Dale Turner from North Shields has been named JTL’s ‘National MES Apprentice of the Year’ – Mechanical Engineering Services.
At a ceremony held on June 12 at One Moorgate Place in London, Dale was chosen from a cohort of 1,665 final year apprentices and presented with the award as well as a £250 cheque by JTL chief executive, Jon Graham.
Registered charity, JTL runs its annual awards to celebrate the highest achieving young trainees in the building services engineering sector. Candidates (all in the final year of their apprenticeships) are nominated from each of JTL’s seven regions across England and Wales on the basis of their outstanding performances throughout the four years of their training.
Dale, who works for Kier North Tyneside – a joint venture between leading construction services group, Kier, and North Tyneside Council to provide construction, repair and maintenance services for the region’s council homes and public buildings – said: “Receiving the award was really exciting but the other nominees sounded so good that I didn’t think I’d be the winner.
“It’s great to have been able to share the moment with my family and the team I work with, who all came to cheer me on. Throughout my apprenticeship I’ve worked towards being the best tradesman I can be and receiving the award is definitely a bonus!”
Jon added: “Our awards are a great opportunity to recognise the excellence of the learners we work with. These are bright individuals, many of whom have had the opportunity to go to university but have made the choice to follow an apprenticeship and ‘earn while they learn’.
“In my conversations with this year’s finalists, I’ve been struck by the maturity of each of them – they’ve carefully weighed up their options and then committed 100% to their apprenticeship. We recognised and celebrated some brilliant young talent at our awards ceremony.”