Inchcape Technician Charlie Mason was named Mercedes-Benz Passenger Car Technician Apprentice of the Year as the Gereman premium brand recognised its top apprentices at an annual awards ceremony.

Candidates were judged according to four different categories including initiative and flexibility; cooperation and teamwork; accomplishments/contributions and quality of work and Mason emerged as category winner in the hotly-contested Passenger cars category.

Georgia Parslow, from Mercedes-Benz of Epsom, was awarded Passenger Car Parts Specialist Apprentice of the Year and Kane Hindmarsh, from Northside Truck and Van Sheffield, picked up the Commercial Vehicle Parts Specialist Apprentice of the Year title.

William Stewart from City West Avonmouth was chosen as Commercial Vehicle Technician Apprentice of the Year.

Andrew Mallery, training operations director at Mercedes-Benz Cars UK, said: “All four winners have gone the extra mile in their work by displaying dedication, positivity and extremely high standards in all areas.”

“We’re committed to recognising and nurturing young talent, and preparing them for life in our retail network. Our aim is to ensure every apprentice has the ability to deliver quality technical expertise, in-depth product knowledge and outstanding service to our customers.”

Peter Arrowsmith, general manager at Inchcape’s North Wales Mercedes-Benz centre, added: “Being crowned as a Mercedes-Benz Apprentice of the Year is a real testament to Charlie’s hard work and determination. The accolade is extremely well deserved, and we are proud to have such a talented young technician working in our team.

“At Inchcape, we are committed to providing extensive training in the prestigious car brands we partner with and the apprenticeships with the Mercedes-Benz Academy are just one example of this. It gives our colleagues the chance to accelerate their career and shows our ongoing commitment to being the employer of choice for technicians in our industry.”

All four winners will recieve a week of work experience with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team, in the lead up to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July.