Ciaran Smullen, 4th year apprentice and overall mechanical winner with James White, 2nd year apprentice and overall electrical winner
HYL ‘Excellence in Training’
The annual HYL 2019 Apprentice Awards took place just before Christmas last in Croke Park Stadium with over 80 HYL apprentices in attendance. Also present were leading industry representatives from the academic, training and development, mechanical and electrical sectors. This is now a highly-respected annual event that recognises and acknowledges those apprentices who have gone above and beyond in terms of both academic and practical achievements during their apprenticeship training.
The Excellence in Training programme is structured to encourage all apprentices to strive for excellence and high achievement, for their own personal benefit, as they progress towards craft qualification. Desy Haughton, Managing Director of Haughton and Young Ltd (HYL) told Building Services News: “At HYL we continue to invest in the Training in Excellence programme that we devised for plumbing and electrical apprentices. Our commitment to the apprentice programme, and to the training of the overall workforce within HYL, ensures our continued success on the construction sites where we deliver the highest-quality service.
“Underpinning our commitment to apprentice education, we constructed a purpose-designed and fully-equipped practical training area where student apprentices can develop and improve their skillset under the supervision of HYL training experts Alan O’Reilly, Stephen Bradshaw and Thomas McGarvey. HYL also offers additional support to apprentices from an academic perspective, including mathematics tutorials in conjunction with Peter Hinch, former DIT lecturer.”
Certificates of achievement and bespoke medals were awarded and presented to apprentices from both the junior and senior apprentice categories for outstanding achievement in both their practical and academic efforts. Hibernian Reit generously sponsored the event and attended Croke Park to present the awards. In addition to medals, the category winners were presented with vouchers and a copy of Dublin footballer Philly McMahon’s award-winning book The Choice. Reflecting on the relevance of this, Desy Haughton commended each and every apprentice for making the choice to commit to their education and training with HYL.
Dublin footballer and four-time All Ireland winner John Small attended as guest speaker and spoke to the apprentices about the importance of self-belief and striving to become the very best you can be in your chosen career. Great banter ensued with the question and answer session – an audience with John Small – that followed his address. Managing Director Desy Haughton congratulated not only the winners but all of the apprentices who he stated are vital to the success of the programme and the future success of the company.