A BRICKLAYING expert from York has helped a team cement a prize win at the world’s most famous floral showcase.

Under the leadership of Mike Burdett, a bricklaying tutor and programmer leader at York College’s Construction Department, UK Skills scooped a silver medal from the judges at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

UK Skills, a not-for-profit organisation which champions skills and learning for work through competitions and awards, created the garden, entitled Growing World Glass Talent: Celebrating The Workforce Of Tomorrow, which sat among some of the most eye-catching displays produced by horticulturalists from around the world.

The garden showcased the wide range of skills needed to create an outdoor space for modern living, including bricklaying, with Mike providing guidance on how to get the design right and impress judges.

He oversaw the construction of the garden’s wall, which included built-in nesting boxes to encourage different species of birds to flock to it, with other skills being put to use including landscaping brainwaves and the use of electrical items to provide a display with an added twist. As well as carrying out his lecturing duties at York College, Mike has been a UK Skills Training manager since 2006, which has seen him train competitors in preparation for the largest international skills contest for young people, WorldSkills.

Mike described the accolade as “truly amazing”.

He said: “The team all worked really hard to create the garden and are all really proud of what we have managed to achieve.

“My team of young bricklayers who helped build the garden for us at Chelsea are all people I have trained in preparation for WorldSkills so, at Chelsea, I was able to take a proud step back and watch and admire as these young men showed their skills and technical knowledge they have gained from being involved in the UK Skills training programme.

“Of course, there were lots of different skills involved in the build and our garden shows off the best in not only bricklayingm but also stonemasonry, landscape gardening, plumbing, cabinet-making and electrical installation.”