David Takes his Skills to UK Finals

When SERC plastering apprentice David Johnston arrives at the SkillBuild UK Finals in Milton Keynes, he is relying on his sound experience at work and in college to meet the challenges of the competition.

David, who is 20 and from Saintfield, works for Andrew Gill and he explains,

 “I’ve been flat out at work so I haven’t focussed on the final round of the competition, but then everything I do day to day is relevant, so it’s all practice. The only thing I don’t do at work is moulding, so I have been working on that with my tutor, Thomas Traynor, at SERC." 

David says he always knew he wanted practical work, though he discovered plastering by chance: 

“I went to Saintfield High School, didn’t know what I wanted to do after GCSEs but always wanted a practical trade. I got a summer job with Andrew Gill, a local plasterer, and I’ve been there ever since. I wanted to be qualified, though, so I chose to do an apprenticeship. We’d been told about that option at school, and it made sense to me. I’m now in my third year, at SERC Lisburn Campus, working at Level 3 after two years at Level 2. I work on new builds, extensions and remodelling, both inside and outside buildings. The ultimate aim is to work for myself, but I’d be happy to continue working for Andrew for a while to continue learning and to get to know the business side thoroughly.”

David won the plastering section of the SkillBuild Northern Ireland competition, held on SERC Downpatrick Campus in May. He takes such challenges in his stride and says,

“Competitions get you out of your comfort zone, but they are good craic and though you’re nervous at first, you just get on with it. Of course, I was happy with how it turned out in Downpatrick as I won – I also scored highly compared with other contestants around the UK, so now I am heading to the UK Finals in England. My employer, Andrew, is pleased for me. When he was a SERC apprentice himself, he came second in the UK SkillBuild finals, though, so it’s hard to impress him! It adds a bit of pressure.

“Competitions are a good way to challenge yourself, and to build your reputation. After the Downpatrick event, I got a call from someone who had seen that I had won, and they asked me to do a job for them, so it’s a good way to get your name out there.”

David is one of two SERC apprentices going to the SkillBuild Finals in Milton Keynes, which run from 19-20 November; Matthew Rutherford from Bangor is a finalist in the Carpentry section.