Pictured: The William Davis apprentices, Stephenson College
students and their mentors outside the Eco-House (back l-r) Carl
Brindley and Reece Bradley, both Stephenson College with (front
l-r) Patrick Maxwell, new technologies trainer, Stephenson College;
Sam Limbert and Chelsey White, both William Davis and Nigel Leigh,
principal, Stephenson College
Two apprentices from Loughborough-based contractor and developer
William Davis Ltd were invited to showcase their construction
skills at the international WorldSkills London event.
Chelsey White and Sam Limbert, who are both undertaking
traditional plumbing apprenticeships at William Davis supplemented
with day release training at Stephenson College, Loughborough,
participated in the construction of an Eco House during the
WorldSkills event.
For the first time in 20 years, WorldSkills took place in the UK
and brought together 1000 skilled young people from across the
globe to become the best of the best in seven sectors including
construction. Stephenson College joined a consortium of college
construction departments to build the Eco House, which was situated
in Royal Victoria Square, the public open space outside ExCeL. The
William Davis apprentice duo formed a team with other students from
Stephenson College to install an Air Source Heat Pump and a
Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system in the Eco House
to re-circulate warm air from the kitchen and bathroom back around
the property. William Davis also provided all personal protective
equipment the apprentices needed when constructing the project.
Brian Bradford, training and personnel manager, William Davis
said: "The Eco House project presented a fantastic opportunity for
our apprentices to showcase their skills at international level.
Recently, William Davis apprentices have enjoyed exceptional
success in similar skills-based events so it was exciting for the
next generation to follow in their footsteps.
"The Eco House proved to be a great success and an excellent
example of vocational skills in practice. Everyone at William Davis
is immensely proud of what the apprentices achieved and hope the
project serves to inspire others to a career in construction."
Glyn Stenson, section head for building services, Stephenson
College said: "The construction of the Eco House within the World
Skills arena gave the students from Stephenson College and partner
colleges the opportunity to both demonstrate and experience the new
skills which will support future eco friendly building projects.
This unique opportunity gave students great pride in showcasing
green energy products and installation techniques and the
commercial support, sponsorship and excellent partnership approach
we enjoyed with William Davis was greatly appreciated."
Aidan Jones, executive director, WorldSkills London added: "The
huge range of showcasing ideas that poured in from colleges in the
UK was really impressive. With 150,000 visitors to the WorldSkills
London 2011 competition, the showcase demonstrated the widest range
of skills that shape our world and were a really exciting part of
the biggest, most inspirational and visual display of careers ever
seen in the UK."
William Davis' in-house apprenticeship scheme has been running
for over 65 years. The company recently employed nine youngsters as
its 2011 intake.