Winners announced for IRTE Skills Challenge

With 16 teams fielded by seven bus operators – Arriva, FirstGroup, Go-Ahead London, Go South Coast, London Borough of Redbridge, Translink and Reading Buses – and 48 technicians taking part, it was a tense event. As in previous years, teams comprised electrical, mechanical and bodywork technicians, and this year's award recipients were: Top Scoring Mechanical Technician, sponsored by Allison Transmission: Winner: William Scott, Translink Runner up: Glenn Cooke, Arriva UK Bus Highly Commended: Ian Challoner, Go South Coast Top Scoring Electrical Technician, sponsored by BAE Systems: Winner: Pete Murphy, FirstGroup Runner up: Colin Harris, Arriva UK Bus Highly Commended: Robert Farnell, FirstGroup Top Scoring Bodywork Technician, sponsored by Bridgestone: Winner: Joseph Hotchkiss, FirstGroup Runner up: Jan Colville, Translink Highly Commended: Stephen Hall, Arriva UK Bus Mechanical and Electrical Award, sponsored by Shell: Winners: Ian Challoner and Dave Neal, Go South Coast Runners up: Peter Buckle and David O'Hara, FirstGroup Mechanical, Electrical and Bodywork Combined Award, sponsored by Knorr-Bremse: Winners: William Scott, Adam McGrath and Jan Colville, Translink Runners up: Ian Challoner, Dave Neal and Lee Grady, Go South Coast Top Scoring Mechanical Apprentice: Winner: Daniel Bartlett, FirstGroup Runner up: Tom Hubbard, Arriva UK Bus Top Scoring Electrical Apprentice: Winner: Matthew Fleming, Go-Ahead London Runner up: Sean Ives, Arriva UK Bus Top Scoring Bodywork Apprentice Winner: James Ward, Arriva UK Bus Runner up: Chris Sayers, Go-Ahead London The IRTE Award for Outstanding Achievement Winners: Glenn Cooke, Colin Harris and Stephen Hall, Arriva UK Bus The Skills Challenge 2013 was conducted at S&B Automotive Academy. For the practical assessments, competitors worked on two buses – a MAN CitySmart 14:250 and a Scania Omni-link – as well as a Volvo 9700 coach.