Honda going for gold at WorldSkills 2007 Japan

Honda (UK)’s Apprentice of the Year has joined the UK WorldSkills team as they head to Japan to compete against 850 competitors from 49 different member nations in the trade industry’s global skills competition.

20 year-old Dan Glover will take on the Automobile Technology challenges at the four day event which runs from 15 -18 November in the foothills of Mount Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan.

Dan has been one of the few to have been selected in the elite team of 22 for 2007 that will together compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in vocational trade categories ranging from stonemasonry to floristry in front of an expected crowd of 200,000 spectators.

As an executive sponsor of the UK team, Honda has always been a keen supporter of the WorldSkills programme and has been involved in the UK’s successful bid to host the event in London in 2011. Along with helping to train the team at Honda’s training and development centre (The Honda Institute) near Slough, Honda has reaffirmed its commitment to support the UK skills teams into 2009 and 2011 at the London event.

The appointment of Dan Glover, as the UK’s representative in the Automobile Technology category of the competition, shows how strong the Honda apprentice training scheme has become within the UK. He earned his place in the team after winning competitions against fellow technicians from other UK car manufacturers.

“The Honda Institute opened my eyes to the challenges of automotive repair,” Dan commented. “It was a great experience to learn new skills using the very latest developments in automotive computer technology.”

WorldSkills now sits alongside an important portfolio of Honda backed training and education schemes including Windsor Festival education programme, The School of Dreams workshops, The Swindon Academy, The Honda Dream Factory and the Honda Apprentice Scheme.