A Scottish plasterer has been awarded the Scottish Apprentice of the Year award and the Overall Apprentice of the Year prize for his plastering skills.
The awards were given out at the prestigious CITB industry awards and were both given to 23-year-old Kenny McAllister from East Kilbride.
McAllister works for Bryan Mac Plastering and has said that he was shocked to hear that he had been awarded not just the local award, but the overall UK award as well. He told the Glasgow Evening Times: “I was thrilled just to have been nominated, but never really expected to win, so I was pretty shocked to hear my name called out for both the Scottish and UK awards.”
Director of CITB Scotland, Graeme Ogilvy, commented on the awards: “These awards show how important apprentices are to the industry and will act as a showcase of the excellent young talent we’re producing.”
Ben Fogle, TV personality, hosted the awards at the IndigO2 Arena in London. The event attracted apprentices from across the UK, highlighting the skills that young people are picking up on a daily basis and the hard work and projects they are delivering on.
The news comes as research has found that around half of small and medium-sized businesses in Scotland are reluctant to take on new apprentices. Awards such as this that highlight the hard graft put in and valuable contribution that apprentices make to the economy and individual companies.
Of those that expressed doubts in taking on an apprentice, a quarter said that they thought it would be expensive, while the same percentage said that they had worries over whether or not they would be able to devote the time needed to training. Both concerns that can be alleviated with a good training provider.