Welder and fabricator Jonathan Rowell, aged 20, was chosen after a rigorous selection process which saw him rank in the top 10 in the country for his skills, guaranteeing selection for Squad UK. 

Andy Gowing, construction manager at Hargreaves said: “We’re delighted Jonathan, one of our 20 of apprentices, has made it to the World Skills finals – a notoriously difficult competition for which to be selected. We look forward to following his progress in the year ahead.”

Hargreaves is dedicated to supporting young people in engineering through a variety of apprenticeship and schooling programmes, specifically through the company’s Engineering Young Talent Programme.

Andy said: “Over the last four years the scheme has built strong relationships with secondary schools in the Greater Manchester area, providing opportunities for students to participate in engineering tasks throughout every year of their school life. This year we’re looking to make the programme bigger and better, by working with a local primary school to facilitate an after school engineering club alongside providing additional support to colleges in order to involve A level and BTEC students in apprenticeships.”

Pictured above: Jonathan Rowell (left) receives his World Skills finals award from Andy Gowing.