Jordan Lingham from The Sinclair Group

Career journey so far:

Jordan joined the Body Repair sector as a Panel Technician Apprentice, following in the steps of his dad who also worked at Sinclair Group Accident and Repair Centre in Swansea. Owing to his early exposure to the sector, Jordan always saw a career in automotive as a possible destination for himself: “I think most my life I’ve been interested in cars and bikes, just the same as my dad because he’s always worked on them.”

Future aspirations:

Jordan’s immediate aim is to get himself onto this year’s podium and said: “I just want to keep learning and doing my job better and better. What I like about the job is every day is different so there’s always opportunities to learn new skills or work on different cars."

Employer and manager comments:

Body Repair Manager, Daniel, added “Having two finalists in the competition again this year really shows that the work we put into developing our young talent is worth it. Jordan has come a long way and deserves his chance to win a medal this time around, which he is more than capable of doing.”

Advice for new apprentices:

“Given the opportunity to go into WorldSkills, you should definitely go for it 100%. And if you make mistakes along the line, just carry on with what you’re doing. Don’t dwell on the mistakes when you’re in the competition, just crack on with what’s in front of you.”

Want to know more about the IMI Skills Competition? Email the team to find out more.

Adrian Matthews from S&B Academy and Ultimate Accident Repairs Services

Automotive Body Repair Gold medallist Adrian tell us about his experience at the IMI Skills Competition:

What was it like competing in the IMI Skills Competitions finals?

As stressful and tiring as it was, was a relaxed environment. Meeting the different competitors definitely helped ease my nerves as everyone was feeling the same but talking to each other about how we were feeling, what we were and weren’t looking forward to made things a whole lot better.

How did it feel to take home gold?

To be honest it still hasn’t sunk in. Hearing my name being called, although I felt like I had done well in the competition did come as a shock. I’m very grateful to be given the chance and to have won gold makes the whole thing worth it.

How have you found your training?

It was pretty smooth sailing, it’s definitely helped my being in and around body shops from a young age as I was familiar with the setting and processes. I was pretty apprehensive about starting but once I started I found a lot of other people in the same boat as me.

Want to know more about the IMI Skills Competition? Email the team to find out more.

Meet Ieuan Morris-Brown from Cardiff and Vale College

Ieuan credits his early interest in the automotive sector to his dad, who has always been into cars. Ieuan had his first experiences watching and learning from his dad and eventually entered into the sector after finishing school into his first apprenticeship.

Ieuan made the most of the opportunity at IRG which he had heard about from friends at college, and he showed the courage to approach the company in person to ask for an opportunity. He clearly made an impression on his Manager, Matt, who saw in Ieuan a mix of qualities that he knew would make an exceptional apprentice. Now as one of the six best Body Repair apprentices in the country, that certainly proved to be the case!

Ieuan‘s advice for others interested in automotive:

Ieuan said: “Keep trying, and make the most of any opportunity you get. There’s always something new to learn and literally every job you do is different in body repair. Even if you had the same car in every day, every repair we work on is unique and you get to see transformation’s from a crash damaged wreck all the way through to going back out to a customer as good as, sometimes better than, new.”

Want to know more about the IMI Skills Competition? Email the team to find out more.