THREE employees from a Shipley firm will be going for gold at a global competition.

Jake Green, Alex McCluskey and Jacob Parker, of Carnaud Metalbox Engineering, will compete in WorldSkills – the world’s largest vocational skills competition, held in Abu Dhabi.

They are among 34 young people representing Team UK in the contest, which sees teams from 59 countries compete in 51 skill competitions.

The trio from Carnaud, based in Dockfield Road, will compete in the manufacturing team challenge.

They have to design and build a recover unit, similar to a bomb disposal unit, and used workshops at Bradford College’s Trinity Green campus to help hone their design and practise their skills before jetting out to the United Arab Emirates last week.

Mr Green will oversee the electronics side of the project, machinist Mr McCluskey, from Otley and a former Ilkley Grammar School student, will make the components, and fitter Mr Parker will put the robot together.

Mr Green, 22, who completed an apprenticeship and higher national diploma in electrical engineering at Bradford College, said: “It feels great to be flying the flag for Team UK and for Bradford.

“We are competing against teams from all over the world including China, where the competitors are treated like sports stars, like celebrities.

“WorldSkills is a huge international event with an opening and closing ceremony like the Olympics.

“It is a real privilege to be taking part and we are excited to show off what we can do. We are quietly confident too.”

Other skills tested at the WorldSkills finals, which are held every two years, include aircraft maintenance, restaurant service and cyber security. The competition runs until tomorrow.

Carnaud Metalbox has entered teams for WorldSkills, the largest vocational skills event in the world, for the last few years and represented the UK in 2013 and 2015.

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The 2017 team will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of three apprentices from the Shipley firm who represented the UK in Brazil in 2015.

Chris Renwick, Patrick Devanney and Dominic Trees represented the UK as part of the Manufacturing Team Challenge at the World Skills finals. The team finished fifth out of more than 50 countries and were awarded medals of excellence, which are presented to competitors who score more than 500 points. The trio were given a civic reception in Bradford on their return.