Nick Bundy, Gadd
Brothers Trees and Landscapes, took home the Gold at the Association of
Professional Landscapers (APL) WorldSkills final last week, taking place at
WorldSkills UK LIVE from 21-23 November at the NEC Birmingham.
Jamie Franklin,
Wiltshire College – Lackham, took home the Silver, with Marc Brown from College
of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) taking the Bronze.
The first of four
days was a training and familiarisation day, then the competitors had 16 hours
to individually build a garden from scratch designed Holly Youde, Urban
Landscape Design.
This year’s
competitors were:
- David Jamieson,
College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE)
- Elliot Johnson,
Reaseheath College
- Jamie Franklin,
Wiltshire College – Lackham
- Lewis Sharp,
Myerscough College
- Marc Brown, CAFRE
- Nick Bundy, Gadd
Brothers Trees and Landscapes
- Patrick Neild,
Warwickshire College – Pershore
- Toby Mcleay,
Myerscough College
During the final
competitors were marked on elements such as paving provided by Marshalls,
planting with plants provided by J A Jones, lighting provided by Landscapeplus,
health and safety and the overall appearance of the garden. The final also
included a plant ident created by North West based nurseries J A Jones,
designed to test the competitors plant knowledge.
Judges for the
competition included Head Judge and APL General Manager Phil Tremayne, Steve
Smith of Shore Landscapes, and 2011 WorldSkills UK Silver medal winner and
International training manager, Simon Abbott.
The APL also hosted
the Horticulture Inclusive Skills competition on the Saturday of the show, won
by David Jones, Pembrokeshire College. Kevin Stubbs took silver, and Dean
Roberts took bronze, both from Highbury College, Portsmouth. Inclusive Skills
Competitions enable young people with learning difficulties and disabilities to
showcase their work skills and growing independence.
The competitors were
tasked with preparing and planting a raised border, which was then judged by
Head Judge Nick Atkinson of Oldham College and Lee Price of Myerscough College,
and sponsored by J A Jones.
The APL would like
to thank sponsors Dickies, GroundsCare Products, J A Jones, Landscapeplus,
Makita and Marshalls for their support of the competition, without whom this
would not be possible.
APL WorldSkills UK
2020 opens for entries in March, but you can register your interest now at https://www.worldskillsuk.org/champions/national-skills-competitions/express-your-interest-in-worldskills-uk-competitions-2020
For more information
about the WorldSkills UK and what they do, visit https://www.worldskillsuk.org
