West Met Skills apprentices celebrate awards in prestigious West London Business Awards

West Met Skills apprentices from Uxbridge College and Harrow College are celebrating after winning Highly Commended awards in the prestigious West London Business Awards 2019.

Mohammad Umar Ahmed, Thomas Gillet and Connor Williams received their awards at a gala ceremony and dinner for the sixth annual West London Business Awards, held at Twickenham Stadium and hosted by Sky Sports presenter Alex Payne – pictured far left. Uxbridge College Performing Arts students also provided entertainment with a dance performance.

The three apprentices come under the umbrella of West Met Skills, which provides apprenticeships, CPD, bespoke training, and statutory qualifications to west London employers through the two colleges.

• Mohammad Umar Ahmed (pictured third from right) – Laboratory Technician Level 3 – University of Westminster (Harrow College). Described as exceptionally conscientious and diligent, Mohammad gained excellent technical skills by learning from the chemistry and medical microbiology technicians, and made significant improvements across the workplace. He re-organised the glass store so it could be used appropriately and efficiently, and decluttered throughout, increasing lab capacities by 50-60% and freeing up seating for an extra 82 students in the labs. Staff, PhD students and researchers all compliment him on his work.
• Thomas Gillet (pictured second right) – Infrastructure Technician Level 3 – One Care iT Limited IT and web support (Uxbridge College). Thomas is a fantastic communicator and teamworker with excellent initiative who has always gone the extra mile for clients. He is great at solving problems under pressure and helps meet business goals, including signing up new clients at Hillingdon Expo and conducting a ‘GDPR-gap’ survey to identify client needs and create solutions.
• Connor Williams (pictured third left) – Mechanical Engineering Level 3 – John Guest plumbing systems (Uxbridge College). An excellent role model with great technical skills, Connor ensures he understands all technical terms thoroughly and helps other apprentices learn too. He has very good communication skills and creates innovative engineering solutions which integrate with existing systems and improve efficiency.

Jo Withers, Executive Director Employer Services and Partnerships, said: “West Met Skills,  Harrow College and Uxbridge College are all extremely proud to have three apprentices chosen for Highly Commended Awards in 2019’s West London Business Awards – congratulations to them all! With the colleges’ excellent track record of delivering training for over 50 years, it stands to reason that the West Met Skills collaboration is proving to be a major success and these awards underscore just how effective its training and support packages are.”

West Met Skills grew out of the long-standing and successful Employer Services teams at Uxbridge College and Harrow College following the legal merger of the two colleges to create HCUC (Harrow College Uxbridge College).

As well as providing a full range of apprenticeships and other skills-based training, the organisation matches trainees and candidates to existing vacancies. West Met Skills works with over 700 apprentices and 1200 employers at any given time.

Uxbridge College and its partner employers and apprentices have previously been successful in the West London Business Awards in 2017, 2015, 2014 and 2013.