Themis Apprentice Kane Barker, 23 from Great Harwood, has beaten stiff competition from talented electrical Apprentices from across the North West to win the regional final of SPARKS Electrical Apprentice of the Year 2018.
The competition’s North West heats were held at Burnley College and Themis Apprenticeships’ state-of-the-art Construction and Future Technologies Centre. This regional final brought skilled Electrical Apprentices from Colleges and training providers across Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cumbria to East Lancashire, where they pitted their skills against one another for the title of regional winner.
Kane Barker took the title, and will now be competing in the national final which will be held at the 3M Customer Innovation Centre in Bracknell on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th April 2018.
Kane’s career as an electrician began two years ago, when his brother encouraged him to retrain and gain a skilled trade. He said: “Becoming an electrician was totally different to anything I’d done before, but it has great job satisfaction. I really enjoy working on high-spec kitchens and making sure that everything works perfectly and looks good too. Standards have to be so high, but I enjoy the challenge.
“I’m interested in taking on a HNC or HND in Design and Installation. It’ll give me the qualifications I want and enable me to pursue my dream of owning my own company and employing my own Apprentices.
“This whole competition has been fantastic experience, and brilliant for my CV. My trainer assessor Kevin Wilcock encouraged me to apply to take part and I jumped at the chance straight away. I’m looking forward to seeing how far I can get in the finals – I’m hoping I can take the trophy!”
Director of Themis, Simon Jordan, said of the event: “Kane’s development as a leading Themis Electrical Apprentice has been a direct result of his commitment and dedication to his Apprenticeship programme and the hard work of his Trainer Assessors. We’re extremely proud of his achievements. We wish him the best of luck and hope the skill and enthusiasm he showed to win the North West heat of SPARKS Electrical Apprentice of the Year 2018 competition will ensure he succeeds in the national finals.”
