A final year apprentice from Adelaide’s Hyatt Regency hotel, Sarah Neill, has been named runner up Australian Apprentice of the Year at the national awards for excellence in training.

Twenty-one-year-old Neill’s achievement was honoured at the 2006 Australian Training Awards ceremony held at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The awards are the culmination of the State and Territory Awards with winners from each State and Territory competing at the national finals.

Neill—who want to one day open her own patisserie—began work at the Hyatt Regency in early 2005 and has gained broad hotel experience while developing her passion for cooking pastry and desserts.

Earlier this year she also completed three days of cross training in the Grand Hyatt in Singapore where she also did a Callebaut chocolate course. She’s a graduate of TAFE SA’s Certificate III in Food Processing (Retail Bakery).

The Apprentice of the Year was Kevin Baker from Victoria, who works in the automotive and computer fields at the Holden Engine Plant at Fisherman’s Bend.