Starkey sweeps best of the best at JTL awards

Luke Starkey of Eastern Power Systems has been named Best Apprentice for 2007 at JTL's national awards ceremony, which took place at The Tower of London.

The newly qualified 21-year old electrician is based in Norwich and represented JTL's East Region. He successfully competed against 10 regional finalists from England and Wales who were originally selected from nearly 10 000 JTL apprentices.

The second-place winner was David Barber, employed by E.ON UK Energy Services. Nottingham-based Barber represented the West Midlands region. The third-place winner was Marc Billington, employed by Boulting Group in Warrington and representing the North West.

The following apprentices were highly commended and recognised as being the top apprentices in England and Wales (in alphabetical order):

• Matthew Daniels - North East
• Daniel Grant - London
• Amy Lawrence - South East
• Thomas Moynan - East Midlands
• Ben Thornton - Wales
• Ian Turner - South West
• Leighton Webb - Yorkshire and Humberside

As the national winner, Starkey’s total cash prize amounts to £2250, with Barber and Billington winning £1500 and £1250 respectively. All three winners also received a trophy and plaque celebrating their achievement. Recognising the invaluable contribution that the winners' employers have made to the advancement and support of these apprentices over the last four years, JTL also awarded the proud employers with a winner's plaque.

On being proclaimed ‘the best of the best’, Starkey said: “The last four years have been a real challenge but winning this prize, and knowing I’ve got a great future ahead of me, has made it all worthwhile. I can’t thank enough my JTL mentor, Matt Frere-Smith, and employer, Eastern Power Systems, as well as all the staff at EAGIT training centre who have helped me gain the necessary skills and a wide range of experience that will help me in the future. They’ve inspired me and encouraged me to recognise what I can achieve as an electrician.”

Darren Lloyd, Eastern Power Systems’ contracts manager, said: “As a company we fully support apprenticeships and have benefited from working with JTL in finding and developing capable, solid apprentices with enthusiasm and a strong future ahead of them; their support is invaluable. If I could say anything, it would be to encourage more companies to take on apprentices. They are the future of the industry and, in my experience, have really helped us grow our business.”

This year, the JTL awards were redesigned to incorporate the four key elements of the training framework - practical, theory, key skills and industry test scores - now necessary for apprentices from any industry to become fully qualified. The revamped awards also reflect JTL’s increased regional focus, aimed at providing further support to its 9700 apprentices and 3500 employers.

Denis Hird, Chief executive of JTL commented: “At JTL, we recognise that our apprentices' achievements would not be possible without the many local employers in England and Wales that work with us to train them up and support them. Their ongoing commitment and encouragement, along with that of JTL’s training officers is crucial both to the success of our apprentices and to JTL. We’ve got 3500 employers who already do a great job by taking on and mentoring apprentices, we just wish there were more. These awards have been a perfect example of how apprentices can, and have, helped contribute to the growth of a business; something I’m sure our 10 winning employers will agree.”