LUCITE International landed both of the main prizes at the recent Teesside Apprenticeship awards.

Cameron Appleyard, 21, was crowned best overall Tees Valley Production Technician (TVPT) apprentice during the four years spent learning his trade with other sponsored apprentices at TTE Technical Training Group in Middlesbrough.

In addition, another Lucite sponsored apprentice, Dean Blakemore, 20, finished runner up completing a first ever “double” for Lucite in the eleven years of TVPT’s history.

During that time, almost 200 school leavers have gained the skills and behaviours they needed to work in process industry companies throughout the area.

Dave Thompson, of TTE Technical Training Group, said: “It is really important to recognise the achievements of these young people and Cameron and Dean did excellently in beating off stiff competition from their peers to scoop the top two awards. They were part of a really strong group in which there were many excellent candidates fighting for the top prizes.”

A quarter of the Lucite’s 300-strong workforce on Teesside is now made up of people under the age of 30 and the latest new employees follow in the footsteps of dozens of other former sponsored apprentices to be taken on in recent years who are helping the company to bridge the skills and age gap.