Owain Powell from GVJ Plumbing & Heating in Ceredigion has been named best young plumber in Wales, following the SkillPLUMB Wales national final at Deeside College on 14 May.
Owain who is studying at Coleg Sir Gar, battled against 10 other competitors in a task to install a small central heating system. Their work had to be completed within the time limit, safely and to recognised industry standards, with a very small margin for errors.
Second place went to Lewis Coombs of Bridgend College, while the third place slot was won by Richard Carlson of Gower College Swansea.
Sponsored by the UK Copper Board, SkillPLUMB is organised by SummitSkills. The Wales national final at Deeside College was also backed by the Welsh Government and the European Social Fund.
Jeff Cuthbert, Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, congratulated the successful contestants at SkillPLUMB and its sister competition SkillELECTRIC. He said: 'These competitions are an excellent opportunity for up-and-coming skilled workers in Wales to stretch themselves and really develop their abilities within their chosen fields.'
The highest scoring competitors from the event now have the chance to compete at a grand final in November where they face competitors from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland to be named SkillPLUMB UK champion.
SkillPLUMB is also a feeder route for competitors to potentially go forward and represent their country in 2015 at Brazil at the biennial WorldSkills competition - the world's largest skills competition.
To find out more about SkillPLUMB visit
www.skillplumb.org.uk
