Nottingham’s team of four Technicians and a Parts Specialist have proved themselves to be the best in Europe by securing second place at this year’s Scania global Top Team competition.  Pipped to the post in a nail-biting finale by New Zealand, the Keltruck Nottingham team (aka the Robin Hoods) and their depot are now 30,000 Euros richer as a result of their endeavours.

“In a competition which initially saw some 8,000 Scania Technicians and Parts Professionals from 70 countries take part, it is hard to overstate the success and achievement  of the Keltruck Nottingham team,” says John Wainwright, Scania Top Team Project Leader for the UK.  “Not only are they the five top Scania aftersales professionals in Europe, they can also justly claim to be among the ten best worldwide.  On behalf of the entire Scania UK organisation, I congratulate them wholeheartedly for a fantastic performance.”

The Top Team journey for the Robin Hoods began with the British arm of the competition which saw teams from 67 Scania UK network locations participate.  After winning the UK Final the team progressed to the Western and Southern European Regional Final, where they once again triumphed, booking themselves in the process a place at the World Final.

Held at Scania’s headquarters in Södertälje, Sweden on 3-4 December, 12 teams from around the world came together to compete for the ultimate title of Scania Top Team 2015.

A series of five practical and one theory tests on day one resulted in eight teams being knocked out, leaving just the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Brazil to battle it out for the top spot on day two.

The grand finale was a high pressure affair. Staged in public before an audience of Top Team entrants, organisers and VIPs, the event was transmitted worldwide via a live webcast. In a tense series of exercises against the clock, first Australia then Brazil were eliminated, leaving the UK and New Zealand to battle it out for overall victory. The final trial, which involved the analysis and execution of a complex electrical task on a truck, saw New Zealand snatch victory by the most slender of margins.

Scania Top Team is designed to further uplift service levels at Scania workshops around the world by encouraging staff development and training.  In the case of the Robin Hoods from Keltruck Nottingham, a total of more than 80 man-days of training has been put in by the team since winning the UK Final.

“The efforts of the Robin Hoods has certainly been rewarded, as their prize is split 70 percent between the depot, which will now spend the money on training and workshop equipment, and the individual team members, who share 30 percent between themselves personally,” says John Wainwright.  “But the real winners in all of this are our customers who benefit from the additional knowledge and expertise gained by every member of the global Scania family competing in this year’s Scania Top Team event.”

In securing a place at the World Final, the Keltruck Scania Nottingham team (aka: The Robin Hoods) have proved themselves at national and regional level.  This they did by winning both the UK Final, where they took on teams from nine other Scania UK dealerships, and their Regional Final, which was held over the weekend of 14-25 March in Bratislava.  At this event, the Robin Hoods competed against teams from nine of Scania’s international markets, emerging as clear victors by a significant margin.

Top Team was established in 1989 and has grown into Scania’s flagship global event for aftersales personnel.  Held bi-ennially, this year’s competition attracted entries from 8,000 participants in 62 countries.  With Regional Finals being held in Bratislava, Slovakia, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Guangzhou, China, a total of 12 teams will come together for the World Final, which takes place in Sweden this coming December.  In addition to the prestige that comes with success, the ultimate winner and two runners-up will share a prize fund of 100,000 Euros, to be split between the winning branch and individual team members.