Top Technician 2017 has been another fantastic year for the competition, and with the finals behind us, all eyes are now turning towards Top Tech Live, taking place on Saturday 16 September at the Henry Ford Academy in Daventry.

This year's Hats on 4 Mental Health Day, organised by Ben is taking place on 13 October, during the week of World Mental Health Day.

Ben has announced that Mike Brewer has become its first ever Ben Celebrity Ambassador. Mike Brewer is renowned in the industry for his role as presenter of Wheeler Dealers, and he is also a journalist, producer, campaigner and motoring enthusiast.

The sale of The Parts Alliance to its new Canadian owner Uni-Select Inc. has been completed. Its new owner paid £205m to buy the group.

ECP Autofirst network reaches milestone

Top Technician 2017 reached the final last week, and all eyes now turn towards Top Tech Live, where the winner will be announced in September.

Trico’s competition enabling garages and motor factors to win a power bank has been extended until the end of July.

More UK motorists than ever are choosing electric and hybrid vehicles but the trend could be threatened if infrastructure investment does not keep pace, the IMI has warned.

‘Your Car, Your Choice’ is the new rallying cry for the sector, as the Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) relaunches Right2Choose for today’s world.

Members of NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd’s BoxClever garage loyalty scheme could soon win a monster 1000-piece Teng Tools kit cabinet worth £10,000 thanks to a new three-month promotion starting on 1 July.

Last year, UK consumers bought a higher percentage of automotive parts, accessories and services online than they did cosmetics and groceries according to research commissioned by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) from independent consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

The National Tyre Distributors Association (NTDA) has appointed the first ever national chairman to come from the aftermarket since the organisation’s inception in 1930.

A Suffolk garage proprietor has gone totally over to solar power, just in time for summer. Mark Bradley, owner of Spot On Tuning in Denham is running his business entirely via solar panels. He used 240-volt arrays from his other business, a mobile solar power hire firm called Solar Decker he has run since 2007.

Braking brand Pagid, part of TMD Friction, is to give a UK workshop a £10,000 upgrade via its Workshop Winners campaign, taking place this summer.

The Parts Alliance Group has been acquired from its private equity owner HgCapital by Uni-Select Inc., a Canadian publicly listed, North American Automotive aftermarket distributor.  

Top Technician 2017 finalists named

Motor sector figures in Sunday Times Rich List 2017

TRICO has uploaded a number of step-by-step wiper blade fitting videos to their YouTube channel.

Motorists who commit serious speeding offences face much higher fines from today (24 April) following the introduction of new guidelines by the Sentencing Council.

76% of car owners reject the idea of a car's first MOT taking place at four years old according to research published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The survey examined driver attitudes to the proposed 4-1-1 MOT being considered by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Brembo has released an infographic outlining the challenges of braking at Shanghai as part of Formula Brembo, the new online game that challenges mechanicsÂ’ and techniciansÂ’ knowledge of F1.

Servicesure Autocentres, the garage programme of The Parts Alliance, is aiming to become a household name, and has taken its first throw via a sponsorship deal with UK number one and world number two darts player Peter "Snakebite" Wright.

Alex is a familiar face in the industry. Prior to joining Aftermarket he ran a number of magazines in the industry including Garage & Bodyshop Professional and Automotive Industry Magazine as well as BODY Magazine, covering the crash repair sector. He has been a regular contributor to a wide range of other sector titles over the years as well.

A1 Motorstores has added Motorworld to its factor network, doubling the number of locations it offers.

Research group Ricardo has been tasked by the European Commission to examine the use of vehicle manufacturer data by the aftermarket.

Following completion of the initial Top Technician 2014 online test, the two dozen highest scoring entrants have been announced and will go forward to the quarter final stage of the competition. Hailing from as far apart as Orkney in Scotland and Truro in Cornwall, they will now face a stricter online test of their fault-fixing knowledge to determine which of them will be among the twelve technicians to attend the half day practical semi-finals at the Delphi training centre in Warwick on April 4. In alphabetical order, the quarter finalists are:

The first stage online test for Top Techncian 2014 is now closed and judges are now in the process of marking the assessments in order to find the highest-scoring 24.

ACCESS to technical information for Euro V onwards vehicles should become easier in the future thanks to a meeting recently held in Europe.

The Key proposals announced by the Transport Minister are to:

INSURANCE body ABI is 'unaware' of an insurance premium rise of 5% cited in an MOT campaign report

NO START date has been set for the MOT review, despite having been announced some eighteen months previously.

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THE Advertising Standards Authority has ruled against a scrapyard that called itself 'End of Life breakers' ruling that using the name in the first line of an advert, the company could easily be confused with an official government body.

FRANCHISED dealerships will have to rethink their approach to aftersales in 2012, according to an industry expert.

MORE than a third of Renault dealerships are to shut their doors in the New Year as the car maker battens down the hatches for what it describes as a 'transition' year.

The technical team at Valeo look at some common winter queries

FIVE Rapid Car Parts branches in Watford, Norwich, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth and Cheshunt are now in the hands of Unipart Automotive after the company went into administration on December 6, following a period of 'difficult trading conditions'.

IT'S A CASE of back to the drawing board for Motor Codes as the scenario of a vehicle retailer going into administration has highlighted problems in regards to how it protects customers.

ENGINE control manufacturer Standard Motor Products Europe Ltd (SMPE), has announced that it has acquired all of the capital stock of Fuelparts UK Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

GARAGE owners Derek and Matthew Pestridge of D&D Autos in Ashford, Kent collected an award for Garage of the Year at the IAAF awards.

BRIAN Spratt, chief of the IAAF, has called for the industry to introduce production standards for remanufactured parts.

BRAKE product manufacturer TMD Friction has been acquired by  Nisshinbo Holdings Incorporated, a Japanese aftermarket group listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for an undisclosed amount.

GOT a thing for cheap Chinese cars? If so, then you'll be pleased to know that the Geely brand is heading to the UK soon.

A 2003 Mondeo found its way to us having already been to two different garages. The car was hard to start from cold and it was smoking, though when it did start, it ran without hesitation. The first garage replaced the knock sensor and the second garage had re-coded number 4 injector by using CYL 4 on the scan tool. When this didn't work it was replaced. CYL 4 was again chosen on the scan tool to recode the injector and once again, it failed.

TRANSPORT Secretary Justine Greening has promised to check all evidence before deciding on proposals to change the MOT test laws while pledging "to get rid of unnecessary red tape" surrounding regulations.