Land-based Education and Training Committee (LE-TEC Ltd) say they are proud to announce the top 3 winners of their Technicians For 2020 competition.

Designed to celebrate and find the UK’s best Technicians in the Land-based Engineering sector, entrants submitted a short video explaining three aspects of themselves; who they were, how long they have been a Land-based Technician and why they enjoy their day-to-day job.

First place video - Will Twigg

As an industry collaboration, the LE-TEC Ltd judging panel consisted of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE), British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association (BAGMA) and the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA). Aiming to highlight the skills and love for the sector, the judges say they were overwhelmed by the number of fantastic entries received and after much deliberation they shortlisted their top videos and settled on a top three.

CEO of the AEA Ruth Bailey, explained the initiative behind the competition, saying, “Recruitment, as within many industries has been difficult in recent years, and our industry is an absolute gem but one that is little-known outside of industry circles. We now feel we’ve found some fantastic champions for our industry through this competition and we cannot wait to work with them further.”

Second place video - Matthew Branson

Ed Hansom, CEO of IAgrE continued, “Technicians are the backbone in any engineering organisation. They are the ones who fix the problem, who commission the equipment, who explain to the trainee and who work with the customer. This award showcases the very best in our agricultural engineering technicians and why a career in this industry can be so rewarding”.

The judges top three videos consisted of George Nowell from Kubota UK in third place, Matthew Branson from AgTech Engineering in second place, and Will Twigg from Ripon Farm Services coming in first place.

Third place video - George Nowell

All three videos display incredible passion for their work and just how rewarding a career in Land-based Engineering can be. Prizes included tickets to Northampton Saints Rugby, Silverstone F1 Grand Prix and a power tool kit and radio from Makita.

Technicians For 2020 winner Will Twigg from Ripon Farm Services said, “It’s always hard to find staff so promotion of how good the industry actually is to work within would be a great idea and one that I will fully support.”

Judges shortlisted videos montage

LE-TEC hope to run this competition further so if you missed out this time, there could always be a second chance. For further information, please contact AEA’s Digital Media & Marketing Specialist, Gareth Ford via gareth.ford@aea.uk.com or on 01773 207607.