WEC Group apprentice proves he's the best in Britain

A welding and engineering apprentice from Darwen has won Gold at the WorldSkills UK final in Construction MetalWork.

Thomas Woodburn is a third year engineering and fabrication apprentice at Darwen-based Manufacturing Company WEC Group Ltd. He won the accolade after beating off stiff competition, including four other WEC Group apprentices at the three day competition which was held at the NEC, Birmingham from 19 - 21 November.

Thomas secured a place at the WorldSkills UK National final after scoring very highly in the Construction MetalWork regional heats, managed by SEMTA, which took place earlier this year.

"The finalists from other companies were all older and a lot more experienced and on the third day of the competition I was running out of time to complete my fabrication, but I managed to finish it in the nick of time.

WEC Group Training Academy apprentices competed against almost 100 entrants from around the UK to make it to the final 13 – with WEC and East Lancashire contributing almost 50 per cent of the national finalists.

Thomas will now participate in a training and development programme which will include the selection of Team UK ahead of WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017. This will include a series of milestones and benchmarks which Squad UK Competitors must achieve to progress. By taking part in the WorldSkills Competition, the UK is able to share best practise in apprenticeships, further education and skills with countries around the world, raising standards on a global scale. The UK is currently seventh in the WorldSkills rankings after winning three Gold, four Silver and two Bronze medals at WorldSkills São Paulo 2015.