Three Northern Ireland winners in IMI 2022 Skills Competition
The winners of the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) 2022 Skills Competition have been announced.
More than 500 apprentices took part in the competition, with 23 winners selected across four categories: Body Repair, Light Vehicle Technology, Refinishing and Heavy Vehicle.
There were three winners from Northern Ireland across both the body repair and refinishing categories: Adam Neville from Lookers Charles Hurst in Belfast claimed gold in refinishing, while for body repair, David McKeown from JMAR Accident Repair in Ballymena won silver and Ben Priestley of Porters Bodyshop in Portadown bagged himself bronze.
All the eligible finalists now go forward to the World Skills International competition to be held in Lyon, France in September 2024.
Having been nominated by their tutor or employer, each competitor completed an online quiz, took part in a one-day practical national qualifier and underwent training days and employer visits.
The finalists then came together at Cardiff and Vale College for a two-day practical live final for World Skills UK. They completed their final six tasks in front of a team of volunteer judges.
“2022 has been another challenging year for the sector, yet we have seen a cohort of highly skilled automotive apprentices, of all ages, step forward,” said Richard Hutchins, competitions manager at IMI.
“The applicants and finalists come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and from groups that are generally under-represented in automotive.”