Local Students Qualify for Major UK Apprentice Competition

A trio of plumbing apprentices from NPTC Group of Colleges have qualified for the prestigious HIP UK Heating Apprentice of the Year competition.

Owen Williams from Neath and Thomas Leyshon from Glyncorrwg are currently with Cyfle Building Skills whilst Nicholas Jones from Port Talbot works for local company Confidimus. They are all Level 3 Plumbing apprentices at the Colleges’ purpose-built Construction Campus in Swansea; they were put forward by their lecturer in plumbing, Nigel Rees.

The three will be taking part in one of seven regional heats to be held across January, February and March next year. They will be up against apprentices and students from around the rest of the UK, including Northern Ireland, and competing for a place in the Grand Final to be held on 29^th and 30^th March at the ADEY Professional Heating Solutions Training and Conference Centre in Cheltenham.

The UK competition is organised every year by HIP Magazine for Levels 2 or 3 students. Last year, NPTC Group of Colleges’ plumbing student James Mackenzie won the regional heat of the ‘HIP National Apprentice of the Year’ competition by beating plumbing students from eight other colleges to be crowned number one in Wales.

NPTC Group of Colleges’ plumbing lecturer Nigel Rees said:

‘’The boys are all looking forward to the regional heats and hoping to emulate the success of James last year. The three are all busy preparing for the competition and we will all be wishing them the best of luck.’’

Apart from the prestige of being crowned the HIP UK Heating Apprentice of the Year, the winner is set to walk away with prizes worth over £9,000 from the competition’s sponsors and contributing manufacturers, who are all major industry names. This even includes a £1,000 cash prize from Platinum Sponsor ADEY Professional Heating Solutions for the winning student, as well as a £1,000 cash prize for the college the winner attends.