UK representative Sam Jones has won the gold medal in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) at this year’s WorldSkills competition in Shanghai.
Sam, who works for Runcorn-based Industrial Cooling Equipment and trained at the Practical Refrigeration Training Centre in Burnley, was the overall winner following an intensive four-day competition at Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Centre.
The refrigeration and air conditioning category of a competition, often referred to as the ‘Skills Olympics’, was one of the most heavily contested with 27 competitors taking part.
The Building Enginerring Services Association (BESA), is an organising partner of the WorldSkills UK and has hailed Sam’s success as an “absolutely incredible result” and a fantastic advertisement for the UK cooling industry.
“We are all enormously proud of Sam and his achievement,” says the Association’s director of competence and compliance Jill Nicholls. “WorldSkills is a huge competition which is taken extremely seriously by employers and governments around the world. To have come out on top of such an impressive field over four days of intense competition is outstanding.”
In total, the 28 competitors in Team UK picked up two golds, one silver and three bronze medals in Shanghai. A further 13 Medals for Excellence – in recognition of reaching world class standards – were awarded to other members of the team, including Andrew McCann for Plumbing & Heating and Madeleine Warburton for Renewable Energy.
Andrew, aged 21, works for AMC Plumbing & Heating in Northern Ireland and attends South West College, while Madeleine, 20, is from Ashby-de-la-Zouch and is employed by RWE and attends GRWP Colef Menai.
Speaking ahead of the competition, Andrew said: “Representing Team UK at WorldSkills Shanghai is an incredible honour and a proud moment for me. My journey started as an apprentice at South West College, and I never imagined it would lead to competing at this level. Competing against some of the best young professionals in the world will be a fantastic experience and a great opportunity to learn, challenge myself and showcase the skills I have developed throughout my career.”
Held every two years, WorldSkills involves more than 80 countries and is a partnership between the education sector, businesses, and governments. It was set up over 60 years ago to help young people develop through competitions-based training, assessment, and benchmarking to support economic growth and create employment opportunities.
