Lewis was selected for the Squad UK Painting and Decorating team after winning a Silver Medal at the National Finals. Find out how taking part in our international development programme has boosted his confidence and drive and pushed him to be his best self.
Lewis Boyle’s choice of career as a painter and decorator was a logical step based on his education experience, he says, “I always had an artistic streak in me going through school.”
He first heard about WorldSkills UK Competitions through SkillBuild the construction competitions that the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) runs in partnership with WorldSkills UK. Lewis competed in the second year of his apprenticeship achieving a Silver Medal in the WorldSkills UK National Finals in 2019, held as part of WorldSkills UK LIVE at the NEC Birmingham attracting thousands of young spectators keen to see young professionals like Lewis pit their skills against the best of their peers.
Aside from honing his technical skills through competing Lewis has enjoyed the chance to meet new people and gain experiences like he wouldn’t normally have. He’s rightly proud of his progress so far. “WorldSkills UK Competition is such a big thing and to get where we all are is a great achievement.” He puts his success down to learning new techniques and keeping up with all the emails and webinars. It’s not just in the competition environment that Lewis feels he has developed, but in the workplace too.
“I have so much more confidence and drive about myself now than what I did before.”
He’s enthusiastic about getting more young people to enter WorldSkills UK Competitions, “Do it, if not you’ll kick yourself!”
His hard work has paid off and Lewis is now a member of Squad UK and undergoing the unique skillset and mindset training that WorldSkills UK is renowned for. Jordan says, “I was over the moon to be selected, it felt like all the previous competitions had built me up to this.”
As a member of Squad UK Lewis has the chance to be selected for Team UK competing at EuroSkills, or WorldSkills against the best in his trade from across the world. It’s a prospect he’s very excited about, “It would mean the world to me to compete internationally and for me to win a medal would be out of this world.”
Lewis wants to keep on improving and building on his career success to date, “I’d like to either work my way up through the Bagnalls group, or set up for myself.” He feels that more young people would benefit from taking on apprenticeships and thinks they should be easier to find and offer certain benefits when becoming an apprentice or taking on an apprenticeship.
“WorldSkills UK Competitions have really helped to build Lewis’s confidence”, says Jonathan Walker of the Bagnalls Group.
“We always knew he was great, but for Lewis to have the recognition that other people feel the same was a real boost for him.
“The competitions push him to be his best self both practically and in the behaviours that he shows whilst competing.
“Lewis is calm, collected, friendly and composed during times of intense pressure. It has been great to see how Lewis has matured from his first year with us to now, competing for a place in Squad UK. We are so proud of the painter he has become and see a long successful career for him here at Bagnalls.”
