UHI Moray apprentice wins UK Gold
Danny McBean a 3rd year electrical apprentice from Forres who works for Grants of Dufftown has been awarded the gold medal for the best electrical installation student in the UK at the recent Skillelectric national competition.
Danny was first put forward for this competition by the electrical department at UHI Moray.
He competed in the Scottish National Qualifier against 28 competitors from across Scotland and was placed first in this competition scoring high enough to win him a place in the UK Skills final against seven other top scoring electrical students from across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and England.
This competition took place in Manchester over a 2.5-day event, which involved installing PVC containment and then wiring various circuitry, including smart technology - wiring systems used included FP200, SWA and single core cables. Competitors then had to inspect, test and ensure the functionality of their completed installation. This year also saw for the first time, a solar PV exercise to encompass renewables.
He will now compete for a place in the UK squad which gives him a chance of representing the UK at the World Skill final in Lyon, France next year.
On speaking of Danny's achievements Doug Stephens, Director at Grants spoke shared his pride in Danny ‘Grants is thoroughly delighted that Danny has won the British final gold, we are very proud of him to make such a momentous victory for Danny, UHI Moray, and Grants. He has worked very hard to get this and all his efforts have paid off, huge thanks to UHI Moray for the exceptional level of training he and all our apprentices receive this is a huge accolade to UHI Moray as well as Grants. We can’t wait for the next part of Danny’s journey with upcoming competitions and wish him all the best. Apprentices are the future of our business and we put a large effort into maximising our apprentice intake every year and with a win like this it makes us have no doubts that the company will be in safe hands going forward.’
Danny was awarded with his prizes from SECTT on Monday 4th December at our Linkwood Technology Centre and was joined by Doug, his lecturers including father Iain, David Patterson, Principal at UHI Moray and SECTT.
Barrie McKay, Training & Development Manager at SECTT, stated that "this year’s competition was an amazing experience for all, from the celebration event in London to the competition itself in Manchester and it was great for SECTT to be part of, once again, to give the apprentices in Scotland the opportunity to compete against the best in the UK. He went on, we always say the standard is high which it is, but this year there wasn’t much between any of the competitors and it was an amazing achievement for Danny to win the gold medal."