For the past 18 months Michelmersh has supported British bricklaying candidate, Lewis Greenwood, on his journey to representing the UK at the 45th WorldSkills competition held in Kazan earlier this year. As Britain’s Brick Specialists, Michelmersh leads the industry, donating products, giving Continuing Professional Development (CPD) presentations, offering factory tours and generally supporting students, colleges and vocational courses across the country. The goal is to aid in the process of training and educating our next generation of promising young bricklayers. Since they are the future of the construction sector, it is important to facilitate these young craftsmen and women with the highest quality training, using the highest quality products and tools to progress their skills.
Michelmersh has enjoyed encouraging bricklaying education on the international stage with WorldSkills and has been very excited to watch Lewis develop and hone his skills in the run up to the highly anticipated event. During the competition Lewis performed at his best and Mike Burdett (Lewis’ dedicated UK team bricklaying trainer) stated that he could not have been prouder of him and his efforts throughout the competition. His hard work and enthusiasm have certainly boosted motivation amongst his peers in the UK, elevating the standard of craftsmanship to new heights in this extremely rewarding trade. Lewis finished 13th in a field of 33 competitors and, pleasingly, he won a Medallion of Excellence as his work and scores were deemed to be above the international standard.
Mike reiterated how the support from Michelmersh was invaluable to Lewis’ training: “I cannot thank the team at Michelmersh enough for their generosity and support throughout the cycle. Without this, I doubt I would have been able to accommodate the volume of training required through squad training and onto presenting his astonishing level of bricklaying skill.
“Michelmersh’s continued support has been invaluable to Lewis’ development in his final preparations leading up to the Worldskills Kazan. As a result of extra practice made possible by the additional materials offered, Lewis made the improvements required to compete on an international stage and I am very proud of his achievements. Thank you Michelmersh.”
Lewis Greenwood stated: “Using Michelmersh bricks during training helped me as the quality was similar to those I would be using at WorldSkills. Having these bricks at my training events helped me to work on my jointing and finishing.”
Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, Chief Executive, WorldSkills UK, said: “Team UK achieved a fantastic result at WorldSkills Kazan 2019 and we are hugely grateful for the support that Michelmersh gave Lewis and Mike, helping them promote the UK construction industry on the world stage.
“The members of Team UK, all under 25 years, championed the UK focus on skills development in front of a global audience, sending a strong message that the UK is a world-class place to invest, do business and create jobs.”
WorldSkills UK promotes three core programmes to accelerate young people’s careers and give them the best start in work and life, through partnerships between businesses, education and governments. Entering international skills competitions enables the WorldSkills UK team to benchmark the employability skills of apprentices with those from around the world. Michelmersh was proud to be involved in supporting Lewis on this journey and the British manufacturer continues to play a vital part in supporting bricklaying education for thousands of students across the country.
