A decorator from Edwinstowe has been named as one of the best construction apprentices in Great Britain after competing in the national SkillBuild 2016 competitions this weekend.

Stefan Hubble, a recent West Nottinghamshire College graduate on the Level 3 Diploma in Painting and Decorating and Diploma in Decorative Finishing courses, walked proudly from the SkillBuild challenge with a silver award on Saturday.

Stefan, 27, competed at the Birmingham NEC with 80 other construction apprentices in a range of trades, such as bricklaying, wall and floor tiling and painting and decorating.

SkillBuild is the largest multi-trade competition in the country and has been running for over 45 years. It sees the very best in construction talent compete against each other to be crowned the SkillBuild winner in their chosen trade.

Stefan said: “The challenge this year was to create a paint tin with multi-coloured splashes and stars bursting out that we had to mark out, stencil and paint.

“I also had to stencil and paint ‘The Skills Show 2016’ logo and add a wallpaper design as well as undercoat, gloss and add transfer stickers to the design.

“I found this year’s competition challenging because there were more than 20 colours being used so I had to make sure I was using the right colour as some were similar looking.

“I was still nervous on the morning of the competition but I just got into it straight away and went for it. I really wanted the gold because I worked so hard for it but I’m still glad I got placed and got the silver award.”

Curriculum manager Dave Cope said: “I’m really proud of Stefan’s achievements; to win two gold medals in the regional heats and two silver medals in the national finals in the past two years is an amazing accomplishment.

“It will hopefully inspire future students to strive for the same success. I would also like to acknowledge the dedication of the painting and decorating team who work very hard to support learners who take part in these competitions, which is one key reason why there has been such achievements accomplished.”