21-year old Charlie Moore, a recently qualified apprentice at the College of West Anglia, has been named the 2024 SkillELECTRIC champion after excelling in an intensive competition over three days at Oldham College.
Scolmore Group was delighted to be involved in the competition, with Neil McManus, Scolmore Group Technical Engagement Engineer, part of the judging panel. As part of its commitment to support the electrical industry and to help develop the next generation of electricians, Scolmore Group first became an official partner with SkillELECTRIC in 2018 to support the organisation’s competition to find the UK’s best young electrician. The event, which is run in conjunction with WorldSkills UK, is designed to promote and showcase high standards and skills across the electrotechnical industry. It is organised by National Electrotechnical Training (NET).
Charlie, the overall winner, who is employed by Bramham Electrical in Norfolk, had already competed in SkillELECTRIC 2023 and placed third in his national qualifying heat. Determined to do even better this year, he returned for the 2024 event and won his heat in June before claiming gold in the final.
The finalists faced a complicated electrical installation task which had to be completed within a strict timeframe and was marked against tough criteria including wiring and connection skills, inspecting, testing and fault finding.
Scolmore Group provided the competition with a range of products including consumer units, sockets and switch accessories, and lighting controls. Contestants were also able to get hands-on with smart lighting and controls through wiring and operating Scolmore’s ClickSmart+ system, which allowed them to witness how future installations may look and the capabilities of smart systems.
As part of the judging team, Neil, along with judges from the NICEIC and SELECT, had to assess how well the competitors performed in areas such as measuring accuracy (within 2mm), horizontal and vertical alignment, electrical terminations, functionality, containment symmetry, inspection, testing and safe working practices, including application of health and safety requirements.
Commenting on this year’s competition Neil McManus said: “It was a fantastic experience to be involved with the WorldSkills this year and it turned out to be another thrilling final. It was great to see such a high standard of competitors from the industry showcasing their skills and knowledge throughout the tasks. The level of workmanship and professionalism of the competitors was very high throughout the competition and the event showcased some fantastic talent and commitment from the next generation of electricians.”
All finalists received a range of prizes which included a Scolmore Group goodie bag containing various Click wiring accessory products, an ESP Fort Smart Security Kit, Ovia downlights, a Unicrimp product bundle and a range of Scolmore Group merchandise. The overall winner also received a DeWalt brushless combi drill and brushless impact driver, and the second and third place competitors received a DeWalt cordless combi drill.
Next year’s SkillELECTRIC competition opens in March 2025.