Blair top Autobody repairer in world - official

UK Skills today announced that the UK has been placed 11th, based on average team score, at the 2005 WorldSkills Competition in Helsinki, Finland, scooping one gold, two silver medals and seven Medallions of Excellence. For the first time, the UK teamís average score exceeded the 500-point World Class benchmark standard. The UK achieved a higher average team score than previous WorldSkills giants Japan, France, the USA and the host country Finland.



Andrew Blair won a gold medal in Autobody Repair, having competed against 14 other countries including Japan, Korea, France and Germany. He also achieved 7th place in the overall competition (almost 700 competitors competed in total), which took place over four days between 26th and 29th May. Beauty therapist Joanna Thompson and stonemason Gary Collier both won silver medals. Photographs of individuals at the competition are available on request.

Phil Hope MP, the new Skills Minister, Chris Humphries, Chairman of UK Skills and Director-General of City & Guilds and Dr Graeme Hall, Chief Executive of UK Skills, which manages the UK team, attended the competition and congratulated the competitors on their achievement.

Last night, at the closing ceremony in Helsinki, Chris Humphries said:

WorldSkills is the largest skills competition in the world, with over 700 competitors from almost 40 member countries participating. Our young people were excellent ambassadors for their country and their outstanding achievements demonstrate the UKís ability to achieve world class standards in vocational skills.

The UK team has worked extremely hard to get to and take part in the competition and standards in all competitions were higher than ever before. In 2003, the UK was placed 15th overall. This year, weíve done even better and we hope to use our experience in Helsinki to build on our success and reach the top five at the next competition in Japan in 2007.

The 18-strong UK team, aged between 18 and 22 years old, competed in a range of skills from beauty therapy, cookery and cabinet making to joinery, bricklaying and landscape gardening. Young people from nearly 40 skill areas competed over the course of four days to become the best within their chosen skill.

Dr Graeme Hall, Chief Executive of UK Skills, an independent organisation largely funded by the Department for Education and Skills, said:

We want young people to be inspired by the example of this yearís UK WorldSkills team and encourage them to participate in skills competitions, both national and international. The standards set at these events provide a benchmark against which industry can measure and compare its performance with that of our major overseas competitors and so help to raise the standard of performance within the UK.

We congratulate our team leaders, who have done an excellent job of steering and supporting the team at every stage and our trainers whose reputation for their integrity and professionalism was enhanced yet again. Our supporters have been crucial in helping us select the very best competitors for Helsinki and are vital to our continued success.