Skill Auto winners announced

Following the three day competition hosted at the NEC, Birmingham, the winners for the IMI Skill Auto 2015 competition have been announced.

In front of 75,000 visitors, 18 competitors have competed across three work streams (Auto Refinishing, Auto Body and Auto Tech) to be crowned the best automotive apprentice in their field.

Auto Body
Gold – Andrew Gault; trained at Riverpark Training; employer Glenn Allen Car Body Repairs, Cookstown
Silver – Andrew McClure; trained at Riverpark Training; employer Wrights ARC, Dundonald
Bronze – Leon Smith; trained at Cardiff and Vale College; employer Renovate Body Repairs, Llanelli

Auto refinishing
Gold – Adam Litchfield; trained at Cardiff and Vale College; employer NSW Accident Repair Centre, Cardiff
Silver – Jonathan McNaugher; trained at Riverpark Training; employer Nigel Whann ARC, Ballymena
Bronze – Jake Brewster; trained at Chesterfield College; employer Joe Black’s 8 Ball Custom Paintwork, Ripley

Auto Tech
Gold – Connor McGaughey; trained at South West College-Omagh; employer Kelly’s Garage
Silver – Ben Brown; trained at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College; employer Halfords
Bronze – Seamus Goodfellow; trained at South West College-Omagh; employer Ballina Car Auto Repair

David Massie MIMI, skills competition manager, said, ‘The 2015 IMI Skill Auto competition has been the best yet and my thanks go to everyone involved in helping deliver a showcase event. The real stars though were our finalists. They all demonstrated the exceptional talent we have within our sector and represented themselves and our industry very positively. Some now move on to train for the international squad who will compete in Abu Dhabi in 2017, but I wish them all very best for what I’m sure will be a bright future for each and every one of them.’

Selected for the WorldSkills 2017 squad for Automotive Body Repair are: Daniel Baker, Andrew Gault, Andrew McClure and Andrew Spiers; for Automotive Refinishing are: Rory Clague, Daryl Head, Jonathan McNaugher, and Kyle Saunders; and for Automotive Technology is Seamus Goodfellow. They join two hundred young people, selected on the basis of their success at UK Skills 2015 and 2014, will now begin training with the aim of representing Team UK at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi in October 2017.

IMI would like to thank key companies supporting the competition including Würth and Morelli.