North West Regional College to host Skillbuild NI Finals

The best of young talent in the Construction Industry will go head to head at North West Regional College (NWRC) for the finals of Skillbuild NI on March 23.

Skillbuild NI, run and governed by the Construction Industry and Training Board Northern Ireland (CITBNI), is held annually each spring with the region’s top local construction apprentices competing to win coveted titles in disciplines ranging from Brickwork to Wall and Floor Tiling.

The winners will go on to represent Northern Ireland in the Skills Show UK and potentially at the WorldSkills Finals, which will be held in Kazan, Russia in 2019.

The event, which will take place at the college’s Greystone Campus in Limavady, was officially launched this week by five of NWRC’s former competitors at UK and Worldskills – Cameron Nutt who represented the College and Squad UK when me he made it all the way to Abu Dhabi to compete in World Skills Finals 2017, Ian McMahon, Wall & Floor Tiling, Worlds Skills London 2011; Martin McLaughlin, Wall & Floor Tiling World Skills Brazil 2015; Adrian Canning, Electrical Installation, World Skills Brazil 2015, and Ivan Brown Kerr who achieved Gold at the Skillbuild NI Finals.

Almost 100 competitors have already claimed their place in the Skillbuild Finals after making it through Intercampus competitions which have taken place across the six regional colleges in Northern Ireland.
They will now compete in: Bricklaying, Cabinet Making, Carpentry, Electrical, Joinery, Painting and Decorating, Plastering, Plumbing, Refrigeration and Wall & Floor Tiling.

Karen Moore, Head of Training and Skills at NWRC said: “North West Regional College is proud to host the Skillbuild NI National Finals 2018 at our Greystone campus.

“This is the college’s third occasion to host the Skillbuild NI National finals at our campuses in Limavady and we look forward to welcoming competitors and guests to the North West Region.

“In previous years there has been a great atmosphere at the Skillbuild NI competitions and I’d like to thank the teams at NWRC and CITB NI for their work in bringing this prestigious competition back to the North West.

“The Skillbuild NI National finals puts the spotlight on our apprentices and allows many of them to travel the world showcasing the vast range of skills from this region.

“I’d like to thank our former students, who are all now working successfully in industry, for returning to the college to launch this event.

“We are expecting a wide range of visitors to attend the competition to view the standard of skill and craftsmanship in skill areas.”

Barry Neilson, Chief Executive CITB NI said: “We are delighted to be working with North West Regional College for this year’s Skillbuild NI National Finals. This competition provides the perfect platform to demonstrate the enormous talent we have in the industry, helping to showcase the professionalism of our brightest recruits and industry as a whole. Over the past few years our construction apprentices have achieved great success on a local, regional and World stage and the best of luck in Skillbuild NI 2018.”