SkillPLUMB Wales - 2011

SkillPLUMB Wales winner Lee Cuthill (centre) with second place winner
Alex Henning (right) and third place winner Nigel Brink (left).

The Wales national final of the SkillPLUMB competition has named Lee Cuthill of DI Jones Heating Engineers as its winner after a challenging practical event at Yale College, Wrexham. Lee, who also studies at Yale College, beat 10 other competitors to win first place in a task that involved the installation of a small central heating system with copper pipework, a circulation pump and radiators. Judges awarded Lee with the most points against strict assessment criteria including health and safety, measuring and marking out, bending and joint quality and accuracy.

Second place was awarded to Alex Henning, a student with Gower College Swansea, with the third place spot going to Nigel Brink, employed by Whiteheads and a student at Bridgend College.

Speaking of his win, Lee said: "I am thrilled to have won. The competition was very tough but I did my best and thankfully it was good enough to win. I'd like to thank my employer, college and family for all their support and encouragement."

The event is organised by SummitSkills, has the UK Copper Board as its premier sponsor and was supported by the Welsh Government. The highest scoring competitors may have the chance to go forward to the grand final in September where they could face competitors from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and strive to be named the best in the UK.

Neil Collishaw, SummitSkills’ head of skills competitions, said: “This is the fourth year that SkillPLUMB has been held in Wales and the number and quality of competitors from Wales is getting better every year.
“It is clear from the standard of practice on display in Wrexham that building services engineering employers in Wales can be confident of a plentiful supply of talented young people entering their industries.”

The results were as follows:

Lee Cuthill competing in competition	Lee Cuthill receiving award

SkillPLUMB Website