Local Apprentices Are Gold Medal Winners

QinetiQ apprentices Simon Todd and Luke Greenaway, both from the Salisbury area, are celebrating after both won gold medals at the recent prestigious World Skills UK competition at the Birmingham NEC.

Both were chosen to represent the QinetiQ Apprentice Training School based at MOD Boscombe Down.

The event saw 100,000 people attending over three days, with around 60 finals taking place to find the best apprentices in a variety of trades, from welding to floristry.

Simon was selected to represent the QinetiQ School in the Avionics trade section and following a rigorous online test was selected to compete in the final against four of the best young engineers from the Royal Navy and RAF. Having completed six tasks, under the watchful eye of the judges, Simon was declared the winner and received his gold medal.

Luke was representing the QinetiQ School in the mechanical aeronautical engineering trade and following passing an online test, had to qualify from an event in Bristol over the summer attended by the best young mechanics from the aviation industry and armed forces. He finally qualified to attend the national competition along with engineers from the RAF, BAE, British Airways and Hawker Beechcraft. Following a tough final, Luke was successful and won the gold medal.

QinetiQ CEO, Leo Quinn said,

“Congratulations to Luke and Simon on their outstanding success. At QinetiQ we very proud of our award winning apprentice school and the achievements of Luke and Simon further enhances the excellent reputation of the School. As a ‘people who know how’ business, we recognise the need to provide young people with the skills to become future leaders in our business. We are continuing to build on the School’s excellent reputation and we intend to be taking on 100 apprentices next year, which will include the additional 75 taken on this year.”

Simon Todd said

“Both Luke and I enjoyed meeting the other apprentices and learning new skills from them. To win gold medals was the icing on the cake of a brilliant weekend.”

Notes for Editors:

A UK-listed FTSE250 company, QinetiQ uses its domain knowledge to provide technical advice to customers in the global aerospace, defence and security markets. QinetiQ’s unique position enables it to be a trusted partner to government organisations, predominantly in the UK and the US, including defence departments, intelligence services and security agencies. QinetiQ employs over 11,000 people across its operations.
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