Chartwell technician gears up for final
For the second year running a member of the Chartwell team has got through to the finals of the IMI Skill Auto Competition.
Daniel Baker has been selected as one of six young technicians to compete in the final of the IMI Skill Auto, Automotive Body Repair competition this year. To have reached this position means that Daniel is within the top 6 in the UK for his craft. Last year Chartwell’s Blake Robey also reached the finals, competing in the Automotive Refinishing category and went on to win Gold Medal position.
At just 19 years of age Daniel has already begun a successful career in the automotive industry. He started working for Chartwell, the Prestige and Performance Vehicle Repair Centre, at the age of 16. One Saturday morning, Daniel’s Dad took him to Chartwell to see the remarkable array of cars, having regularly admired them for himself through working in Chartwell’s conference room facilities.
Inspired by what he saw Daniel applied for work experience and nearly four years later has been working at Chartwell ever since. This has enabled Daniel to achieve the career goals that he set himself at a young age. Daniel told us that since the age of three he was fascinated by cars and from being at school he dreamt of working on Lamborghini’s, and at Chartwell Daniel has had the chance to work on many.
Daniel has already successfully faced tough competition to reach the final round of IMI Skill Auto. The competition saw a total of 300 initial entrants, spanning across all three categories of competition (Automotive Body Repair, Automotive Refinishing and Automotive Technology).
After scoring highly in the first round, which was an online theory test Daniel was selected to compete in the ‘Heats’ round of the Automotive Body competition. This is where he became shortlisted as one of the six finalists to compete, at the ‘Skills Show’ the nation’s largest careers and skills event.
The competition will run for three days from Thursday 19th – Saturday 21st November 2015 at the NEC in Birmingham. The entire event will be a great spectacle, starting with an opening ceremony on the Thursday.
Over the three days the competition will draw in crowds totalling almost 75,000 people. For the duration of the competition, participants will be expected to complete a variety of tasks, under timed conditions and most importantly under the watchful eye of a panel of expert adjudicators. The competitors are not only judged on their skill and talent but also, their time management, attitude and general professionalism.
At the end of the full three days of tasks and activities, prizes will be awarded to the top competitors; these are Gold, Silver, Bronze and a Medal of Excellence. The competition is an incredible opportunity for the candidates, to develop their skills, challenge themselves, and build their confidence, as well as to showcase their talent and potential; which at Chartwell we know Daniel has in abundance. The competition aims to celebrate the ‘up and coming’ young talent within the automotive industry.
Everyone at Chartwell is very proud to have Dan competing in this year’s finals and wishes him the best of luck in the upcoming competition.
