Award-winning Fife roofer highlights confidence boost of apprenticeship

Speaking during Scottish Apprenticeship Week (3-8 March), Euan Forsyth from Glenrothes was named BMI Redland Roofing Apprentice of the Year last summer. He is doing his apprenticeship at Fife College’s Glenrothes campus while learning on the job with his Kirkcaldy-based employer Mithril Roofing and Building.

Euan said: “I started off working as a joiner labourer and then I ended up falling into roofing. My boss told me if I did that for a year he would then put me through my apprenticeship. We've been in college for a fortnight, every fortnight, so we've got a different unit every time we go in. It's always changing, picking up loads of skills every time.”

Euan beat off competition from 20 fellow apprentices from across the UK during a two-day competition to win the prestigious prize which also came with a £1,000 cash prize and access to three years’ training through the BMI Academy.

Euan explained: “It was a bit surreal - I wasn't expecting it. I felt like I'd done well, but I didn’t expect to win it. I learned a lot from it too. I was always quite a shy person. After coming back up, I was a lot more confident in speaking to customers and being in college.

“When I came in here, being an adult, I picked things up a lot easier. So, a lot of the things I was quite good at, but it's just excelled me that we bit extra to be a lot more confident in doing things myself on the site. I have definitely built up a lot of confidence and a lot of skills.”

Lecturer, Brian Hutton called him one of the best the college has had in recent years.

Brian said: “We were very proud of what Euan achieved for himself, for us as a college and for the Fife region. Euan is a very good student and one of the best we’ve had over the last few years. Nothing is too much trouble, he always thinks ahead and I think that’s what shone through for his award last year.”