10 young construction apprentices from across NI are reveling in the success achieved in the national final of SkillBuild, the UK’s largest multi-trade competition.

The team achieved 2 Gold medals, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze in bricklaying, cabinet making, carpentry, dry-wall systems, joinery, plastering and wall & floor tiling. This achievement is building on the success achieved at last year WorldSkills proving Northern Ireland has highly skilled talent on a local, national and world stage. All team participants were invited to a celebratory evening at CITB-ConstructionSkills NI were key sponsors and partners applauded their success.

The SkillBuild 2012 UK Final sees the top-scoring finalists compete in a wide range of specialist categories including Bricklaying, Joinery, Carpentry and Stonemasonry. This year, almost 1,000 entrants took part in 14 regional heats across the UK in a bid to make it to the final.

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Barry Neilson, Chief Executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills NI said: "This year's SkillBuild UK Final has been a fantastic success and it’s always a pleasure to bring together the construction industry’s most promising talent in this nationwide competition. It is fantastic to see our local competitors achieve year on year and I congratulate all the medal winners. SkillBuild encourages excellence, helps to raise standards in training and is an exciting way to showcase the outstanding talent in the construction industry, and we're proud of all 100 finalists, who have demonstrated work of an exceptionally high standard."

Snickers Workwear provide the team with top quality clothing for those who are competing and training.

Twenty one year old, Philip Glasgow, Gold medal winner in carpentry from South West College, Omagh was also declared winner of the Frank Eaton Award, which is awarded to the SkillBuild Finalist who has shone throughout the competition and proved himself to be the SkillBuild Finalist of the Year.

Commenting on his win, Philip said: "I'm absolutely delighted, it’s great to have won this special award. The competition was tough, but it’s been worth all the hard work and preparation. I’d like to thank my college for its support and help and also everyone at SkillBuild for a great competition."

(CD)