Apprentice Ollie challenges to take on the best in the world

Ollie working at the WorldSkills event at the NEC and also receiving the HETA Award of Excellence from Tim Parish of Rocol Lubricants in 2014.

AN apprentice engineer from Humberside Engineering Training Association (HETA) is bidding to compete on the international stage after winning a place in the UK squad for the Worldskills challenge.

Ollie Kauss, who first entered the Worldskills programme in 2014 as part of his first year with HETA, took second place in the national competition recently at the NEC in Birmingham.

The 19-year-old now faces a nationwide test of skills with the incentive of a place in the UK team at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, and he says the experience so far has already made him a better engineer.

Ollie said: “It’s really good to have this on my CV and it’s setting me up really well. When I started my apprenticeship I never thought I would find myself in this position.”

Ollie is now in the second year of his apprenticeship and is employed at Hodson and Kauss, a Stallingborough-based engineering company in which his father, Kristian, is a partner.

He said: “The first heat was at HETA’s workshop at CATCH and that was helpful because I knew the place and the machinery very well. When I was invited to go to the NEC it was massive and was kitted out very well.”

He is awaiting details of the next stage, which will involve working at universities and other sites around the country, and he is confident his bosses will support him!

He said: “I am lucky enough to work with my dad and while that means I have to work very hard it should also mean I can get the time off to compete in WorldSkills. It’s an absolutely brilliant event and such a good set-up from start to finish.”

Mick Jaques, fabrication and welding instructor at HETA, said: “Ollie’s score at the NEC was only 1.5 points below the highest ever achieved in the construction metalwork category, which is a great achievement.

“As soon as he arrived here he showed a flair for the work and was very switched-on and focused. He was willing to learn and to try new things to achieve what he wanted to achieve, and he went on to do very well.”

Ollie working at the WorldSkills event at the NEC.