Skills Show 2016 held at the NEC Birmingham, 17 – 19 November, included the final of the APL WorldSkills UK competition in Landscaping, organised by the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL), designed to select Britain’s entrants to the WorldSkills Competition in Russia in 2019.

Makita has supported this competition for a number of years and has provided a comprehensive inventory of drills, impact drivers, mitre saws and petrol disc cutters.

This year the seven finalists used Makita tools during the two and a half day landscape garden build. The test piece layout was designed by the APL, to examine the skills levels of the competitors in both hard and soft landscaping. Cobble paving had to be laid; wood trellis work cut and assembled on site; decking fixed into position; slabs cut and laid; turf and plants installed to the design brief and marked to international standards.

The professional judges awarded the Gold medal to 27 year old Jake Botting who works in the landscape industry and studies at Myerscough College. “It was a hard test, far more difficult than the semi-finals,” reported Jake. “There is never enough time and with the woodwork and slabs that needed precision cutting to fit the manhole cover in this design I was flat out all the time. It’s great to be working with Makita tools. I’m really pleased to have won the Gold medal which is great for my CV.”

Phil Tremayne of APL is very positive about skills levels in the UK landscape industry. “This competition shows all entrants are at a very high level this year. We decided at the semis at RHS Tatton Park this summer that all seven should go through to the final as a real test to find members of the UK team for the future. Since the APL has taken over management of the competition we have raised the skills levels considerably. The garden design by Jody Lidguard really does stretch their ability; it is very positive to see where they are in their training. This year they had to write an action plan and we judged both the delivery and the progress against that plan every day. APL will continue to raise the standards each year. We recognise the invaluable support provided by Makita and other sponsors without which we could not possibly run this competition.”

Gold, Silver & Bronze medal winners were presented with Makita power tool twin-pack kits of drills and impact drivers.