Andy Sneyd - president elect of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES) - joined Peter Williams, chairman of the North West Training Group, in presenting this year's North West Regional Training Awards.
Luke Challiner of J Fletcher (Engineers), Eccles, Manchester, secured the Heating and Ventilating Installer Award - finishing just ahead of runners-up Sam Williams of national contractor Shepherd Engineering Services and Sam Parr of Kimpton Building Services, Wirral, Merseyside.
The Heating and Ventilating Craftsperson Fitter/Welder Award went to Asa Comley of Shepherd Engineering Services. Runner-up was Joe Maloney of RMD Contracts, Dukinfield, Cheshire.
Electrician of the Year was James Hudson, also of Shepherd Engineering Services. Guy Davies of Drayton Beaumont Services, Stoke on Trent, was named Engineering Technician of the Year, and Service and Maintenance Engineer of the Year was Josh Wheeler of Nice-Pak International, Wigan, Lancs.
Owen Kelsey of national contractor Crown House Technologies won the Incorporated Engineer category - while his employer secured the B&ES-sponsored Commitment to Training Award, which was accepted on behalf of the company by operations leader Neil Brackenridge.
A special award was also presented - by B&ES vice president Jim Marner - to Martin Prince, the Association's regional manager for the North West and West Midlands, on the occasion of his retirement from the post after ten years' service.
Presentation of the awards took place during a dinner hosted at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, Lancs, by Steve Bradshaw, B&ES North West regional chairman.
B&ES president elect Andy Sneyd confirmed that, from the perspective of his own working life, he was well aware of the important role an ongoing commitment to vocational education and training played in ensuring the prosperity of the sector.
'It has often been said - not least by me - that the construction industry and the building engineering services sector are facing a time of fundamental and unprecedented change, which is affecting every aspect of our working lives,' the president elect added.
Such change was permeating technical and quality standards, concepts of energy efficiency, employment terms and conditions, the relationship between parties to the construction process and - last but not least - the expectations of the marketplace.
'Above all, change is forcing us to re-define the skills and competences we will require if we are to continue to deliver a first-class service - on time, on budget and to the satisfaction of all concerned - in an increasingly digitalised age,' Mr Sneyd insisted.
Key to this process were the young people who were being honoured that evening, along with many hundreds of their peers across the UK, who 'will reshape and transform our industry and our businesses'.
'I therefore offer my sincere congratulations to tonight's award winners - as well as to the employers, the colleges and the families who have supported them throughout the learning process - and remind them of the massively important roles they have to play in the years and decades that lie ahead,' the president elect concluded.
