Six young landscapers are gearing up for a mighty challenge at the APL (Association of Professional Landscapers) - organised WorldSkills UK Landscape Gardening competition which will take place at The Skills Show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, 18-21 November.


The six finalists ©Steve Burden

Makita has donated £15,000 worth of power tools for use by all the competitors in this year’s competitive final where the young landscapers are competing to become the ‘Best in the UK’ in front of an expected 70,000 people.

The six finalists have won through from the semi final event held at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park in July. They are: Christopher Shore, Reaseheath College; Noel Taggart, Greenmount Campus, CAFRE; Aaron Quin, Greenmount Campus, CAFRE; Will Burberry who works for Gardenscapes; Anthony Doran of The Landscape Co and Mark Chapelhow of Wildroof Landscapes.

“I am certain that we will see an impressive level of skills from these young landscapers yet again this year,” says Kevin Brannigan, marketing manager, Makita UK. “The competitors will be working against the clock and under pressure from the word Go and we expect Makita tools to help them achieve accuracy and speed. We hope they will take this experience into their future careers. It is always a pleasure to assist young people to forge a path for their future and that of the landscape industry as a whole.”