Mercedes-Benz UK Competition Showcases Technicians' Masterly Skills

MILTON KEYNES - UNITED KINGDOM – March 17, 2009: Mercedes-Benz UK has challenged the knowledge and expertise of its retail technical staff in a country-wide competition – UK TechMasters 2009 – to find the best of the best.

The fiercely competitive contest saw the manufacturer invite a team of expert After Sales staff from each of its 33 market areas to go “brain to brain” on their Mercedes-Benz passenger car technical knowledge

Based on the principles of the manufacturer’s global TechMasters competition, the tournament was launched as part of Mercedes-Benz UK’s commitment to customer service. As well as encouraging pride in performance and improving the quality of After Sales service, the contest recognised and rewarded the prestige car company’s hard working professionals, with the winning team being honoured as “UK TechMasters 2009 champions”.

Each participating team consisted of five members: a Service Team Manager, a Diagnostic Technician, two Systems Technicians and a Maintenance Technician. In a series of events leading up to the February 25th final, which was held at Mercedes-Benz World, the teams had to complete a variety of taxing technical challenges both as individuals and as a group.

At the climax of the competition the team from South West London was crowned the “best of the best” and Tom Kirkham, Service Marketing Executive, Mercedes-Benz UK, was delighted with how the contest had unfolded in its debut year.

"The competition was well received, with teams competing from all over the UK. It was a great way to not only recognise but also reward the highly skilled technical and customer-facing staff within our Mercedes-Benz Official Workshops," said Tom.

Following an initial elimination stage, the final involved a practical fault finding and maintenance task, a ‘Skill Circle’ and a written knowledge examination.

As well as the prestigious accolade of being the 2009 UK TechMasters champions, the South West London team also received five tickets to the 2009 British Grand Prix, complete with overnight stays and track transfers courtesy of Würth UK, the event’s sponsors. The team may also get the chance to prove they are the best in the world at the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Global TechMasters Competition in Germany.

Howard Storey, the Service Team Manager in the victorious South West London Side, is hoping that the team can put in another winning performance if they make it to Germany.

“The contest was certainly tough going, especially in the practical stages of the final but using our combined knowledge we overcame all the challenges,” said Howard.

“Our performance in the UK competition has given us a lot of confidence and we think we would be in with a good chance of another strong result in the Global competition.”