HIP UK has announced the winner of its Apprentice of the Year competition and winner of the BBC’s The Apprentice and owner of ImpraGas, Joseph Valente presented the crown at ADEY Professional Heating Solutions’ head office.
HIP UK has announced the winner of its Apprentice of the Year competition and winner of the BBC’s The Apprentice and owner of ImpraGas, Joseph Valente presented the crown at ADEY Professional Heating Solutions’ head office.
Now in its eighth year, the two-day grand final of the nationwide competition was hosted by the event’s main sponsor, ADEY, at its state-of-the-art training and conference centre. Organised by Heating Installers and Plumbers (HIP), the annual competition supports heating and plumbing apprentices entering the trade.
The seven regional finalists had to complete an assignment to install a hot water cylinder, bar shower, system boiler, radiators, pipework and an ADEY MagnaClean Professional2 magnetic filter within the allotted 15 hours.
An extremely high standard of work saw judges Tony Kite, Glenn Schofield from Pegler Yorkshire, Glenn Stonehouse, technical sales and training support at ADEY and HIP Magazine managing editor and event organiser, Celia Matthews deliberate long and hard. The winner was eventually revealed to be Jack Miller from Hull College. Ewan McGregor from Chichester College was chosen as a well deserved runner up.
A packed programme of speakers ran alongside the main competition which included a talk from special guest, Joseph Valente, followed by a question and answer session for visiting students who were able to gain valuable insight from The Apprentice winner’s experience in the HVAC sector.
ADEY chairman Kelvin Stevens said: “This is the third year we’ve been involved with the HIP UK Heating Apprentice of the Year competition, and it’s now well established as an excellent platform to showcase talent. The competition is getting tougher and tougher each year so it was a very difficult job for the judges to pick a winner.”
He added: “We were delighted Joseph was able to join us to announce the winner. He’s a fantastic role model for the students, and his support for apprenticeships within our industry has got to be a good thing.”
Pictured right: Joseph Valente, winner of The Apprentice 2015, Jack Miller, HIP UK Heating Apprentice of the Year and Kelvin Stevens, ADEY chairman.