British cleaning's gold standard

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Team UK are EuroSkills winners

Sep 2008

Only a month ago the country was celebrating the success of Team GB in Beijing, but now another UK team has picked up medals in an international competition.

A team of 16 young people achieved eight gold medals at the first ever EuroSkills, a three day competition in skills ranging from cleaning to farriery.

For the UK cleaning industry it was an event to be proud of. Fabio Silva, Sandro De Nobrega, Craig Robinson and Kirsty Steel beat opposition from Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands to scoop four gold medals, winning in every category.

They were assessed in cleaning tasks ranging from office to hospital ward environments to win the Cleaning Services Team Gold.

Fabio Silva came first as Cleaning Manager while Kirsty Steel shared gold with Austria for Cleaning Supervisor. Sandro Nobrega and Craig Robinson won the Cleaning Operator Team category.

EuroSkills is a new, pan-European skills contest. Watched by around 40,000 spectators, the 400 competitors from 29 countries competed in 25 different competitions covering 49 different vocational skills.

Team UK competed in six competitions: Cleaning Services, Automotive Technology Light Vehicle, Farrier, Fashion, Hairdressing and Office ICT Team.

The cleaning team first showcased their skills in the UK Team Clean Challenge, a competition run by Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council for the cleaning industry.

Chief Executive of Asset Skills, Richard Beamish, said: "The cleaning team's triumph illustrates the high standards we maintain in the UK.

"It also shows how career opportunities within cleaning are improving with more chance to progress into supervisory or management roles."

Skills Minister David Lammy said: "Each of the young people in the team have worked hard to earn the right to represent their country - and it was inspiring to see them competing against the brightest and best from countries all across Europe.

"The results reflect the unprecedented investment we have made in skills training in the UK, and I hope the success of Team UK will inspire others to pursue excellence in their vocational skill."

To find out more about the EuroSkills event or to learn more about how you can take part in the next competition visit www.ukskills.org.uk