Maritime and Engineering College Hosts Apprenticeship Awards

The next generation of engineering and maritime stars was recognized at the annual Maritime and Engineering College North West (MECNW) Apprenticeship Awards.

The ceremony on November 14, held at MECNW in Birkenhead, celebrated the achievements of learners across 11 different award categories which were presented by former Liverpool FC and England player and coach Sammy Lee.

George Day, from Peel Ports, was named overall Apprentice of the Year and also Peel Apprentice of the Year.

Other winners included Calum Ellis of Archbell Greenwood Structures, for ECITB (Engineering Construction Industry Training Board) Apprentice of the Year, Sam Hankin was crowned Cammell Laird Apprentice of the Year, and James Harding of Cammell Laird took home the Welder of the Year award.

Also recognized at the ceremony were Conor Clyne of Interserve Industrial Services, for special achievement, Bradlee Jeffries of Genco Logistics, was crowned Commerce and Logistics Apprentice of the Year, MD Engineering's Jay Cawley was named Young Engineer of the year and finally Kieran Sait of Peel Ports, won the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Award.

Dave Steele, a learning coordinator with MECNW, was crowned Inspirational Staff Member of the Year after apprentices voted him their clear winner. Dave specializes in working with the apprentices on functional skills such as literacy and mathematics, which are a compulsory element of their overall qualification framework.

Jim Teasdale, chief executive of MECNW which is part of the Mersey Maritime Group, hailed the achievements of the winners and said they paint a bright picture for the region's industry.

"Once again, we have seen an excellent shortlist of candidates and the winners really stand out for their endeavourers and achievements over the past year," he said.

"The maritime sector on Merseyside is booming and currently employs about 28,000 people. This is set to double over the next decade through projects such as Liverpool2 and Wirral Waters. We see a bright future for the sector and the winners of these apprenticeship awards show that future is in safe hands.

"Nurturing young talent is key to a stable and successful Merseyside and we will continue to work with employers to help them identify the young people they need now to become the engineers and manufacturing specialists of tomorrow."

mecnw.co.uk