Skillbuild NI Finals, run by CITB NI, attracts top local apprentices from across Northern Ireland who go head to head in a bid to win in categories such as wall and floor tiling and brickwork and will take palce at Belfast Met on March 22.
The winners may then go on to represent Northern Ireland in the Skillbuild or Skill M&E UK National Finals and potentially the UK at WorldSkills.
Belfast Met has a long history of leading the city to work and offering skills training in areas such as construction and engineering.
Head of the Met’s School of Construction and Engineering, Chris Corken, said, “The teams at Belfast Met are excited to be hosting SkillBuild NI finals again at our Castlereagh campus. We previously hosted this major event in 2015 and it was a fantastic competition – we hope this year is even better.
“The college has supported and bolstered industry since 1906 and our training in construction and building services areas remains central to Belfast Met’s dual mandate of economic development and social inclusion.
“Belfast Met can proudly claim to have nurtured the skills and talent of former bricklaying student Phillip Green, who went all the way to a World Skills Gold Medal success in London in 2011. Philip went on to complete his apprenticeship working in the family business whilst attending Belfast Met. All of this year’s competitors will receive a warm welcome at Belfast Met and I wish them every success.”
David Cooper, CITB NI, Director, said, “CITB NI is proud to have been involved in construction skills competitions for over 40 years and we have a record of success at skills competitions not only on a local level but also on a regional, national and world level.
“We are delighted to be working with Belfast Metropolitan College for this year’s Skillbuild NI National Finals. This competition provides the perfect platform to demonstrate the enormous talent we have in the industry, helping to showcase the professionalism of our brightest recruits and industry as a whole.”
