The eight SkillELECTRIC competitors who scored most highly across the recent national qualifying heats have been named as this year’s UK finalists:
Ben Gillin – Lloyd Morris Electrical / JTL Training
Conor McDonnell – Nesbitt Electrical / Southern Regional College
Danny McBean – Grants of Dufftown / SECTT
Demi Mae Whitehead – William Davis Homes / JTL Training
Jason Robinson – Neil Whicker Electrical Services / College of West Anglia
Kevin Boone – Darke & Taylor / Training in Electrical
Thomas Magee – Belfast Met College / SM Electrical
Thomas Turner – Parker Technical Services / JTL Training
All will now take part in the UK Grand Final being held at Oldham College across the week of 13th November.
SkillELECTRIC, the annual search for the UK’s best student electrician, is part of the WorldSkills UK competition framework. The event is organised by industry charity National Electrotechnical Training (NET), in conjunction with sponsors and delivery partners Electric Center, the NICEIC and Scolmore Group.
Alongside SkillELECTRIC, around 50 other WorldSkills national competition finals will be taking place that week across nine venues around Greater Manchester.
To be crowned SkillELECTRIC champion, competitors will have to excel in a complicated two-day practical installation task set to a strict timescale and against a rigorous marking criteria. In a first for this year, the event will also include a solar PV-related task to reflect the fact that the core competence of a qualified electrician is the foundation from which to upskill and train in solar installation.
“We’ve seen some fantastic skills on display from our heats this year and we are really pleased we have representation from all four nations in our UK final – it’s set to be a great competition,” said Jennie Phung, SkillELECTRIC Project Manager. “As always we’d like to thank Electric Center, the NICEIC and Scolmore Group for the significant amount of time and resource they put into the competition – their support is invaluable. We look forward to November’s event and working with our competitors before then to help them prepare for their UK final performance.”
“We are very proud to continue to play a key role in the SkillELECTRIC competition,” added Jake Green, Head of Technical Engagement at Scolmore Group. “It takes a lot of confidence from the contestants to put themselves forward for the competition, so I commend them. It is this confidence and determination that we need to see in the electricians of the future. The skillset we have amongst this year’s finalists is brilliant, I am looking forward to seeing what they can all demonstrate at the final in November.”
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