Posted by Peter Warman on March 4, 2013, 11:42 am Edited by board administrator March 7, 2013, 3:31 pm
Round one narrows the field in Top Technician competition
Top Technician 2013 announces the Top 24 entrants
The organisers of ‘Top Technician 2013’ have announced the results of the first round of the annual competition to find the UK’s most skilled garage technician and fault fixer. From the many hundreds of workshop professionals who took the initial online test paper, the top twenty four successful entrants will now face a demanding semi-final round of hands-on practical tests to be held at the Delphi Training Centre in Leamington Spa on March 22nd.
Hailing from as far afield as Fife in Scotland to Redruth in Cornwall, the two dozen semi-finalists are:
Will Addy of Racecourse Garage, Totnes, Devon
Matthew Booth of The Village Garage, Bishops Waltham, Hampshire
Jerry Carroll of Carroll's Garage, Paisley, Scotland
Matt Cleevely of Cleevely Motors, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Lee Collins of the Kwik Fit Group, Greater Manchester
Richard Combellack of Dales Central Motors, Redruth, Cornwall
Rob Dawson of Glyn Hopkin Honda, Chelmsford, Essex
Peter Duncombe of Crescent Road Garage, Oxford
James Etherington of T C Garage, Copthorne, West Sussex
Mike Harding of Harding Auto Services, Woking, Surrey
Simon Harris of Pebley Beach Hyundai, Swindon, Wiltshire
Gareth 'Wyn' Mathias of Garej Wyn, Crymych, Pembrokeshire
James Mc Callum, The Mechanic, Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire
Ainsley Mc Ewan of McEwan's Garage, Derby
Richard McVeigh of Kwik Fit, Lichfield, Staffordshire
Dave O'Neill - Mobile Mechanic, Fife, Scotland
Nigel Spalding of MOT City, Wokingham, Berkshire
Andrew West of Erme Valley Autos, Ivybridge, Devon
David Weston of Cambridge Coachworks, Crowthorne, Berkshire
Colin White of Adamsons Skoda, Deal, Kent
Nigel Yardley of Yardleys Vehicle Repair & Test Centre, Nottingham
Ryan Hewitt of Lexus Wolverhampton, West Midlands
Phillip McEwen of Diagnostic Solutions, Sevenoaks, Kent
Steve Smith of Hills Toyota, Woodford Green, Essex
The top six scorers from this group will face the ultimate challenge of the final, day-long round of even more complex diagnostic hurdles at the Honda Institute, Slough on April 26th. The last man standing and winner of the ‘Top Technician 2013’ competition will be announced and receive the coveted trophy, a cheque for £2,500 and over £15,000 worth of other prizes at the Top Technician Live symposium at Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands, Surrey on May 17th.
Few pictures from last Friday at the Honda Institute
Pictures courtesy of Blue-Print ADL one of the Sponsors of the competition http://on.fb.me/15WDEUR
Look forward to seeing you all at the Top Technician 2013 presentation on Friday 17th May 2013 at Mercedes World
UKAT
Lee Collins & Steve Smith
Posted by Peter Warman on May 1, 2013, 10:41 am, in reply to "Top Technician 2013 " Peter Warman
Final two await the judges’ verdict
At the end of a day-long series of searching, one-hour diagnostic tests at the Honda Institute in Slough, the field of six ‘Top Technician 2013’ competition finalists was reduced to just two on Friday, April 26th.
Lee Collins of Kwik Fit, Greater Manchester and Steve Smith of Hills Toyota, Woodford Green, Essex, will now have to sweat it out until Friday May 17th, when this year’s winner of the UK’s most prestigious trophy for workshop technicians will be announced at the ‘Top Technician Live’ seminar at Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands, Surrey.
“Lee and Steve have locked horns before in the finals but this is the first time either of them has made it through to the ultimate decision,” said the competition’s chief judge, Ian Gillgrass of the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) arm of the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). “Surviving to this stage of an intensely demanding competition is a tribute to their diagnostic knowledge, skills and ability to stay on top of constantly evolving vehicle technology. Win or lose, both can proudly count themselves among the crème-de-la-crème of our industry, and an inspiration for every other professional technician, wherever they may be working.”
The ‘Top Technician 2013’ prize fund, which this year tops a record £18,000 – including a tax free cash award of £2,500 – awaits whichever of the two gets the judges’ nod. The runner-up will also be rewarded with a variety of prizes.
“With every one of them at the top of their game, our congratulations must also go to the other finalists – Ainsley McEwan of McEwan's Garage, Derby; Jerry Carroll of Carroll’s Garage, Paisley, Scotland; Richard McVeigh of Kwik Fit, Lichfield, Staffs, and Andrew West of Erme Valley Autos, Ivybridge, Devon, - who impressed the judges with their skill and technical know-how,” said Top Technician’s project manager, Nicola St Clair.
With the champagne on ice and the celebrations still to come, ‘Top Technician’ is over for another year but it’s never too soon to think ahead to 2014 and technicians keen to test themselves against the best of the best can register their intention to enter online at www.toptechnician.co.uk.
