Tamworth apprentice named ‘Learner of the Year’ at the 15 th In-Comm Training Awards

A budding Tamworth engineer that is on course to complete his HNC has been named as the ‘Learner of the Year Higher (SME) at the prestigious In-Comm Training Awards.

Joshua Pearce, who works for Precision Technologies, overcome the challenge of more than 20 candidates to achieve the title in front of 400 people industry guests at The Halls in Wolverhampton.

He impressed the judges with his thirst for continuous improvement and helping his employer achieve operational enhancements and cost savings, not to mention working with younger students at Silverstone through the F1 in Schools competition.

The apprentice has now set its sights on achieving a senior leadership role within the next five to ten years.

Backed by main sponsor Ansaldo Nuclear for the first time, the 15 th annual In-Comm Training Awards also saw Aurelia Wojtowicz (Guhring) and Morgan Scott (Forbo Flooring Systems) achieve the ‘Outstanding Learner of the Year’ and ‘Most Improved Learner of the Year’ titles respectively.

Bekki Phillips, Executive Director at In-Comm Training, said this was the biggest celebration of vocational learning ever held in the Midlands.

“We first launched this competition in 2009 and back then we had just 20 finalists and over 100 people attend. That was a marker in the sand, but we knew we wanted to give apprentices and employers a bigger platform to celebrate what they do.

“Fast forward to our 15 th awards evening and we’ve attracted a record-breaking 125 finalists and a crowd of 400. They heard about tales of overcoming the odds, outstanding manufacturing performance, unrivalled learning success and companies defying tax rises and energy prices to continue to invest in their greatest asset…their people.”

She went on to add:

“Joshua was rightly announced as our Higher learner of the year and highlights how quickly you can progress in your career with the right attitude and determination.

“He is a fantastic role model for others to follow and is already spreading the vocational learning gospel and getting more young people to consider a career in engineering!”

The In-Comm Training Awards, which was held for the first time at the University of Wolverhampton at The Halls, gave finalists the opportunity to celebrate their achievements in front of their peers, mentors, and employers.

In addition to the young stars, companies were also in the spotlight for the way they continue to invest in the next generation of talent and how they develop the engineers and professionals of the future.

FBC Manby Bowdler and Alwayse Engineering won the Large and SME Awards
respectively, with the latter impressing for the wide range of apprenticeship programmes and the way it influences curriculums and quality standards.

Other winners included:
 Jack Fallon (RBSL): Apprentice Ambassador
 Michelle Lennon (Guhring): Apprentice Champion
 Logan Stanton (Protolabs): Learner of the Year Advanced Large Company (Telford)
 Leopold Magnee (Castings PLC): Learner of the Year Advanced (Aldridge)
 Amelia Jarrett (RBSL): Learner of the Year Business Support (Telford)
 Aaron Jamanda (Alwayse Engineering): Learner of the Year Foundation SME
(Aldridge)
 Samuel Conway (Konecranes Demag): Learner of the Year Foundation Large
Company (Aldridge)
 Ben Peate (Schneider Electric): Learner of the Year Foundation Large Company
(Telford)
 Joshua Banks (PCP Gratings): Learner of the Year Foundation SME (Telford)
 Stephen Harrison (Collins Marston Green): Learner of the Year Higher (Large
Company)
 Edina Mikosz (Hyve Solutions) – Learner of the Year Professional Services (Telford)
 Ranvir Janagel (Ansaldo Nuclear) – Learner of the Year Professional Services
(Aldridge)

Gareth Jones, Managing Director In-Comm Training, concluded:

“What an evening and what a way to celebrate all the stars of vocational learning in one place!

“It also gave us the perfect opportunity to promote this year’s ‘I’m Included, I’m In-Comm’ campaign, which focuses on inspiring more women into industry. The video, which has received 25,000 views on YouTube, was shown at the awards and the reaction was superb.

“It highlighted that all of the sector - both male and female - are fully behind creating more positive role models for girls to follow.”

He concluded:

“There was also time to pay our respects to Michael Orlik, who sadly passed away earlier this year. He was a great champion of young people and through his kind £25,000 donation to our STEM fund has already helped 700 pupils gain new experiences and skills.”

The In-Comm Training Awards were made possible by headline sponsor Ansaldo Nuclear and other sponsors, including aarc, Accura Engineering, Assa Abloy, Brandauer, Crowe, EAL, Gestamp and Magna Cosma Castings.

For further information, please visit www.in-comm.co.uk or follow @incomm_training on twitter