UK Higher Apprentice of the Year award for Deeside based Electroimpact engineer Ethan

Talented engineer Ethan Davies has struck gold again after picking up a prestigious engineering award.

The 21-year-old from Myndd, Flintshire beat off strong competition to be named the UK’s Higher Apprentice of the Year, sponsored by Rolls-Royce plc, last night at the Semta Skills Awards 2017 gala dinner in London’s Hilton Hotel on Park Lane hosted by BBC presenter Alexander Armstrong.

His success comes just 18 months after winning a gold medal at The skills show in Birmingham and picking up a medallion of excellence in CNC Milling for Team UK at EuroSkills in Gothenburg last year.

Ethan, a higher manufacturing apprentice with Electroimpact UK Ltd in Deeside, said:

I have a massive smile on my face. I never thought I would get it but I am amazed I have. I left school not as a high flier but hard work and determination you can achieve amazing things.

Ethan is a model apprentice for Electroimpact – he is smart, self-driven, determined to do his best and produce perfect components every time.

Matthew Booth, Training Manager at Electroimpact said:

Ethan was the first apprentice we ever took on and he has made a massive contribution to the company. His success has snowballed so we have taken on six more apprentices to try and produce more Ethans! He is the future of British Engineering.

Even though Ethan wasn’t successful in gaining an apprenticeship straight from school he wasn’t disheartened or put off from his chosen career path, he enrolled in a college course and tried his hardest to become one of the best on the course and become first choice to any potential employers.

He completed his apprenticeship studying at Coleg Cambria, where he was awarded EAL’s Level 3 engineering certificate and now has an HNC in Mechanical Technology.

Ethan has spent time at various apprenticeship events in the evenings and at weekends to promote the industry.

Ann Watson, CEO of Semta, the not-for-profit organisation tasked with skilling engineering and manufacturing in the UK said:

Ethan is a very deserving winner of the Semta Skills Award and is an inspirational role model for others.

His drive and determination is commendable, not only in his quest to become an apprentice but also with his high performance and success in skills competitions and the time he spends outside of work time encouraging others to follow his lead.

Ethan is exactly the sort of person we need to bang the drum for engineering and keep the skills talent pipeline flowing for UK plc.

Hundreds of nominations from across the UK for the nine categories were received to leave 27 finalists battling it out in the prestigious Semta Skills Awards, judged by an expert employer panel.

Runners up were: Matthew Peach, Airbus and Christiane Rogerson, BAE Systems plc