Tauranga's Jared Menzies has scored second place as the top carpentry apprentice in the country, at the New Zealand Certified Builders Apprentice Challenge sponsored by ITM.

Canterbury's Alex Erickson won the coveted first place title of top carpentry apprentice, and Daniel Merwyn from Taupo came in third.

The NZCB Apprentice Challenge National Final took place at NZCB's annual conference in Christchurch on 26-27 May, where 21regional finalists from across the country competed for the top prize. Apprentices were judged on examples of their work, dedication towards their apprenticeship, and a presentation to over 500 NZCB member builders attending the conference.

As well as the title of New Zealand's top apprentice, Alex returns to Canterbury with a $10,000 prize package from ITM and the Ken Read Memorial Trophy. The second-place winner heads home witha$7,000 prize package from Milwaukee Tools NZ and the third place-getter leaves with a $5,000 prize package from Paslode NZ.

NZCB Chief Executive Malcolm Fleming says the NZCB Apprentice Challenge is always a great opportunity to celebrate the next generation of builders and to reinforce NZCB's commitment to supporting apprenticeship training.

'This includes our new initiative launched at the conference, the NZCB Apprentice Network, which is designed to provide wrap-around support to apprentices employed by an NZCB member builder and their employer to ensure both have good experiences of that journey,” says Mr Fleming.

As well as providing educational support that complements the Te Pūkenga carpentry apprenticeship training modules, NZCB's Apprentice Network offers a wider range of benefits, including access to mental health and wellbeing support, deals and discounts with selected merchants for tools of trade, and ongoing professional development and networking opportunities,” says Mr Fleming.

NZCB's commitment to ensuring apprentices have positive experiences while they are undertaking their trade training is also reflected by the focus on fun at the NZCB annual conference, with the apprentices participating in the Great Apprentice Race.

This saw the apprentices put into pairs to build and race a trike and trailer, with tools and supplies provided by Mitre 10. This fun-focussed event, which is separate from the formal NZCB Apprentice Challenge National Final, was won by Daniel Merwyn from Taupo and Zhuoming ‘Kevin' Fu from Waikato.

NZCB's member builders are typically from small to medium-sized building firms that offer a full spectrum of residential and light commercial building services.

Reflecting its focus on quality, NZCB is the only building trade association that requires builders to hold a formal trade qualification to be eligible for membership, and it provides ongoing skills development for its members.