Eighteen technicians from the Jardine Motor Group have all achieved the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) standard ranging from service maintenance technician to master technician level.

Two of the achievers are Mini technicians and are the very first from the manufacturer to become accredited in the UK.

The technicians achieved their accreditation after passing a series of practical skills and knowledge tests at the BMW Group Academy and all have signed up to a professional code of honest conduct. They join over 25,000 registered individuals across the UK who’ve achieved the standard and carry ATA photo ID cards.

Kim Raw, senior franchise aftersales manager at Jardine Motors, said: “Along with the BMW Group we continually support all our technicians to gain accreditation and recognition and I am delighted that all eighteen of our technicians at Scotthall Leeds BMW have now achieved the industry standard.

“I'm also proud that two of my Mini technicians are the first to achieve Mini senior technician status and one of my goals over the next two years is to get all our franchise’s technicians ATA registered. “

Steve Nash, aftersales director for BMW Group UK and president of the IMI said: “It's great to see the commitment to the BMW/ATA programme and the obvious investment Jardine Motors has made in developing the skills of their technical team.

“The BMW Group continues to have a strong link with the ATA programme as over 50% of all BMW technicians are now ATA accredited at various levels. All our apprentices take the ATA assessment as part of their advanced modern apprenticeship and having supported the scheme since the pilot phase in 2005, we now have the first ATA technicians returning for re-accreditation now.”