REPRESENTATIVES from North West Wales’s business community flocked to Bangor University’s PJ Hall recently for Busnes Llandrillo Menai’s annual apprenticeship award ceremony.

The event, sponsored by global engineering specialist Babcock International Group, celebrates the value apprentices bring to the economy and their individual contributions and achievements within the workplace or classroom setting.

The ceremony was attended by over 40 businesses, 30 apprentices and their tutors. The big winner on the evening was plumber Tom Thomas from Porthmadog who scooped the award for the ‘Overall Apprentice of the Year 2020’ for representing Grŵp Llandrillo Menai on a national, UK and World stage.

Tom competed at the WorldSkills event in Kazan Russia in 2019 and works for AER Cymru in Penrhyndeudraeth, he is now progressed on to a level 3 apprenticeship.

Tom’s employer Martin Roberts, AER Cymru commented: “Tom is a pleasure to work with. He’s one of three apprentices that we currently employ. As a company, apprenticeships are important for us, they provide a way for us to invest for the future and create local jobs.

“We are very proud of Tom’s achievements in the skills competitions and we’ve supported him throughout the selection process and training period – the competition is very demanding and we’re proud to see how he has thrived under pressure.”

A total of 11 Apprentice of the Year awards were presented to the following on the evening: Tom Thomas (Porthmadog) - Construction Hari Gethin (Benllech, Anglesey) - Traineeship Lily Groom (Abergele) -Management, Business Services and Retail Sheridan Bailey (Llanrwst) - IT and Digital

Sian Williams (Rhuddlan) - Accountancy

Non Khan (Conwy) - Hospitality

Llinos Haf Jones (Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey) - Hair and Beauty Lauren Marshall (Holyhead) - Health and Social Care

Ian Hedges (Benllech, Anglesey) - Childcare

Cameron Barry (Holyhead) - Engineering

Erin Roberts (Blaenau Ffestiniog) - Colegau Cymru Cenedlaethol Award Maria McLean from Dylan’s Restaurant Ltd, attended the event with Non Khan. She commented: “Non has been a part of the team at Dylan's Llandudno since the restaurant opened, she's a valued member of the kitchen team. She is dedicated, experienced and creative and shows great flair in the kitchen.

“The benefits [of apprenticeships] are huge. Recruitment in our sector can be challenging so apprenticeships are incredibly important to Dylan's in providing a recruitment tool that allows us to bring new people into the business, train and help them develop. We currently employ five apprentices in our three restaurants.”