A HELENSBURGH man who won a top apprentice award has been praised in the Scottish Parliament.

Zach Swift was named the NICEIC and ELECSA electrical apprentice of the year for 2018 last month after beating more than 650 other candidates.

Helensburgh’s MSP, Jackie Baillie, has lodged a members’ motion at Holyrood congratulating Zach, who won a £2,000 holiday voucher as his prize, and wishing him well on his future career.

The eight apprentices who reached the grand final of the competition were put through a gruelling day of challenges comprising nine separate tasks designed to assess their abilities across a range of disciplines including testing, fault finding, conduit bending, tray manufacturing and safe isolation, as well as a ‘virtual reality’ test.

Speaking after being announced as the winner, Zach admitted he was “staggered” at his success – and admitted he didn’t think he would even pass the first stage, let alone reach the grand final of the competition, which was supported by the Scolmore Group, who also gave West College Scotland, where Zach studied, £1,000 worth of Scolmore products.

Ms Baillie’s motion has been backed by 10 MSPs from the SNP and Conservative ranks.