Aico’s newly launched Apprentice of the Year award was established to recognise the outstanding electrical professionals of tomorrow.
Out of over 100 applicants from electrical apprentices across the UK, twelve selected apprentices were brought to JTL Birmingham for an assessment day on Wednesday 14th February.
The apprentices were tasked with both theory-based and practical tasks, including wiring a full alarm system and house coding Aico’s Ei3016 Optical Alarm with the Ei450 Alarm Controller.
Learner Assessment Manager at JTL, Kirstine Ginger, expressed her thoughts from the day on LinkedIn: “The calibre of apprentice was very high, and it was great to see support from their employers, family and college staff. All the apprentices did exceptionally well with the challenges that were presented to them, they were given a selection of materials in a personal work bay and a technical drawing with a 4-hour time limit to replicate the drawing.”
The task included a series of electrical circuits, 2-way switches, metal trunking and conduit, which was designed to test their knowledge and skills. The apprentices who excelled at this task were then challenged to test the circuit.
A special thanks to the twelve apprentices from Citizen Housing, Places for People, Swiss Solar Facility Engineering, Raylec Electrical Installations, Melin Homes, Yorkshire Housing, Orestone, Dundee City Council, Norwich Electrical, Sureserve and John Noble Electrical Contractors, who took part. We wish you the best of luck in your bright futures.
Tony Boyle, National Sales Manager for Aico, commented “We are delighted to be able to recognise the outstanding skills being developed by the installers of the future through our Apprentice of the Year award. The response and amount of applications have been truly overwhelming so we would like to thank everyone who has played a part. We have a long-established policy of developing young people within our sector through apprenticeship schemes and to be able to engage with some of the apprentices who form a key part of our supply chain is terrific.”
The top six candidates from the assessment will be invited to Aico’s Community Awards on Thursday 18th April, where the winner will be announced in front of a packed industry audience.