Bentley Motors’ trainee makes UK World Skills team

Following an intensive selection process, Bentley trainee Chris Coates (22) has been selected to represent the UK in CNC Milling at World Skills 2009 in Calgary, Canada.

World Skills is a bi-annual event which attracts competitors from over 50 countries and is effectively a "Skills Olympics" for young people aged between 18 and 23 years. It sets world class standards in over 40 skills categories ranging from plumbing and industrial electronics to web design and floristry. The final selection events for the UK squad took place in June, with Bentley Motors hosting the CNC Milling and CNC Turning competitions.

Two of Bentley's trainees - Chris Coates and Elliot New - qualified for the CNC Milling final and it has now been confirmed that Chris was the overall winner with a personal best of 80.75%. Chris's top score easily met the rigorous standards set by the UK's judging team so he will join the rest of the British squad and travel to Calgary to represent the UK in September. As Elliot also achieved an excellent result and is a strong contender for the 2011 event, UK Skills confirmed that he will also go to Calgary to support Chris and experience the competition environment.

Andrew McLean, a tooling and prototype technician at Bentley who has acted as Chris' training manager explained, "Chris demonstrated tremendous levels of skill and dedication to reach the final and we are delighted that all his hard work has paid off. The competition last week was extremely tough and we did our best to replicate the conditions of the finals in Calgary by inviting lots of visitors to see the boys in action. A good number of those visitors came from local schools so we hope that Chris and Elliot have inspired other young people to find out more about apprenticeships in our industry".

Chris commented "I'm really pleased that all the hard work has paid off and I've been selected to join the UK team. The competition in Calgary will be intense but we have undergone a lot of training to prepare us for the finals and I will give it my best shot!"

Christine Gaskell, Member of the Board for Personnel at Bentley Motors said "Everyone at Bentley is incredibly proud of Chris and his selection for the UK team at World Skills 2009 and we wish him the very best of luck for the competition. His achievement is a reflection not just of his hard work and dedication but also of the support that was provided by everyone involved in Bentley's training programmes. Like the 2012 Olympics, London will play host to the next World Skills in 2011. The experience gained in this year's event will serve Bentley and the boys well and who knows ... maybe we will be able to compete on home soil as defending champions!"