Aftermarket November 2022

concluded: “The Jaguar was a depressing one to finish on.” However, finished they were. It was all in the points they had accrued. The judges then offered some feedback on the performances they had seen. Karl Weaver, who was overseeing a DPF issue on the Golf said: “You all got it, and it was really impressive to watch. A few of you misread the fault codes, but some of you realised. The other thing was that the live data would freeze.” Steve Smith said of his Nissan Leaf CAN- related task: “It was all about getting evidence before you commit to the repair. When I was marking people down it was around battery support.” On the ID3 task, which was based around a charging issue Wilfred Goodman said: “I must say how impressed I was with all of you. You all approached it in a methodical way, which is lovely.” Kevin Gallagher, who jointly oversaw the Toyota Prius task with Kevin Toms, which included a presentation element that the finalists were asked to prepare, added: “We were very impressed, we were asked a lot of questions.” Kevin Toms himself concluded: “On the whole the standard was fantastic. The presentations were great, and the handouts were just the icing on the cake. They were really professional. You really ought to be proud of yourselves.” And with that, the final of Top Technician 2022 was all over. Fortunately, the contestants would not have to wait long to find out who won, as the announcement would be made at the Top Technician and Top Garage Awards Evening, a few hours later. Top Garage: The Final Around the same time that the Top Technician 2022 finalists were starting their first task, the many contestants for Top Garage 2022 and Top Service Advisor began to arrive. With 24 businesses having staggered meetings with the judges, it was going to be a busy day. As per previous years, garages would compete in size-based classes. The competitors were as follows: Businesses with 1-3 employees Rowes Honda, Devon A&J Fleetcare, Leeds The Garage Warmington, Warwickshire Businesses with 4-6 employees Fergie’s German Vehicle Specialists, Berkshire Fife Autotech, Kirkaldy CSN Autos, Norfolk CT Cars, Surrey Direct Garage Services, London Billingborough Cars and Commercials, Lincolnshire Businesses with 7-9 employees Cleevely Motors, Gloucestershire Cardoc, London Millers Motor Services, Cornwall Stedmans Garage, West Sussex Bryan Swales Auto Repairs, Castle Douglas Robert Cockings Motor Repairs, Somerset Businesses with 10-plus employees Oldfields Garage Services, Herefordshire QCD Autocentres, Milton Keynes Jackson & Phillips Automotive Services, Bedfordshire AAK Autos, Kent Hunters of Linlithgow, West Lothian Multi-site businesses CCM, West Sussex/Surrey HallCraft, West Midlands Shaikly Motor Company, Essex Manheim Vehicle Solutions Top Service Advisor Barrie Stirling: Hunters of Linlithgow, West Lothian Nicole Hughes, Rent-A-Tech, Bridgend Mikey Wilson: CT Cars, Surrey Michael Francis: Jackson & Phillips Automotive Services, Bedfordshire To be named as the winner in their group, the garages and Service Advisors would need to win the approval of the judges. For 2022, the judges included Technical Topics’ very own James Dillon, John Rawlins from sponsors VARTA, Kim Dorr from sponsors TechMan, Andy Wait from sponsors Motul and Tony Trotter from sponsors TPS. Premier MOT Training, who sponsored the drinks reception at the Awards Evening also offered up a judge in the form of Donna Chapman, as did Delphi Technologies, whose UK & Nordics Technical Services Manager Luke Garratt offered his wisdom to the proceedings. Rigorously timed After a rigorously timed three-minute presentation on their business, the garages had half an hour with the judges, who went through the running of the garage, the marketing thrust and many other key areas. As other garages waited, we had chance to speak to them. Chris Newham was from CSN Autos in Norfolk. The business was competing 34 AFTERMARKET NOVEMBER 2022 TOP TECHNICIAN AND TOP GARAGE Above: Hunters of Linlithgow www.aftermarketonline.net Right: Billingborough Cars and Commercials