George Maynard from Leicester has been named winner of the 2017 NICEIC and ELECSA Apprentice of the Year competition, sponsored by Scolmore Group.
The 25-year-old was one of eight competitors to reach the Grand Final, which Scolmore was very proud to host at its headquarters on Tuesday 6 June.
Maynard said: “I was shocked when they called my name out. I thought all the lads in the final produced some great work and they were all top guys. I think getting to the final was a great achievement to be honest. It’s a lovely way to round off all the hard work I have put in over the last three years.”
The finalists were put through a gruelling day of challenges comprising nine separate tasks designed to assess their abilities across a range of disciplines including testing, fault finding, conduit bending, tray manufacturing and safe isolation. This year’s final challenge also included a Virtual Reality test followed by an interview with Certsure’s technical standards director, Alan Wells.
As well as hosting the grand finale of the competition at the company’s head office premises, Scolmore also organised the BBQ and awards ceremony at the nearby Belfry Hotel and provided a range of prizes for those apprentices who made it through to the final.
The winner, Maynard, was presented with a holiday voucher worth £2,000, runner up Michael Costello, 25 from Edinburgh received a holiday voucher worth £750, while third-placed Billy Stapleton, 20, from Essex received a £250 holiday voucher. All eight finalists were given an engraved glass trophy, an iPad and a kit bag containing an array of Scolmore’s electrical accessories.