FirstGroup : Bramley bus engineers recognised at national awards

11 Aug 2017

• Local engineering apprentices from First Bus in Bramley have been presented with national awards that recognise their mechanical skills

Two engineering apprentices from First West Yorkshire in Bramley are celebrating success this month, after scooping wins at a national engineering skills challenge.

Now in its seventh year, the IRTE Skills Challenge presents 28 awards to top ranking coach & bus technicians, and this year Eugene Arbuzov and Stephen Wood from the First West Yorkshire Bramley depot, have been successful in three of the categories.

25 teams from UK bus operators were put through carefully devised tests in June this year and Eugene was named the winner in the 'Top Scoring DVSA Inspection Apprentice' and 'Top Scoring Mechanical Apprentice' categories. Stephen, also from Bramley, was named runner-up in the 'Top Scoring Electrical Apprentice Challenge'.

Speaking about the award wins, Leeds based Eugene said that he found inspiration to join First Bus due to the businesses success at previous Skills Challenge competitions. Now in the final year of his apprenticeship at the Bramley depot, Eugene returned to the competition, having also been a winner in 2016, and excelled once again, having benefitted hugely from the educational and confidence building experience.

Speaking about the engineering apprentice programme available, Tony Spencer, Engineering Manager at First Leeds in Bramley, said: 'We have a fantastic apprentice scheme, which allows apprentices into the business to learn first-hand how to work with our vehicles, so it's great that two of our local lads have been recognised at a national skills challenge.

'There are lots of opportunities at First West Yorkshire for talented engineers. The work ranges from bulb replacements to major unit repairs - with scope to progress. We help our engineers with training and development and support them as they advance through the company.'

For more information about First West Yorkshire and the careers available visit https://uk.firstgroupcareers.com/home.