Shaun Wadsworth introduces the winner of the 2024 Flooring Apprentice of the Year,
Kyle Maxwell of MacGregor Flooring Company.
THE CFA are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2024 Flooring Apprentice of the Year competition, is Kyle Maxwell from MacGregor Flooring Company Ltd in Hamilton, Scotland. Judging the competition this year were three CFA Council Members, Alan Gayle (AG Flooring Ltd), Matthew Brown (Uzin Utz UK) and David Brady (RJM Flooring Ltd) all of whom were blown away by Kyle’s entry and scored him highly in all aspects of his submission.
Alongside his excellent answers to the application questions, Kyle provided a fantastic case study based on four different sites Kyle had worked on, including a commercial flooring project, a detailed subfloor preparation project, a commercial staircase installation and a domestic LVT herringbone installation, all on behalf of his employer, covering a wide range of flooring types. Kyle supplied the judges with video footage of the skills learnt through training in practice from multiple job sites. His application was also backed with great recommendations from both his employer and his tutor that led the judges to their unanimous decision that Kyle was a more than worthy winner.
The CFA have proudly organized and delivered this award for many years, and we are delighted with the levels of engagement from employers, apprentices, training providers and sponsors. The competition has become a regular feature in the flooring industry calendar, takes pride of place alongside other awards at the annual CFJ Awards and highlights the dedication and achievements of flooring apprentices across the UK.
It is a platform for apprentices to highlight the skills that they have learnt during their apprenticeship and for the companies that employ the apprentices to get involved, it shows their commitment to training their workforce and their investment in the next generation of flooring installers.
Kyle was presented with his award and prizes on Thursday 20 June 2024 at the Flooring Industry Training Association (FITA) training centre in Loughborough with a host of sponsors of the competition sending representatives to congratulate Kyle in person. Kyle had the following to say about winning the competition:
‘I am over the moon at wining this year’s Flooring Apprentice of the Year competition. Being an apprentice and learning my trade is something I am extremely proud of and I always put 100% into my work to make sure I am the best I can be. I was not expecting to win the award given the number of entrants and the fact that this is a UK wide competition, but it means the world to me that I have. I am excited to build my tool kit up and will enjoy using them all on site. Thanks to all of the sponsors for the prizes – it is very much appreciated.’
Each year the Flooring Apprentice of the Year competition is sponsored and supported by more than 20 of the flooring sector’s leading manufacturers, generously donating prizes. The prize list this year is bigger than ever and included a specialist flooring tool kit comprising of named workwear, tool bags, a range of hand and power tools, adhesives and sub floor preparation products, moisture measuring equipment and a range of accessories such as personal protective equipment.
The prize list includes £1,000 in cash, product vouchers worth £1,750 and online shopping vouchers worth £1,250. Finally, Kyle has won two free training courses to further his knowledge, skills and expertise with the whole prize list worth over a staggering £10,000.
Kyle’s employer MacGregor Flooring Company Ltd is no stranger to recruiting and trained top quality apprentices having also training the 2020 FAOTY winner David McGrath too!
Laura MacGregor, finance director at MacGregor Flooring said:
‘We are extremely proud of Kyle and all that he has achieved as an apprentice. We expect great things from him as he qualifies and look forward to seeing him grow into a master craftsman. We are extremely proud of our apprentices and the system we have built over many years to train them all to the very highest standard. It is no surprise to us that Kyle has won this competition, and we are confident that we will continue to produce apprentices of award-winning calibre in years to come.’
Kyle attends CITB National Construction College Scotland for his off-the-job training and his trainer Mark Purdie had the following to say:
‘Kyle has produced a very high level of finished work during his time at college. He is a focused worker who shows great levels of ability for the skills needed for the floorlaying trade and uses his knowledge to help his class colleagues to improve their performance. He is a very loyal employee who speaks highly of his employer and recognizes the importance of correctly representing his company and the floorlaying trade. Kyle is a credit to his employers through his work ethic and his overall attitude will ensure he will be a success in the trade of floorlaying in the future.’
0115 9506836
shaun@fita.co.uk
www.fita.co.uk
Shaun Wadsworth is CFA and FITA training manager