Three Scottish plumbing apprentices, all of whom are employed by SNIPEF members, qualified for the top eight at the UK WorldSkills final held last month at Middlesborough College.

One of them, Sean Esslemont, who studied at Moray College and is employed by Elgin-based McDonald & Munro Limited, secured a much-coveted Silver Award for his performance.

The two other Scots finalists were Kayne Forsyth of North East College Scotland, employed by Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire-based Camwater Ltd, and Jack Forbes of Edinburgh College, who works for A Alexander & Son (Electrical) Ltd of Glasgow.

All three SNIPEF competitors were supported by their college lecturers as well as SNIPEF’s Training Manager, Dale Thomson.

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He said: "To have three out of eight finalists in this highly regarded UK-wide skills contest, all employed by SNIPEF members and trained at three Scottish colleges, is a great tribute to, and a fantastic reflection of, the high quality of work and training conducted in Scotland.

"It was inspiring to see our SNIPEF apprentices demonstrate their skills under close inspection by industry experts on a series of challenging practical tests and be assessed on their individual knowledge, practical skills and employability attributes against set criteria in a competitively timed environment."

Paul Dodds MBE, a WorldSkills Judge, said: "The quality of work at the competition this year was of a very high standard and is the closest we have had for many years."

Fiona Hodgson, SNIPEF Chief Executive, said: "We congratulate Sean, Kayne and Jack on their hard work throughout the competition. All three SNIPEF apprentices did an amazing job to be in the top eight apprentice plumbers in the UK and we are all very proud.

"We would also like to congratulate Craig Fairweather, who works for SNIPEF member McDonald & Munro Ltd alongside Sean Esslemont, for picking up the gold medal in the electrical installation competition at the WorldSkills UK Finals."