Steve Mitchell, a technician at Holdcraft Honda in Stoke-on-Trent, receives an award as Honda Technician of the Year from Patricia Richards, Automotive Skills chief executive.

Mitchell was one of 20 finalists from the carmaker’s UK franchise network to compete in a final at the Honda Institute last month. They were faced with a scenario in which a colleague had stripped down a Honda Civic before going on holiday, leaving them with no information about the faults or work already carried out.