Sytner Group rewarded 39 top technicians from its 2020 Elite Technicians Programme with a trip to the Goodwood Festival of Speed and lunch with business owner and racing driver Roger Penske.

Penske, the founder, chairman and CEO of Sytner parent company Penske Automotive Group, sat down for lunch with the programme finalists, Penske Automotive Group executive vice-president of human resources at and Sytner CEO Darren Edwards at the prestigious motorsport festival.

The occasion was the pinnacle of the top AM100 group’s 2020 Elite Technician Programme and came as the group played a central role at the event – partnering with Alpina to host its own stand.

The group’s 2020 programme attracted over 600 entries from with Sytner and its CarShop used car supermarket and Agnew Group divisions, but just 39 made it through as finalists.

Sytner's top technicians spent the day being celebrated in their own private pavilion on the hill, hosted by Sytner’s director of human resources, Mel Rogers, and human resources project manager Francesca Summers, who runs the Elite Technician programme every year.

Rogers said: “Our technicians are such a crucial part of our progress as a company – their drive, talent and passion for the profession is the backbone to our Aftersales departments.

“This competition is industry-leading, and it is important we continue to provide opportunities like this to show how much we value our colleagues. This competition also really sets us apart from other dealer groups within the industry.”

Summers said: “Whilst it was disappointing not to be able to hold the Final of the competition, celebrating at Goodwood Festival of Speed made for a fantastic day and allowed us to recognise more technicians than ever before.

“We very much look forward to the future of the competition in 2022 and rewarding more of the outstanding technical talent within our business.”

Sytner’s Elite Technicians Programme was founded in 2017 with the goal of recognising and rewarding professionals on the technician side of the automotive industry.

The group said it aligns with Sytner’s ‘one team’ ethos, which sees the company continuously looking at how it can do more to nurture, develop and champion its internal talent and offer exciting career prospects.

Normally the programme’s overall winners are selected at a practical assessment day, where each participant is presented with a vehicle and faults to diagnose under assessment.

The COVID-19 pandemic prevented this stage event from happening in 2020.

It also prevented the overall winners joining the Penske Team at the NASCAR All-Stars Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway due to restrictions on overseas travel.

However, Sytner said that the Goodwood invite had ensured that its “talented finalists’ efforts didn’t go unrewarded”.