PB reports on the hottest new event in construction – Super Trowel and the event’s 2024 final. 12 of the best bricklayers in the country battled it out to determine who was the best. Read on to find out more…..
Super Trowel seems to be taking the construction event industry by storm. The exhibition, which hosts the competition of the same name that looks to find the UK’s best bricklayer, was held for its second time on August 8th. Thought up by Ashley Francis, Founder of the Bricklayers Social Club, Super Trowel aims to celebrate all things brickwork in the UK, with the winner of this year’s competition bringing home a whopping prize pot worth over £15,000 and the coveted title of the UK’s best bricklayer. Along for the ride with founder Ash are Joe Short, Inventor of Brick Jackets and Jack Dawson, Programme Manager of Brickwork at Hertford Regional College. The three are all bricklayers and, from what they’ve achieved with Super Trowel, their passion for the trade is certainly evident.
This year’s exhibition and competition final was held in the Marshal Arena in Milton Keynes, already outgrowing last year’s venue. 1,514 people were in attendance this year, with over 50 construction stands out on show too, presenting anything from the latest tools to trade charity juggernauts like Band of Builders.
The competition itself is split into multiple segments. Naturally, the hod carriers got to have first crack at it all tackling two packs each (totalling 1,000) and decanting them into 14 smaller piles for their bricklaying co-competitor. To call it physically exerting would be a bit of an understatement. With a race to the finish, it was Lee Dawson who won, moving and sorting his 1,000 bricks in just 30 minutes. As the winner of the hod race, he was the recipient of a check for £1,000.
The main competition itself had the 12 brickie contestants laying as many bricks as they could on the set course in an hour. After this hour, (and a much deserved break) there’s then a jointing up period. While the ultimate goal is to lay the most bricks, accuracy and precision is absolutely key too. For bricks that aren’t level, damaged, or out of place, the 17 judges deduct a set number of bricks from the overall total. These judges are all volunteers and absolute veterans of the trade themselves. In fact, head judge Peter Roberts received a lifetime achievement award for his services to the industry at the event.
And the winner is…
It was Charlie Collison, with his hod carrier Tom Marcus, who was crowned the UK’s best bricklayer though, putting down 720 bricks in the 60 minutes provided and retaining his title after his win last year. With the huge prize pot totalling over £15,000, he’ll be flying out to Las Vegas to compete in Spec Mix Bricklayer 500. Speaking on the win he said: “It was nerve wracking, fun, exciting, hard work – everything all rolled into one hour!” and then on whether next year would be three in a row for him: “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I made a few mistakes which cost me a few bricks but it’s part of the game, stuff happens hopefully I’ll get a few more next year!”
There was an apprentice competition that took place too, where Hertford Regional College student, Ben Ellis, 22, of Lee Marley Brickwork, triumphed. Ben, who has been on the trowel just three years, was crowned victorious and will be heading off to Las Vegas with his hod carrier, Kurt to compete in the Junior Spec Mix Bricklayer 500. Speaking on his win he said: “I can’t wait to finish my apprenticeship and progress and try and beat Charlie Collision next year! I wanted to get involved after seeing the other guys doing it, plus my college teacher Jack (Dawson) got us all involved. I wanted to show people what I’ve got, and I did and I’ve won.”
The next generation
This in itself is a key element to the Super Trowel platform and something that stands out from everything else – a sense of community and comradery. The exhibition is just a wholly positive celebration of all things brickwork, that will hopefully inspire more young people, like Ben, to keep on the trowel and take pride in their trade.
We caught up with one of the founding trio, Jack Dawson, who reflected on how the day went: “It’s been absolutely unreal. It’s been fantastic, just a fantastic day. Setting up with our crew, the judges, the competitors it’s just been absolutely mind-blowing.
“We’ve maximum capacity, with 1,514 people. To see that many attendees all passionate about the trades to watch the competitors work so hard, both the main Super Trowel competitors and the apprentices taking part and the judging team – all 17 of them volunteers give up their time for this labour intensive job. Absolutely everyone has been amazing.”
“Plans are already there for next year, we’ve got our venue finalised. Like I said, we’ve reached capacity today so we need to go bigger, because this is definitely something the industry has welcomed.”
Welcomed is an understatement, this year’s event was host to an enormous number of sponsors, many of which contributed to the prize pot. Having an event like this that’s so positive and inspiring for the trade and the younger entrants to it is a no-brainer. Roll on next year!
For more information on Super Trowel visit Super Trowel | BSC.
