The finalists include Level 3 apprentice Jamie Matthews, and Level 2 apprentices Charlie Fleck and Andrew MacKenzie, based at the College’s Newtownabbey and Ballymena campus and employed by leading luxury fit-out and joinery specialists Mivan in Antrim. Also joining them is Ballymena Level 3 apprentice Jamie McMullan, who is employed by (McCue Fit, Carrickfergus) alongside Level 2 carpentry apprentice, Jeremiasz Guzik from the College’s Coleraine campus, employed by White Rock Log Cabins. Together they will compete for top honours against the best in the UK.
Clifford Wharry, the College’s Carpentry & Joinery lecturer, will accompany the apprentices as their designated chaperone, overseeing all 14 competitors representing Northern Ireland at the competition.
SkillBuild, delivered by CITB, is the largest multi-trade skills competition in the UK for construction trainees and apprentices. It provides an opportunity to showcase the high level of skills and the impressive talent within the workforce, as well as raising the status and standards of professional and technical education and training.
Congratulating the apprentices on reaching the national final, David Russell, Curriculum Area Manager for Building Services in the Department of Advanced Technologies at Northern Regional College, said it was a great achievement not only for the talented apprentices but for their employers and the College.
“The SkillBuild competitions provides a platform for young people to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in a specific skill area and see how they measure up against their peers. Having five apprentices from the College in the finals is a testament of our student’s commitment and skill, as well as the high standards delivered by our staff and their employers. I wish them every success at the national finals.”