Podium Place for Matthew at SkillBuild 2025 **Video**

A South Eastern Regional College (SERC) apprentice, Matthew Rutherford, has earned a podium place at the SkillBuild 2025 National Finals which took place at Arena MK in Milton Keynes, 19 - 20 November 2025.

Matthew, (20), from Bangor, lifted third place in the national competition which hosted competitors from across the UK. The young man, who completed a Level 2 Apprenticeship in Carpentry and Joinery before progressing to the Level 3 at SERC’s Newtownards Campus, is employed by Synergy Construction Services (NI) LLP.

No stranger to success, Matthew has won Screwfix Apprentice of the Year 2024 title, lifted first place in the SkillBuild Intercampus Carpentry Competition at SERC, and came third place in carpentry in the SkillBuild NI Regional Finals earlier this year. Speaking about his latest win Matthew said, “I am delighted with the result.   It was a tough competition - you are working against the clock all the time.   The competition lasts 18 hours over three days and involved construction of a children’s play frame consisting of a roof, stairs, platform, picket fence and a swing bar.”

He continued, “The main challenge for me was drawing out the true shape of both the rafters and the hip rafters, as the plan provided didn’t give you all the detail you needed to make the completed play frame.   I hadn’t drawn out something like this before, but I knew I just had to use all the skills and knowledge I had acquired throughout my apprenticeship and work away, as quickly and accurately as possible, and that seemed to work.

“The atmosphere at the competition was amazing.   We were staying in the DoubleTree Hilton which wraps around the MK Dons Stadium, so the rooms look right over the stadium. On the last evening, we had a celebration dinner, after which the prizes were presented.   It was a fantastic evening and great to meet all the other competitors from across the UK.”

All the podium places in the carpentry and joinery competition were awarded to apprentices from Northern Ireland. In addition fellow SERC student Luke Wilson (21), from Newtownabbey, employed by Atlas World, a Level 3 Fire and Security apprentice, was Highly Commended in the WorldSkills UK Finals.

The college had  a total of five apprentices taking part in SkillBuild and WorldSkills UK including David Johnston (20), from Saintfield, who is employed by Andrew Gill, took part in the SkillBuild Plastering competition;  and Zeki Kaya, (20), from Newtownards, employed by Specialised Fire and Security; Alex Punyer (19) from Bangor, employed by ADT Fire and Security WorldSkills UK Finals – although not placed, the young men are  top performers from across the UK in their respective disciplines. 

In conclusion, Matthew, who is always keen to highlight the benefits of the apprenticeship route, said, “Doing an apprenticeship shouldn’t be a ‘plan b’! I think if more young people knew what the apprenticeship route has to offer,  and what they can achieve, it would be in their mix of possible routes after GCSEs or A-Levels.”

Find out more about apprenticeships at SERC. Click Here