The award recognises those who have gone above and beyond in their role as a trades apprentice and aims to celebrate the outstanding work skilled trades apprentices all over the UK are doing within their workplace.

The three winners – Alfie Kinsella, Lily Moore, and Dakota O’Brien – faced stiff competition from nominations across the UK and were selected by a judging panel.

Alfie Kinsella, a carpentry and joinery apprentice from Fallowfield, was named one of the winners after being nominated by his employer, Callum Scarry, co-owner of Beniko Construction.

When asked about nominating Alfie, Callum said: “He’s been through a lot in the past year, and I really thought it would impact him, but his work ethic has remained unmatched.

“He’s never missed a day of work and comes to every job eager to learn. We’re proud of Alfie and what he’s overcome – the construction industry isn’t glamourised so to have an apprentice like Alfie who actively wants to learn about the trade is great.”

Another winner, representing Bolton and her company AR Decor, was Lily Moore, a painting and decorating apprentice. Lily was nominated by her boss Andrew Hamilton, who described Lily as a “real breath of fresh air” and that “from day one, she's shown much interest in the trade.

“She's not afraid to try new things and she's also not afraid to ask questions when she's struggling - that's very important to me,” said Andrew.

On finding out she had won The Nation’s A* Apprentice award, Lily said: “I am buzzing to have won this award and to be representing females in the trade. I feel like I’ve now got a head start having my very own Festool toolkit. It’s a total dream and I’m proud of myself.”

The third and final winner was Dakota O’Brien from Moston, who has been undertaking an electrical apprenticeship with his employer James Burns of Croft Electrical.

When asked why he nominated his apprentice, James said: “I'm a small one-man band and I was told taking on an apprentice would be hard but with his [Dakota’s] eagerness and willingness to learn it has been a massive help to the day to day running of the business.”

All three winners received a development package consisting of a Festool toolkit and accessories worth £4,000, a £750 voucher to spend on TuffStuff workwear and 24-hour tools cover for a year from Markel Direct.

When asked about winning the prize, Dakota said: “I’m so happy to have my very own set of tools, James will be asking to borrow mine now! I still can’t believe I’ve won this award.”