WEC Group Celebrates Apprentice Success at Annual Apprentice of the Year Awards
WEC Group Ltd held their eighth annual Apprentice of the Year awards on Thursday 29th November at the Red Rose Suite in Ewood Park, Blackburn. With esteemed guests including: the Deputy Mayor of Blackburn Cllr Jim Shorrock; Deputy Consort Mr Mark Joyce; Mayor of Darwen Roy Davies; EUR ING Chris Eady CENG FWELDI; and the Group’s creative partner in the Festival of Making, David Murphy, the event celebrated the apprentices’ success over the past year.
Apprentice Awards were given for various categories including Outstanding Academic Achievement, Machining Excellence, Welding Excellence, Technical Production Excellence and Commitment as well as the coveted Apprentice of the Year title. Those who qualified and took part in this year’s WorldSkillsUK event and those had completed their 5 year course were also rewarded.
With numerous talented apprentices receiving recognition on the night, it was George Hawkey and Luke James who were eventually named as the WEC Group and MTL Advanced Apprentices of the Year respectively for 2018.
George Hawkey, a welding a fabrication apprentice in Darwen, won this year’s Apprentice of the year after being praised for his natural ability and outstanding work ethic, resulting in an excellent portfolio for his end point assessment.
MTL’s Apprentice of the Year, Luke, has been described by his line manager as “always focused and willing to take charge of any task he is given” and is therefore a well-deserved winner.
Kris Mercer, WEC Group Training and Development Manager said: “This year’s awards were quite possibly the best yet. We have an extremely talented group of apprentices and choosing the winners was especially difficult this time around.”
“It is incredibly important for us, as a company, to celebrate and reward our apprentices for their hard work and commitment. It is also a wonderful opportunity for our apprentices to invite their families and loved ones to find out more about the fantastic achievements they have made over the past year and to celebrate those achievements with them.”
“We would like to thank everyone who attended the evening, including our guest presenter Chris Eady from The Welding Institute and guest speaker David Murphy as well as the plentiful staff, friends, family, and all of our apprentices who came to support the event and celebrate with us.”
This apprentice awards evening follows WEC Group representing the North West region and being awarded Highly Commended in the National Apprenticeship Awards held in London the evening before. Having already been named winner at the regional competition earlier this year, the success at the National Apprenticeship Awards 2018 is testament to the excellent apprenticeship programme that is provided at the Group’s company-funded, in house Training Schools.
To find out more about the apprenticeship programme, please visit the dedicated page here.
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