Scotland’s leading electrical bodies have praised the “incredible spirit” of four talented young electrical apprentices in reaching the finals of the prestigious SkillELECTRIC competition.
The Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT) and trade association SELECT have both hailed John-Ross Campbell, Kalum Low, Milly Smith and Ewan Thomas for their performance in the recent UK-wide event.
And the bodies also said that half of this year’s finalists coming from north of the border was a clear demonstration of Scotland’s “excellent skills and training pedigree”.
SECTT apprentices John-Ross, Kalum, Milly and Ewan flew the flag for Scotland in the SkillELECTRIC final at Oldham College last week (November 20-22).
Milly, who attends Dumfries & Galloway College and works for SELECT member firm CS McKerlie Electrical Services, was highly commended for her excellent performance, as was Kalum, who attends UHI Moray and works for MS Electrical and Renewables.
John-Ross attends UHI North, West and Hebrides and works for SELECT member firm A Campbell Electrical Services Ltd in Stornoway, while Ewan attends Borders College and works for JGM Services.
All eight finalists spent three days undertaking a complicated electrical installation task which had to be completed within a strict timeframe and was marked against tough criteria including wiring and connection skills, inspecting, testing and fault finding.
An electric vehicle (EV) charge unit was also included in the main task to reflect the fact that the core competence of a qualified electrician is the foundation from which to upskill and train in EV charge point installation.
The competition was eventually won by 21-year old Charlie Moore, a recently-qualified apprentice from the College of West Anglia.
Fiona Harper, CEO of SECTT, which which manages electrical installation apprenticeships in Scotland, said: “I would like to offer my heartiest congratulations to all four finalists who represented Scotland and SECTT as it took incredible spirit and determination to even reach the final.
“Milly and Kalum in particular can be extremely proud of being highly commended in such a strong field – it was a very tough competition with extremely high standards.”
Alan Wilson, Managing Director of SELECT, Scotland’s largest construction trade association, said: “Scotland can once again be proud of its excellent skills and training pedigree, with four out of the eight SkillELECTRIC finalists coming from north of the border.
“Although we were obviously disappointed not to win, all four SECTT apprentices should be extremely proud of what they have achieved, and I am sure they will go on to great things in their careers.”
Held as part of the WorldSkills UK competition framework, SkillELECTRIC is the annual search for the UK’s best student electrician.
Previous Scottish winners include Danny McBean, who is employed by SELECT member firm Grants of Dufftown Ltd and won gold in 2023, and Craig Fairweather of member firm McDonald & Munro in Moray, who was crowned champion in 2022.