An apprentice at Mid Kent College has been named the Painting and Decorating Association’s Junior Winner 2024.
Willow Patey won the Junior category of the nationwide Apprentice of the Year contest after battling it out in a regional heat and Grand Final event.
The popular competition attracted apprentices from across the UK, who took part in four regional heats at North Kent College, City of Glasgow College, South and City College Birmingham and Accrington and Rossendale College.
Highest Senior and Junior scorers from each heat were called on to showcase their skills once more at a Grand Final held at Doncaster College in June.
Willow, who works at Alfred Bagnall & Sons Ltd, was invited to the PDA’s Premier Trophy Awards luncheon at Plaisterers’ Hall, London, to receive her award.
It’s a special year for both the PDA – which marks its 130th anniversary – and its flagship Premier Trophy Awards ceremony which has been running for 35 years.
PDA chief executive Neil Ogilvie said: “Our very special congratulations to Willow for this fantastic win after two gruelling events, which really tested the competitors’ precision, stamina and skill.
“The competition – sponsored by Purdy Professional Painting Tools and supported by Dulux Trade and CITB – is designed to challenge apprentices by giving them just six hours to scale up, measure out and paint a complex pattern to a carefully created specification.”
The PDA is Britain’s largest trade body dedicated to the sector and represents painting and decorating businesses of all types from sole traders through to large scale national contractors employing hundreds of operatives.
With a proud history and a long-standing legacy of promoting high standards and best practice, the PDA requires its members to be insured and appropriately trained as well as committing to a Code of Conduct that includes providing quality work at a reasonable price.
To find a PDA member near you visit: www.paintingdecoratingassociation.co.uk