WEC Group Celebrates Success at Annual Apprentice of the Year Awards 2024
Welding and fabrication specialists WEC Group hosted their 15th annual Apprentice of the Year awards ceremony on Thursday 28th November 2024 at their WEC Engineering Academy in Blackburn, Lancashire. The event was held to celebrate the outstanding achievements of WEC Group apprentices over the past 12 months.
In attendance were current and former apprentices, WEC colleagues, friends, family and esteemed guests, including the Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen Brian Taylor, who gave an insightful speech about apprenticeships.
The ceremony included awards for a wide range of categories, including Welding Excellence, Outstanding Academic Achievement, Commitment, WEC Academy Value Award and Machining Excellence. Students who successfully completed their first 12 months were also presented with trophies, ahead of the main awards of the evening.
The awards presentation was held in the academy’s purpose-built conference room, with food and drinks later served on the shop floor area of the training facility. Parents and guests also had the opportunity to test their welding skills on the company’s Lincoln Electric Virtual Welding Simulator and use our new steady hand interactive game.
The highlight of the evening was the awarding of the two main awards of the night. The Rising Star Award was presented to Joe Barnes, before our first year welding & fabrication apprentice Zak Swinton took home the highly coveted prize of Apprentice of the Year 2024.
This year we were delighted to present a special Lifelong Commitment Award to Academy Governor Derrick Connolly. Derrick started his career at WEC Group some 36 years ago as the company’s very first apprentice and quickly evolved into a highly skilled tradesman, climbing through the ranks as a supervisor, then project engineer, and eventually a director with company shares.
Derrick’s journey is the embodiment of what can be achieved through an apprenticeship and he continues to shape the future of the company in his current role at the Academy.