Apprentices from engineering companies across England’s North West have taken home two gold and three silver medals at the national finals of the World Skills UK competition.
The winning group includes Fort Vale’s (Burnley) Jonathan Oddy and Benn Goodwill; Ryan Knight from BCH (Whitworth); Liam Woinson from Paradigm Precision (Burnley) and Ryan Worthington from Rolls Royce (Barnoldswick).
Fort Vale’s training manager, Alan Emerton commented: “As an organisation that has a genuine passion for training and developing young people, we are extremely proud to have two of our apprentices achieve the accolade of each winning silver medals at this year’s UK Skills competitions.”
The young engineers are all completing their apprenticeships with Blackburn-based training provider Training 2000 and competed in sectors ranging from computer aided design to CNC milling.
Having showcased their technical and employability skills in the regional heats, the apprentices were shortlisted to take part in the UK finals which took place on November 13-15 at the NEC, Birmingham.
CEO of Training 2000, Steve Gray said: “We are so proud of all of our learners and their employers. It is a real testament to the quality of the training they receive both at Training 2000 and on the job.”
While at the show the group fought off strong competition from almost 600 other apprentices under the watchful gaze of almost 75,000 visitors over the three days. The skills on show included a diverse range of talents ranging from welding and catering to floristry and hairdressing.
Additionally, select competitors from this year’s World Skills UK finals may be invited to join team UK for the upcoming World Skills 2017 competition due to be held in Abu Dhabi.
