TOP Gwent electrical engineer Luke Elsmore has been named all-Wales apprentice of the year just days after picking up a similar recognition from ESTnet.

High flying Luke, aged 20, from Blackwood, was at the top of the pile of 13 of the finest apprentices working in Wales to have their hard work and dedication celebrated Quality Skills Alliance Annual Awards at the National Museum, Cardiff.

Serial award-winner Luke is a fourth-year apprentice with global electrical integration specialists Industrial Automation and Control Ltd, which is based at Queensway Meadows, Newport.

A former pupil at Blackwood Comprehensive School, Luke attends the University of South Wales in Newport and also Newport and District Gwent Training as part of his apprenticeship training with IAC Ltd .

Luke said: “I’m really pleased to win this award. I was not expecting it at all. I try to put a lot of effort into my role so it’s lovely to be recognised for that. I would like to thank everyone at IAC for the opportunities they have given me.”

The event was the first annual awards ceremony staged by the Quality Skills Alliance, a consortium of work-based learning providers made up of 24 partners and subcontractors.

The awards celebrate excellence and achievement, and the winners were chosen by a panel comprising the QSA’s chair and representatives from the Confederation of British Industry and the Welsh Government’s Department for Education and Skills.

Luke’s employers, IAC, were also rewarded for the commitment the leading electrical integrating business has shown in working with QSA partner NDGTA over the last eight years.

IAC Ltd managing director Peter Lewis said: “Our entire company’s strategic plan centres around our apprenticeship scheme and has done for more than 25 years. More than 75 per cent of our workforce came to us through our own scheme.”

Cardiff and Vale College is one of the key partners in the QSA. Principal and chief executive Mike James said: “It has been a pleasure to celebrate the achievements of each and every winner at the QSA annual awards.

“Apprenticeships are an important vocational route to a long and fruitful career. This awards evening demonstrates precisely the positive impact work based learning can have and the opportunities it can create. It also reminds me what a privilege it is to be part of this unique consortium.”

The awards were generously supported by sponsorship from the Confederation of British Industry, and JTL. QSA apprenticeships are funded by the Welsh Government with support from the European Social Fund.