Students from Salford City College’s City Skills Sixth Form Centre shone at this year’s Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) Awards, winning a total of four awards.
The prestigious ceremony was held on 27th February at the Imperial Hotel Blackpool, and is an annual event to recognise the achievements of the region’s best apprentices within the heating and ventilation, service and maintenance, plumbing and electrical sectors.
Out of the four categories they were nominated for, the Salford students picked up every single award. All of the winning apprentices are employed by BESA-member companies, and attend City Skills Sixth Form Centre for day release to carry out their training.
The Level 2 Heating & Ventilation Service Engineer of the Year award went to 22-year-old George Eastwood, who is employed by Lewis Facilities in Oldham. Nineteen-year-old Bradley Taylor scooped the prize for Level 2 Heating & Ventilation Installer of the Year for the work he does at Balfour Beatty.
The award for Level 3 Heating & Ventilation Craftsperson of the Year went to 21-year-old Sam Parr, who is employed by Wirral-based Kimpton Energy Solutions. Finally, 25-year-old Martin Heyes picked up the gong for Level 3 Heating & Ventilation Service Engineer of the Year. Martin’s Apprenticeship employer is Futureserv Consulting Engineers, which is based in Manchester city centre.
Salford City College tutors Greg Derbyshire, Peter Forgione and Graham Gibson, along with site assessor Craig Meek, were delighted with the students’ results, and are very proud of their success. Graham Gibson commented: “It was wonderful to meet the students’ parents at the ceremony and witness how proud they were at seeing their child receive the acclamation of the industry, represented by so many national companies.”
He added: “On speaking with the students’ employers during the evening, all were thrilled and many have plans to develop the career paths of the winning apprentices within the company.”
