Kane is able as two Stafford-based Alstom apprentice welders reach top final of top welding competition

Kane Foulkes and James Elliott, both apprentice welders at Alstom in Stafford, have won the right to compete for the SkillWeld National title of best apprentice welder.

The pair took part in a recent semi-final at Alstoms Welding School at the companys Lichfield Road facility and, after their success there, they will now take on eight of the UKs top apprentice welders in the WorldSkills UK, SkillWeld National Final, to be held at The Skills Show at the NEC in November.

James, 24, is in his second year with Alstom and is from Cotes Heath in Staffordshire, and Kane, 20, is a third year welding apprentice from Goole in Yorkshire. Both apprentice welders are currently involved in working on a major outage at EDFs Cottam Power Station in Nottinghamshire.

Jim McIlwrath, Manager of Welding and Nuclear Services at Alstom, said: This is fantastic news both for the lads and also for the welding school. Weve had a fantastic run of success in the competition over the last few years and Im sure that James and Kane will do us proud when it comes to the final.

Competitors taking part in the SkillWeld 2015 National Final may be invited to join those being developed for WorldSkills International competitions through WorldSkills and Find a Future.

To find out more about life as an apprentice welder with Alstom, take a look at the film on http://www.alstom.com/countries/uk/careers/.

The picture shows, left to right, Alstom apprentice welders Kane Foulkes, Joshua Younger, James Elliott, Jake Repsys, and Ben McGuigan.

About Alstom
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 86,000 people in around 100 countries. It had sales of 20 billion and booked close to 24 billion in orders in 2012/13.

Press contact
Jonathan Smith, Head of Media Relations, Alstom Ltd, on +44 (0)1788 545602 or jonathan.smith@chq.alstom.com