Ben Mills, a plumbing apprentice from Warwick, has been announced as one of three winners of The Nation's A* Trades Apprentice Award 2025.

The award, run by Markel Direct, the specialist tradespeople insurer, aims to celebrate the outstanding work trades apprentices all over the UK are doing within their workplace, whilst also highlighting the important role apprentices play in the future of the construction industry.

Ben faced stiff competition from nominations across the UK and was chosen as a winner by the judging panel of Rob Rees, Divisional Director of Markel Direct, James Wilson, Marketing Manager of Festool, and Robin Clevett, carpenter and host of the Carpentry Show on Fix Radio.

Ben received a development package consisting of a Festool toolkit and accessories worth £4,000, 24-hour tools cover for a year from Markel Direct worth £294 and a £750 voucher to spend on trades clothing at workwear and tools provider ITS.

Ben was nominated by his college mentor, Amanda Bodycote, who commented: "Ben has shown a depth of willingness and determination to succeed and a huge amount of resilience along the way to overcome the hurdles he found himself facing. He works incredibly hard at everything he does, whether that's in college or at work with his employer."

On winning the award, Ben said: "Winning the prize is really going to help me with my work as I'll have better quality tools which I can become comfortable with, and hopefully improve my competency."

The other two winners of the award were Chris Wilson, a carpentry and joinery apprentice from Birmingham, and Gabbi Day, a roofing apprentice from Chesterfield.

After taking part in the judging panel, Rob Rees commented: "The quality of this year's nominations was outstanding and, on behalf of the judges, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to nominate an apprentice.

"Choosing the three winners was incredibly difficult, as so many nominations illustrated the invaluable contribution that apprentices make to the trades and construction industry.

"Winning this award is a great achievement for Gabbi, Chris and Ben, and I'd like to congratulate them all on the fantastic achievements in their careers so far."

To find out more about the apprentices' achievements, and the judges' comments, visit https://www.markeluk.com/apprentice.