Richard Bradley from Southport, Merseyside, has been crowned winner of the 2019 NICEIC and ELECSA Electrical Apprentice of the Year competition.

The 31-year old former marine was one of eight competitors to reach the Grand Final which was held on Tuesday 4th June at the head office of the competition partner – Scolmore Group.

The final was the third stage of the contest, which saw more than 1000 apprentices from across the UK take part.

Richard studied electronics as part of his apprenticeship with the Ministry of Defence. He is currently working towards his NVQ Level 3 Qualification in Electrical Installation at a local training centre.

“I was so surprised when they said my name. I thought they called the wrong person. I don’t think I’ve ever been so shocked” said Richard.

“I entered the competition after recently being medically discharged from the marines. I needed to find a career that was similar to the work I was doing but could also help me develop as a person and support my family.

Being a part of the competition has been such a rewarding experience. I got to work beside some amazing finalists and it has given me more confidence in my work ability and I’m extremely proud of what I have achieved. I started off as a self-taught spark who wanted to see where electrics could take me. Now, I intend to push forward and keep challenging myself as Apprentice of the Year.

It has been a fantastic experience and I would definitely recommend anyone wanting to push themselves further to consider taking part. You’ve got nothing to lose by taking part and you never know what will come from it.”

As the overall winner, Richard was presented with a holiday voucher worth £2,000. All eight finalists were given an engraved glass trophy, an iPad and a kit bag containing an array of Scolmore’s electrical accessories.

Darren Staniforth, Senior Technical Development Manager at NICEIC and ELECSA said: “This is the fourth year that we have run the competition and the standards are getting higher each year. That is encouraging for the industry as a whole.

“Through this competition, we want to recognise the talent of electrical apprentices and acknowledge all the good work they do. We want to show them what a rewarding and diverse career they can have within the electrical sector.”

Marie Parry group marketing director at Scolmore said: “Our aim at the start of this venture was to create and develop a national competition that would not only attract the highest calibre of candidates, but would also generate interest within the industry and this is certainly proving to be the case.

“We will continue to play our part to help develop and reward and apprentices and will be looking to work more closely with colleges and training facilities to provide learning support and materials and hopefully, inspire more apprentices to get involved in future competitions.”

Richard is still trying to get his head around the fact that he is the NICEIC and ELECSA 2019 Electrical Apprentice of the Year, but he is already planning a trip to Disneyland Paris with his wife and daughter.