Odhran Connelly, from Southern Regional College in Northern Ireland, was victorious at the SkillBuild 2018 National Finals in Wall and Floor Tiling.

Odhran beat off stiff competition from silver medallist James Ackland (Cardiff and Vale College), bronze medallist Mariusz Kanjecki (City of Glasgow College), Callum Pearson (Highly Commended, from Leeds College of Building) and four other competitors.

The finals of the national construction competition for apprentices and trainees took place at Birmingham’s NEC from 15th– 17th November as part of the WorldSkills UK Live exhibition.

Throughout the three-day, 18-hour competition, contestants were asked to tile a wall and floor based on a 3D building design and 150mm x 150mm ceramic tiles.

Competitors fixed the tiles with BAL Max Flex Fibre and BAL Rapid-Flex One and grouted with BAL Micromax2 Snow including BAL Micromax Sealant for all movement joints.
Other materials were supplied by TTA members including N&C and Schluter Systems, with Sigma contributing to the prize giveaways.

Dave Rowley, BAL Training Manager and lead judge for SkillBuild 2018, said: “Many congratulations to Odhran for winning a hard-fought final competition. The standard of fixing throughout the three days was exceptionally high which made adjudicating very hard.

“As a company, we are committed to training the next generation of tilers to a high standard, so supporting the SkillBuild competition is a priority of ours. Competitions like these help raise standards and give trainees and apprentices a focus and standard to work towards.”

SkillBuild is now in its sixth year and is run by the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board). The competition sees the very best students from Regional Heats compete in ten construction occupations, including tiling, to be crowned the overall SkillBuild winner in their chosen trade.

As a national SkillBuild winner, Odhran is eligible to compete at WorldSkills 2019, being held in the Russian city of Kazan.

For information about entering SkillBuild 2019, please contact Dave Rowley at drowley@building-adhesives.com

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