Six Skoda employees from across Ireland have been selected to represent Ireland at the international finals of the Skoda Challenge in Barcelona next year, having battled it out at the Irish National Final earlier this month, writes Trish Whelan.
Competitors at the national final of the 2017 Skoda Challenge are pictured above.
Team Skoda Ireland will compete against 35 countries at the International Finals, which are in their eight year. Ireland will be represented by Paul Bruton and Marc Gorman from Cork, along with Darragh Smith from Cavan, Robbie Matthews from Naas; Eoghan Watson from Dublin, and David Mullane from Galway.
The Skoda Challenge has become a prestigious benchmark for measuring the qualities of the best employees in the global SKODA network and Ireland will be represented in six different categories: parts & Accessory Sales Person; Service Advisor; Service Technician; Sales Consultant, Diagnostic Technician, and new for 2017, Sales Manager.
Paul is a Diagnostic Technician with over 22 years’ experience, all of which have been spent with Noel Deasy Skoda in Cork. He also won this category last year.
This is Marc Gorman’s first time to enter the competition. He won the Sales Consultant Category having only joined Noel Deasy Skoda earlier this year. He previously worked in sales for a tyre supplier having started his career as a mechanic in the Naval Service.
David Mullane won the Service Advisor category for the second time, having won in 2014. He has over 20 years’ experience in the motor industry (at home and abroad) and moved to Monaghan and Sons a number of years ago.
Darragh Smith won the Parts & Accessory Salesperson category for the second time. He started in Brady’s Skoda, Cavan, four years ago training as an apprentice technician before moving to the Parts Department in September last year.
Robbie Matthews from Western Motors Skoda is the inaugural winner in the Sales Manager category. Robbie joined Western Motors in November 2007 and became Skoda brand manager in October 2012. He has a track record of performance having previously been named as Skoda Salesperson of the Year in 2013.
Eoghan Watson started his career in Crash Repairs before commencing his motor technicians’ apprenticeship in 2006. He joined Annesley Williams in 2013 as a Service Technician.
Commenting on the results of the Skoda Challenge, John Donegan, Brand Director at Skoda Ireland said “Paul, Robbie, Marc, Darragh, Eoghan and David are extremely accomplished professionals in their fields and we wish them the very best of luck in the finals. We have high hopes that Team Skoda Ireland can claim the number one spot in 2018.”
Commenting on the results of the Skoda Challenge, John Donegan, Brand Director at Skoda Ireland said “Paul, Robbie, Marc, Darragh, Eoghan and David are extremely accomplished professionals in their fields and we wish them the very best of luck in the finals. We have high hopes that Team Skoda Ireland can claim the number one spot in 2018.”
