In the spotlight with a newly qualified Motor Vehicle Technician

Connor Fineran, joined us in 2012 straight from school as an apprentice Motor Vehicle Technician at our Blaydon workshop. With our training, he’s now level 3 qualified so read on further to find out more about the role and why he likes working for Northgate.

'‘I’ve always wanted to be a mechanic so I applied for the apprenticeship vacancy via the Job Centre. I was really pleased I was successful and on my first day, as well as meeting the team,   I also assisted with an engine rebuild!

The training has been great, I really enjoyed learning on the job and I also completed my level 3 at the new Mercedes-Benz training academy in Milton Keynes. It was an amazing experience, you received comprehensive practical training and trained on vehicle and diagnostic systems which I have to put into practice every day.

The workshop is extremely busy as we can have up to 60 vehicles booked in a day. The technicians work in shifts and we service both vans and cars, find and fix faults, deal with vehicle recalls and are responsible for general preventative fleet maintenance. No two days are the same and I’m always learning new things.

I may be the youngest member in the workshop team but we all get on really well. Everyone is really knowledgeable because they have worked at the branch for years and it’s good to know that they enjoy working for Northgate too. There’s loads of opportunity to progress through the business and other training courses are being developed so I just want to build up my skills and knowledge. 

Being a mechanic is a dream job for me. Northgate is a great company to work for and the salary is really good too. I’d definitely recommend it as a company to work for, you get loads of discounts and benefits including a pension and life assurance and I’m hoping to trade in my Honda Civic for a Nissan Skyline so I’m hoping I’ll be here for many years!’

Northgate Vehicle Hire has over 75 branches throughout the UK and Ireland so if you’d like to work for the market leader in vehicle hire, visit our careers site at www.northgatecareers.co.uk