VIVO’s, Todd Montague, reaches national finals of this year’s WorldSkills UK competition

On the 7th of July 2022, it was announced that Todd Montague, Data Centre Engineer at VIVO, was one of only six finalists to reach the national finals of the WorldSkills UK competition in Refigeration and Air Conditioning.

This top-tier competition will see 500 finalists across 63?finals take place concurrently at six colleges across the four nations of the UK.?The skills vary from bricklaying in Edinburgh, aircraft maintenance in Cardiff, culinary arts in Belfast and Refrigeration and Air Conditioning in London.

Designed by industry experts, WorldSkills UK competitions help young people to grow personally and professionally, developing their technical, personal and employability skills.?Competitors who impress under pressure, could see themselves representing the UK at the “skills olympics” in France in 2024.

Whilst working for VIVO as a Data Centre Engineer, Todd is also undertaking an apprenticeship in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning at Bath College. Todd completed his electrical apprenticeship when he left school for two years at a small family-owned business. After spending a few years working there he decided that he wanted more experience and started a role at Amey working on the Ministry of Defence estate.

Todd explains, ‘Apprenticeships means that you are tested more by real world obstacles, it is a better way of learning for me personally than being based in a classroom. Amey and now VIVO (after a change in delivery supplier for the Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) contract) allow me to do a day release at college for my current apprenticeship. I decided I wanted to do it after supporting some colleagues on site and thought it would be beneficial for me and the company if I had the skills to make the repairs and installations myself.’

‘I researched where I could do the course and got the information from the college before I presented it to my line manager for approval. I have now completed my level 2 and will start the level 3 soon. I do have to do some work in my spare time, like compiling a portfolio, as well as training on health and safety procedures’.

Todd was first approached about the World Skills competition by his lecturer at college. He competed at the college initially in two practical assessments, which were judged by industry professionals and scored out of 100. These assessments included looking at diagrams and replicating what they saw to get a system that not only looked right but also worked. The tolerances for the measurements had to be within 2mm making the competition standards extremely high. However, Todd didn’t crack under the pressure, and he received his score that put him in the top 6 finalists; he will complete against the other five in November.

Todd doesn’t plan on stopping here with his ambitions and wants to keep progressing and driving forward in his career. He enjoys being out of his comfort zone and would recommend anyone who is thinking about it to find out what apprenticeships are available to them.

VIVO are extremely proud of Todd and can’t wait to support him in November when he takes part at the WorldSkills UK Final.