A gifted footballer turned engineer who realised his ambitions after winning one of the most prestigious awards for young people in Wales, is calling on Gwent apprentices to follow in his footsteps by entering this year's competition.

Jamie Veitch, aged 21, from Saltney, Flintshire scored the goal of his career when he won the EEF Apprentice of the Year award last year, overcoming stiff competition from 19 finalists. Apprentices across Wales have the opportunity to emulate Jamie's success this year at the 55th EEF Apprentice of the Year Competition, which will be held at the CIA in Cardiff on December 8.

Young apprentices and engineering companies in Gwent, eager to recognise the work of their most talented engineering apprentices, can download an application form from www.eef.org.uk/cymru, and submit the entry before the deadline on September 30.

Jamie, who joined Broughton-based Airbus nearly five years ago, realised that gaining an apprenticeship placement, working towards an academic qualification while earning, was an excellent way of obtaining a skilled career.

The gifted defender, who has played for Manchester and Liverpool football clubs at schoolboy level, substituted a career on the pitch for the engineering world after sustaining a leg injury in the final year of school.

In addition to being named as the overall national winner, Jamie also won EEF's Fourth Year Apprentice of the Year for North Wales. Jamie went on to win the Steve Watson Memorial Trophy as apprentice of the year at Airbus in Broughton.

After winning the award, Jamie successfully gained a permanent job within the Metrology Department. As well as receiving specialised training on the relevant software from experts in the USA, he spent four weeks in Toulouse checking components for the A-380.

Jamie said: "After a slow start to my apprenticeship, I realised that you only get as much out of something as you put into it so I concentrated on learning these new skills and focused on putting them into practice. "I would encourage more apprentices from across Wales to enter this competition because it has been a huge boost for my career."