Braden Hockley, a Gloucester-based plumber, has been announced as the winner of a £20,000 cash prize in a long-running competition by JG Speedfit.

Braden, who has spent 13 years as a qualified plumber, was picked from over tens of thousands of entrants of the '20 Grand in Your Hand' competition.

He said: “I use the JG Speedfit products all the time and really needed some luck so figured if I’m in it, I could win it! I was driving home from a job when I received a call from Mike Riseley, Sales Director at JG Speedfit. I was so shocked when I received the call as I’ve never won anything in my life. My wife didn’t even believe me at first!”

Self-employed, Braden has faced significant difficulty in recent times due to a knee injury which has hindered his ability to kneel and bend down – an issue faced by many installers across the industry.

He explained how he will use the prize money: “I will use some money to pay for my knee surgery, which will help me to return to pain-free working for years to come. With the rest, I plan to buy a new front door because the existing one has air gaps, and this will become a nightmare during the winter months as cold air will seep through it!”

JG Speedfit launched the 26-week promotional campaign involving its best-selling product, the 15mm Equal Elbow, back in April.

The elbows, which are often sold as single units across the counter at stockists, were made available in specially packaged multipacks of ten. Each pack had a unique code, allowing installers to enter the competition.

In addition to the £20,000 prize, installers were entered into a monthly Speedfit Tech Bundle draw, to show JG Speedfit’s commitment to technology. Each bundle was worth over £1,000 and six monthly bundles were given away during the course of the campaign, these included gadgets like an Apple iPhone 8 (64GB), an LG 49” 4K HDR Smart TV and a PS4 Pro Games Console.

Mike Riseley, Sales Director of JG Speedfit, said: “The story of Braden and his resilience to get back on the job personifies the hard work carried out by installers across the country. The 20 Grand in Your Hand promotion was a real success and a brilliant way to offer additional rewards to our loyal customers.”