “I am a firm believer that the university experience is transformative, but in a world where the lifestyle, friendships and opportunities of Uni are limited - why not offer young talent the chance to learn on the job?

Right now, students find themselves paying rent for rooms they can’t use, learning remotely or shut in their accommodation - they didn’t sign up for this. We want to offer them an opportunity to take a break from University and join a global agency which prides itself on hiring the most enthusiastic, hungry and creative individuals to work on some of the world’s biggest brands. And if they fancy going back to Uni afterwards, we will help them get there through our connections with Uni’s across the country.”

Back in October last year Luke claimed the Spirit of Youth award in The Press Community Pride Awards for providing community support through free marketing.

Hopeful candidates for the Rise at Seven non-graduate positions can apply online here.