Southern Regional College (SRC) apprentice Jack Harvison has added another prestigious accolade to his growing list of achievements, after being crowned Northern Ireland Motor Industry Apprentice of the Year.
Jack, a body paint respraying apprentice received the coveted title at an awards ceremony held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Belfast on Friday 6 November, in recognition of his technical ability and achievements within the automotive industry.
Nominated by his manager, Peter Rooney from The Body Stop NI in Portadown, Jack has enjoyed a remarkable run of success, establishing himself as one of the UK's most promising young talents in automotive paint refinishing.
Having completed his Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships in paint respraying at SRC Portadown, Jack's impressive competition journey began in January 2025 when he secured first place in the College's intercampus competition. This marked the beginning of a series of outstanding achievements that would see him progress from regional success to national recognition.
Building on his initial victory, Jack went on to claim first place in the Northern Ireland regional heats for body paint respraying, followed by another first-place finish in the WorldSkills UK qualifying heats.
His success culminated in a gold medal at the WorldSkills UK National Finals last November, where he demonstrated exceptional skill and professionalism to outperform some of the UK's most talented young automotive paint refinishing apprentices.
Speaking on his decision to nominate Jack for the Northern Ireland Motor Industry Apprentice of the Year award, Peter said:
"From the outset, Jack has shown a real talent for paint respraying, he's never content to rest on his achievements and is always looking for ways to push himself further.
Jack brings that same commitment and attention to detail to his work every day, and it's been fantastic to watch his confidence and technical ability grow. To see him progress from a young apprentice to a national gold medallist, and now Northern Ireland Motor Industry Apprentice of the Year is something we're immensely proud of. He thoroughly deserves this recognition and I have no doubt there are even greater achievements ahead of him."
Jack’s lecturer David Fairley added:
“Jack has been a pleasure to teach and it's been fantastic to see how far he's come since he first started his apprenticeship. Competition after competition, Jack has continued to raise the bar and every success has given him even more confidence in his abilities. He's worked incredibly hard to get to where he is today and it's great to see that hard work paying off.
We're all delighted for Jack. To go from winning our College competition to becoming a national gold medallist and now Northern Ireland Apprentice of the Year is an incredible achievement. He's a credit to himself, his employer and the College and I'm excited to see what he can achieve next.”
