THE UK’s quickest junior bricklayer - who trained at York College - believes he can get even faster after narrowly missing out on a world title in Las Vegas.
Harry Stevenson, a junior bricklayer from Sherburn-in-Elmet, was crowned the UK’s fastest junior bricklayer after winning the 2025 National Junior Super Trowel Competition.
His victory earned him a place at the SPEC MIX 500 Bricklayer World Championship in Las Vegas, where he laid 165 bricks in just 15 minutes - finishing just 10 bricks behind the winner in the junior category.
Harry, now 19, said: "I'm definitely getting quicker and all the bricks I laid in Vegas were neat as well.
"I felt I might have done enough to win because some of the other walls weren’t very neat, but that’s probably going to be difficult when you’re up against Americans on their own soil.
"I've enjoyed taking part in the competitions, though, and I’d like to do the Super Trowel Pro Series next.
"I think you have to be 21 to do that, so I will enter it and I think I’ll have a pretty good chance."
Harry works for Withington Masonry Contractors and completed his Level 2 bricklaying apprenticeship at York College five months ahead of schedule.
He was encouraged to enter competitions by his tutors at York College, including John Mellor.
He said: "John Mellor – my tutor – has played a big part in putting me forward for competitions and I’ve always gone to them knowing I’d have a good chance.
"College also let me come back to practice before the SPEC MIX.
"At work, I’m mainly doing cavity walls which are 40 bricks long, whereas at College I can practice doing the nine-inch walls that are 10 to 12 bricks long, which is the format for the speed competitions.
"If I hadn’t gone to York College, I don’t think I’d be as far on with my skills as I am."
He also spoke about the support from his employers and how he approaches his work on-site.
He said: "I’ve always had a bit of speed to my day's graft, but you can’t go at that pace all the time because it would be very tiring."
Harry dedicated his national win to his grandfather, who introduced him to the trade.
He said: "My granddad was a bricklayer and I started off with him at weekends and after school.
"He got me into the trade at 15.
"He passed away last year and, sadly, didn’t get to see it, but I know he would have been over the moon."
Mr Stevenson now works on sites across Yorkshire, including Castleford, Knaresborough, Leeds, York, and Upper Poppleton, and credits his apprenticeship with giving him a strong start to his career.
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