Sion Lloyd and Dan Biggs have scooped top honours in the EEF Future Manufacturing Awards 2013.

JCB apprentices have scooped top honours in a competition which tested their engineering skills and practical and academic knowledge.

Sion Lloyd and Dan Biggs, who both work at JCB Transmissions in Wrexham, notched up first place finishes in the EEF Future Manufacturing Awards 2013.

Lloyd won in "The Outstanding Achievement by a First Year Apprentice Award Wales - Regional Winner" category, while Biggs was named "The Outstanding Achievement by a Third Year Apprentice Award - Wales Regional Winner".

Lloyd, 19, of Dodleston, Cheshire, started at JCB Transmissions in August 2012 and has combined on-the-job training at the Wrexham-based operation with further studies at Coleg Cambria in North East Wales. He represented JCB and his college at the UK World Skills event held at the NEC Birmingham earlier this month, where he was one of six finalists.

EEF judges described him as a "very comprehensive, practical engineer, who will, without doubt, have a successful career in engineering". He will now represent JCB and Wales at the national final, which takes place in London in December.

Biggs, the 19-year-old Glyndwr University student of Wrexham, who has previously won the JCB Global Apprentice of the Year and First Year Apprentice Award, was described by judges as an apprentice who "demonstrated drive, commitment, enthusiasm (and showed) considerable technical knowledge in his project".

He has also been nominated for The Most Inspirational Apprentice Award and attended a national ceremony hosted at the House of Lords on 26 November.

Paul Byard, EEF region director for Wales, says: "Ensuring that the UK has future engineers, team leaders and managers is essential to long-term economic prosperity, which is why it is essential to nurture the talents of young apprentices such as Sion and Daniel. Their enthusiasm is infectious and it is clear why they are such ambassadors for apprenticeships."

JCB has recruited more than 230 graduates, sponsored undergraduates and apprentices since the launch of its Young Talent programme last year. This year's intake was the largest, with 130 young people joining the business under a GBP5 million (USD8.1 million) scheme.

This year, JCB also launched the Advanced Apprenticeship in Engineering Manufacturing, a level 3 qualification aimed at 16-year-old school-leavers - a first in the UK.