After a long and anxious wait following the Final of the 2011 UK Masterfitter on October 5th, the results were announced at the Proskills Awards held at Alton Towers on November 3rd. The winner was Simon Watling (pictured right) from Agriglaze in Norwich, narrowly beating Steven Wynn from National Windscreens in Scotland into 2nd place. The competition was extremely close and went right down to the last task where only a handful of points separated the top 2.
GQA played a major part in the organisational and practical aspects of the competition, working with partners across the AG industry organised by Proskills. UK Masterfitter was held for the first time last year and, for the 2nd year in succession, GQA provided the Lead Assessor for the final, Technical Officer and External Verifier Sean Hayes.
Sean said "The competition was a huge success and the added tension of not releasing the results for a month meant that on the night there was a great air of expectation. I was extremely impressed by some of the skills shown during the Final and I would like to thank all of the Assessors, UK Masterfitter Committee members, Manon and Neil at Proskills, Parisa from Worldskills UK and of course the 6 Finalists and their Employers and supporters for making the event such a success, and to see so many of these people at the Proskills Awards was fantastic. I am sure it was no coincidence that the Technicians have been encouraged and supported by their Employers and both Companies have a great commitment to quality, training and qualifications. This desire to improve and be the best was apparent in all those taking part”
The finalists won cash prizes as well as Industry specific tools and equipment donated by the competition’s sponsors.
Although the 2011 results have only just been announced, plans are already taking shape for the search for UK Masterfitter 2012.
GQA have been the specialist Awarding Body for the Automotive Glazing Industry since the early 1990s and will soon reach the landmark of awarding the 4,000 Automotive Glazing NVQ.
