George Maynard from Leicester has been crowned the 2017 NICEIC and ELECSA Apprentice of the Year.
The 25-year-old was one of eight competitors to reach the Grand Final, which took part at the headquarters of competition sponsor Scolmore Group in Tamworth on 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 grueling day of challenges designed to assess their ability across a range of disciplines including testing, fault finding, conduit bending, tray manufacturing and safe isolation. This year’s final also included a Virtual Reality task followed by an interview with Certsure’s technical standards director Alan Wells.
The winner and runners up were presented with their prizes during a ceremony and BBQ at the Belfry Hotel that evening. 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.