A Gorslas student has won a gold medal in the restaurant service and patisserie finals of a national skills competition.

Daniel Morgan, who is studying a City and Guilds level 2 qualification in professional cookery and hospitality at Coleg Sir Gar, won the restaurant service competition after fighting off competitors from across Wales in a series of challenges over a three hour time period.

Backed by the Welsh Government through the European Social Fund, Skills Competition Wales is a series of events held in colleges across the country, designed to celebrate vocational skills and create highly skilled, award winning employees for the Welsh workforce.

Daniel, who is currently working at The Phoenix, said: "I'm so pleased I took part in the competition, it's not something I ever thought I'd do but it turns out I have a competitive streak.

“On the day I was nervous, but once I started my nerves went away and I concentrated on the tasks in hand, making a perfect steak Diane dish and banana flambe dessert.

“I've always found it difficult to work out the amount of rum to use to set the banana and sauce alight without burning the dish, but luckily my dessert turned out exactly the way the judges expected.

"At the moment I'm working in a front of house role and I'm enjoying serving customers. In the future I'd like to be working as a restaurant manager and I think the competition has helped me work towards the next step.”

More than 35 competitions are taking place this year, across a wide range of different vocations from plumbing and beauty therapy to aeronautical engineering and accountancy.

The successful Welsh competitors may go on to challenge youngsters from across the UK at the WorldSkills UK national finals, held at The Skills Show in Birmingham’s NEC this November. Competitors who excel at The Skills Show may then be shortlisted to compete against the world’s most talented young people at the international WorldSkills competition in Kazan, Russia in 2019.

Minister for Skills and Science, Julie James said: “Along with Daniel’s work and determination the support from their tutors is an important factor in their success, and I would like to extend a special thank you to all the local businesses, schools and colleges across Wales who support these talented individuals.

“I would like to congratulate them on their fantastic achievements and wish them the best of luck in the next stage of the competition and their future careers.”