Mazak machines power young competitors to excellence

UK engineering apprentices showcased their skills at the recent WorldSkills UK National Finals 2025, where young competitors used several machine tools from Yamazaki Mazak to program and machine a complex workpiece under strict time constraints.

Held annually, the WorldSkills UK National Finals form part of a global movement spanning more than 80 countries that supports young people through competition-based training, assessment and benchmarking. 2025 marked the first time the UK competitions were hosted in South Wales, with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David welcoming CNC milling finalists to its Advanced Manufacturing Skills Academy in Swansea in November.

Eight male and female competitors aged between 17 and 22 were selected from around 100 entrants. The finalists were challenged to machine a dragon-inspired aluminium workpiece to a high standard using three Mazak VCN-430A vertical machining centres installed at the academy. The facility’s two Mazak QUICK TURN 200MB turning centres and CV5-500 five-axis machining centre were also used for machining demonstrations during the event.

Competitors were given seven hours to complete the task: two and a half hours to create a CNC program using CAM software, and four and a half hours to carry out the machining process itself, including set-up.

Ben King, 21, a Manufacturing Engineering Apprentice at Kirkstall Precision Engineering in Leeds, was crowned the winner during a medal ceremony at ICC Wales in Newport.

Alan Mucklow, Managing Director UK & National Distributors at Yamazaki Mazak, said: “I’m delighted that Mazak played such an integral role in the latest WorldSkills UK National Finals, which brought together the UK’s best young engineering talent to pit their skills against each other. The use of our machines in such a prestigious competition is a testament to their reliability and reputation for excellence, and the workpieces produced by the competitors were extremely impressive. Congratulations to Ben and all the other finalists. It’s clear that the future of the UK manufacturing industry is in very capable hands.”

Lee Pratt, Advanced Manufacturing Skills Academy Manager, added: “The 2025 WorldSkills UK CNC Milling National Finals in South Wales were an outstanding success. The standard of skill on display was exceptional once again. The event showcased not only the talent of our competitors, but also the strength of advanced manufacturing training across the UK.

He continued: “High-level skills development and WorldSkills UK are vital to the future of manufacturing in the UK. A huge congratulations to all our competitors and medal winners. I’m sure they will go on to enjoy very successful careers. None of this would be possible without the support of our industry partners. We’re extremely grateful for the support Yamazaki Mazak has provided, which helped make the competition such a success. We look forward to the 2026 final in November.”

Mazak Applications Engineer Reiss Stevens supported competitors throughout the competition, providing applications and technical assistance, while the company also sponsored the three-day training and familiarisation programme ahead of the event.

Mazak’s involvement in the WorldSkills UK National Finals reflects its ongoing relationship with the Advanced Manufacturing Skills Academy. The university invested in three VCN-430A and two QUICK TURN 200MB machines in 2020 to support its apprenticeship programme. The CV5-500 machining centre was added in 2023 to meet growing industry demand for five-axis machining.