Themis Apprentice Tom Race has won first place in a national plumbing competition – earning money, tools and more as part of his prize.
Tom, 19, a Themis Plumbing Apprentice, triumphed in the gruelling six-hour test in HIP Magazine’s Learner of the Year 2021 competition.
The former pupil of The Valley Leadership Academy, who works for Pinnacle Plumbing and Gas in his Apprenticeship says:
“I’m so happy to have won. It was hard work, but a great opportunity to demonstrate my skills, both practical and theoretical I’ve learned on from my time with Themis and on my placement.
“Now I’ve won the money, I’m going to invest it back in my career and buy myself some new construction tools.”
Prizes in this hard-won competition included £1000, a Worcester Bosch boiler, DeWalt drills, Amazon vouchers, a Trinitron digital shower and many more.
Head of Construction at Themis at Burnley College, David Lord says:
“Tom as shown really high level of skill and knowledge throughout his training. His success is also a real testimony his employer, Pinnacle Gas and Heating as well as his outstanding attitude and dedication to his plumbing career.”
Zoë Tanner, Managing Director at HiP Magazine’s publishers says his win was well deserved:
“Tom demonstrated a huge amount of theoretical knowledge and practical skills throughout the competition. Huge congratulations to Tom and his lecturers at Themis at Burnley College.”
Francine Wickham from Fernox, who sponsored the competition says it was a tough challenge, in challenging times:
“It’s vital the next generation of heating professionals are given the chance to develop their skills, be recognised for their achievements be encouraged to pursue their chosen careers.”
Are your plumbing skills at championship level? Do you see yourself showing off your skills at the highest level like Tom? From plumbing to welding, electrical engineering to upholstery, Themis at Burnley College is one of the country’s leading Apprenticeship providers. To find the perfect Apprenticeship for you, see https://www.burnley.ac.uk/themis-home/.
In-shop café
In support of providing value for their customers above and beyond a usual bike shop, The Green Jersey have their own in-shop café, currently providing hot drinks and alcohol (yes they are licenced bar as well!) with the goal of serving light food and snacks on the near horizon. Although this part of the business has been closed in recent months due to the restrictions placed on the hospitality sector, it has enabled them to refurbish the café and re-open in the wake of national restrictions with a fresh new look.
Included in this new look are their very own branded paper cups, courtesy of us, the Printed Cup Company, to create synergy with the rest of their branded merchandise. Their aim is to grow The Green Jersey/Bowland Bikes brand and continue expand in order to satisfy growing demand. What better way to do this than to put their brand in the hands of every customer!
In order to keep up with growing demand, The Green Jersey employs four full time staff along with a young apprentice that works evenings and weekends while training to be a qualified bike mechanic. We asked what The Green Jersey had planned for the future, but John kept his cards close to his chest with a smile on his face and stated:
“We have some exciting new things in the pipeline that we can’t disclose at this time, however, it’s our 10 year anniversary on 21st January 2022 so keep your eyes peeled”.
The Green Jersey bike shop are an incredible example of what can be achieved with unified branding across all aspects of the business, from bikes, to clothing to branded paper cups in their in-store coffee shop. With ten years in the business coupled with the ever-growing strength of their brand, we can only say that we are excited to see what the future holds for The Green Jersey and we are proud to be able to support them on their journey.
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