On Monday, October 14, we celebrated Team UK’s remarkable achievements at WorldSkills Lyon 2024 at the Houses of Parliament in London. Lord Knight kindly sponsored the room, enabling us to gather in a prestigious venue to congratulate our competitors.
Among the attendees was Skills Minister Jacqui Smith, who congratulated Team UK. She said, “You flew the flag and represented the UK. You should all be incredibly proud of what you’ve achieved. Keep inspiring, as you are now skill ambassadors for the UK.”
Ben Blackledge, Chief Executive of WorldSkills UK, also expressed his congratulations to Team UK, saying, “Your conduct, attitude towards competition, team spirit, and camaraderie have been exceptional, and you should all be incredibly proud of yourselves”.
He also took a moment to thank the training managers and wellbeing team for the vital role they play in preparing Team UK for the WorldSkills Competition.
This year, Pearson served as Team UK’s official partner and we are grateful for their support, Freya Thomas Monk from Pearson highlighted, “Team UK aren’t just participants; they are the leaders of tomorrow’s workforce, innovators, and builders of the future. Their skills open doors to personal success and create resilient, prosperous communities.”
Team UK’s presence in Lyon is highly significant, as it provides an opportunity to benchmark the UK’s skills against the world’s best. Through our partnership with Pearson, we can also share best practices across the sector, driving continuous improvement in skills development.
While this might mark the end of their Team UK journey, we encourage all our competitors to become WorldSkills UK Skills Champions and work with us to share their career journeys, inspiring future generations.
During the ceremony, 12 Medallions of Excellence were awarded to the Team UK members who reached the world class standard in their skill at WorldSkills Lyon, alongside several special awards.
| Award | Winner |
| Kevin Large Award – Training Manager The Kevin Large Award is an award named in memory of our Training Manager in IT Network Systems Administration and recognises the Training Manager whose competitor achieves the highest score at a WorldSkills Competition. | Geoff Shaw, Training Manager for Electrical Installation. |
| Best of Nation This is awarded by WorldSkills to the nation’s competitor selected by us who best embodies the spirit of excellence at the WorldSkills Competition. | Ruby Pile, Restaurant Service |
| Douglas Hill Award Douglas Hill was the UK’s first competitor to compete at WorldSkills, winning a silver medal in woodworking at Madrid in 1953. We are delighted he was able to join with us to present the award in person. The award recognises the competitor who has overcome great obstacles during the cycle and at competition. | Mark Kiss, Web Technologies |
| John Barnes Award – Competitor John Barnes was a founding member of the WorldSkills Foundation Board of Trustees and this award recognising the competitor who has made the greatest contribution towards team morale throughout the cycle. | Charlotte Lloyd, Hairdressing |
| Woodbine Parish Award Woodbine Parish Award given for to the training manager who does the most to raise training standards. The award is named after the builder, businessman and philanthropist David Elmer Woodbine Parish. | Christian Notley, Training Manager for Cabinet Making |
| Jo Maher Award Jo Maher Award, named after former Team UK performance psychologist Jo Maher, which recognises members of the performance and wellbeing team for their work supporting the competitors’ mental health. | Nikita Hall |
We also presented WorldSkills UK Trustee Mark Dawe with a Certificate of Merit from WorldSkills. This award recognises, endorses and celebrates individuals and organisations for their commitment and service to our work and the WorldSkills movement.
