Two students from Redcar & Cleveland College have nailed top titles at the regional heats of a prestigious national skills competition.

John Atkinson and James Brownless proved that they are two of the best trainees in the North East, following success at the regional heat of this year’s SkillBuild – the UK’s biggest construction skills competition.

John, 21, who is studying for an in NVQ Joinery and Carpentry won a gold medal in the Joinery category of the competition, whilst James, 19, who is also an apprentice with Mitie, won the gold medal in the Junior Painting & Decorating category at the North East heat, which took place on 1st July at Newcastle College.

Talking about his success at the competition, John, who has been supported throughout his studies by his employers PM Straw Builders, said:

“The award is fantastic as it reflects the hard work that I’ve put in during my course and also the support I’ve received from my employer and tutors at college.

“I really wasn’t expecting to win today as the level of competition was so high, but we’ve worked hard in preparation for the competition and that really helped me to handle the task we were set.”

The lads weren’t the only Redcar & Cleveland College students to taste success at the event - Lucie Nicholson, 19, placed 2nd in the Junior Painting & Decorating category and Stephen Read, 26, and Glenn Jones, 19, achieved 2nd and 3rd place respectively in the Carpentry category.

Principal of Redcar & Cleveland College, Gary Groom, said of the student’s success:

“To have so many of our students competing and finding success in the SkillBuild event highlights the college’s strengths in Built Environment disciplines. The college is clearly providing the very best training you can find anywhere in the UK. Staff and students put in a tremendous effort to attain such high standards and we are very proud of them.”

“This is the third year in a row that students from Redcar & Cleveland College have won gold medals on a regional level and we hope that they will now go on to National success ”

John and James will now be flying the flag for the North East and will have their chance to compete against the other UK regions at the SkillBuild national final, which will take place 7-9 October at South Lanarkshire College in Scotland. National winners from this year’s competition will then have the opportunity to represent the UK and compete in the 2011 international WorldSkills competition in London.

SkillBuild, which is organised by ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, aims to find the UK’s best trainee across a variety of trades including: bricklaying, carpentry, joinery and painting and decorating.

The students competed against each other in their given trade to complete a set of work within the day. The competition challenged the trainees to produce accurate and high quality work within a strict timescale – all essential requirements for today’s construction industry. The work was assessed by a panel of technical experts at the end of the day when the winners in each trade were announced.

The competition, which has been running for more than 20 years, is an opportunity to recognise the importance of apprentices and full time trainees, and their skills. It also provides a platform for companies to highlight the quality of their workforce and commitment to training – which is essential in the current climate to provide businesses with a competitive edge.