On yer trike!

Young “future-builders” tackle the 2023 Great Apprentice Race!

One of the highlights of the NZCB Conference & Expo each year is the time and energy devoted to highlighting young builders, and this year’s event was no exception.

In late May, Christchurch welcomed NZCB members along with a group of talented apprentices ready to take on the annual Mitre 10 Great Apprentice Race (GAR).

This year, 22 bright up-and-coming builders were tasked with designing and quickly building a working trike and trailer from scratch using common building materials.

The concept was presented to the GAR participants the night before the competition, leaving little time for the pairs of young builders to design their trikes, build them by lunchtime the following day and then race them, with additional challenges thrown in along the way!

Egged on by Mitre 10 icon, Stan Scott, all the Mitre 10 Great Apprentice Race participants displayed enterprise, skills, and ingenuity.

But someone has to win, and the top contestants for 2023 were Jordan Gush of Straight Forward Building Solutions Ltd (Wellington) and Jack Johnston of Naylor Love Construction Ltd (Dunedin).

Close behind were mainlanders Charlette Bone of Tasman Homes Nelson Ltd (Nelson) and Nina Griffiths from Chatterton Builders Ltd (Canterbury), who also won the design portion of the GAR.

The third and final podium finishers for 2023 were central North Island duo Daniel Merwyn from Wade Construction Ltd (Taupō) and Kevin Fu of Reliable Homes Ltd (Waikato).

Mitre 10 New Zealand is proud to partner with NZCB in highlighting and encouraging New Zealand’s emerging builders and will continue to support NZCB and the Great Apprentice Race every year. It is great to see the talent being fostered through NZCB members, and there is no doubt the building industry continues to grow stronger through the relationships formed at these events.

Glen Goodall

10 National Trade Development Manager

Now chilled filtered drinking water, filtered near-boiling water, plus standard hot and cold water are all available from a single multi-functional tap.

Both the NeoTank and NeoChiller fit underneath the bench-top and deliver near boiling and chilled water to the MultiTap Chilled.