SkillElectric crowns best in Wales

SkillElectric crowns best in Wales

James Akehurst, 30, from Celtic Developments in Powys has been named best trainee electrician in Wales, following the SkillElectric Wales national final at Deeside College on 14th May.

James, an apprentice at Yale College Wrexham, went up against nine other competitors in a task to install conduit and trunking with three electrical circuits. Their work had to be completed within the time limit, safely and to recognised industry standards, with a very small tolerance for errors.

Second place was awarded to Nicholas Relph of OSS Electrical and Coleg Gwent, while Luke Mayor of Scenic Services and Cardiff and Vale College took third place slot.

After his win James said, ‘I’m a bit speechless, but very happy and proud! It was a great atmosphere with us all competing together, so congratulations to the others as well. I’m also pleased that my family, college and employer know I’ve won and worked my hardest.’

SkillElectric is organised by SummitSkills and the Wales national final at Deeside College was also backed by the Welsh government and the European Social Fund.

Jeff Cuthbert, Welsh government Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, congratulated the successful contestants at SkillElectric and its sister competition SkillPlumb. He said, ‘These competitions are an excellent opportunity for up and coming skilled workers in Wales to stretch themselves and really develop their abilities within their chosen fields. We aim to encourage young people entering these occupations to benchmark their skills against others in Wales, the UK or indeed internationally.’

The highest scoring competitors from the event now have the chance to compete at a grand final in November where they would face competitors from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and strive to be named SkillElectric UK champion.

Neil Collishaw, head of competitions at SummitSkills, said, ‘All competitors conducted themselves really well – we were very impressed with their dedication and professionalism. Our thanks also go to Deeside College for being an excellent host. This is the first time we’ve worked in collaboration with SkillBuild in Wales, making this the largest built environment skills competition ever held in Wales – our biggest and best event so far.’

SkillElectric is also a feeder route for competitors to potentially go forward and represent their country in 2015 at Brazil at the biennial WorldSkills competition – the world’s largest skills competition.

To find out more about SkillElectric visit: www.skillelectric.org.uk

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