Kyle Maxwell Wins Flooring Apprentice of the Year 2024

The 2024 Flooring Apprentice of the Year competition winner is Kyle Maxwell from MacGregor Flooring Company Ltd in Hamilton, Scotland. Judging the competition this year were three CFA Council Members, Alan Gayle (AG Flooring Ltd), Matthew Brown (Uzin Utz Uk) and David Brady (RJM Flooring Ltd) all of whom were blown away by Kyle’s entry and scored him highly in all aspects of his submission.

Alongside his excellent answers to the application questions, Kyle provided a fantastic video case study based on four different sites including a commercial flooring project, a detailed subfloor preparation project, a commercial staircase installation and a domestic LVT herringbone installation all on behalf of his employer coverings a wide range of flooring types. His application was backed with great recommendations from both his employer and his tutor, leading the judges to their unanimous decision that Kyle was a more than worthy winner.

Congratulations are also owed to the runner up, Dale Deeray from Floor Furnishings Ltd, as well as third place candidate, Daniel Mee from Hillside Contracts Ltd. It was a tough competition and their recognition is well deserved.

The CFA has proudly organised and delivered this award for many years, and is delighted with the levels of engagement from employers, apprentices, training providers and sponsors. The competition has become a regular feature in the flooring industry calendar, allowing apprentices to highlight the skills that they have learnt during their apprenticeship and companies that employ the apprentices to get involved, showing their commitment to training their workforce and their investment in the next generation of flooring installers.

Kyle was presented with his award and prizes on Thursday 20th June 2024 at the Flooring Industry Training Association (FITA) training centre in Loughborough with a host of sponsors of the competition sending representatives to congratulate Kyle in person.

About winning the competition, Kyle said: ‘I am over the moon at winning this year’s Flooring Apprentice of the Year competition. Being an apprentice and learning my trade is something I am extremely proud of and I always put 100% into my work to make sure I am the best I can be. I was not expecting to win the award given the number of entrants and the fact that this is a UK wide competition, but it means the world to me that I have. I am excited to build my tool kit up and will enjoy using them all on site. Thanks to all of the sponsors for the prizes – it is very much appreciated.’

Each year the Flooring Apprentice of the Year competition is sponsored and supported by some of the flooring sector’s leading manufacturers, generously donating prizes. The prize list this year is bigger than ever and includes a specialist flooring tool kit, £1000 in cash, product vouchers worth £1750, online shopping vouchers worth £1250, and two free training courses to further his knowledge, skills and expertise – with the whole prize list worth over a staggering £10,000!

Kyle’s employer MacGregor Flooring Company Ltd is no stranger to recruiting and training top quality apprentices having also trained the 2020 FAOTY winner David McGrath too!

Laura MacGregor, Finance Director at MacGregor Flooring Ltd said: ‘We are extremely proud of Kyle and all that he has achieved as an apprentice. We expect great things from him as he qualifies and look forward to seeing him grow into a master craftsman. MacGregor Flooring are extremely proud of our apprentices and the system we have built over many years to train them all to the very highest standard. It is no surprise to us that Kyle has won this competition, and we are confident that we will continue to produce apprentices of award-winning calibre in years to come.’

Kyle attends CITB National Construction College Scotland for his off-the-job training and his trainer Mark Purdie said: ‘Kyle has produced a very high level of finished work during his time at college. He is a focused worker who shows great levels of ability for the skills needed for the floorlaying trade and uses his knowledge to help his class colleagues to improve their performance. He is a very loyal employee who speaks highly of his employer and recognises the importance of correctly representing his company and the trade. Kyle is a credit to his employers through his work ethic and his overall attitude will ensure he will be a success in the future of floorlaying.”