A garage in Suffolk can now officially lay claim to being the best of its size in the UK after coming away from an awards final as the winner.

Drive Green Vehicle Services, in Homefield Road Central, Haverhill was one of 10 finalists in the garages with one to three employees category– at the Top Technician and Top Garage Awards UK run by Aftermarket Magazine.

The final took place last Saturday at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Coventry, and Dave Wilson, the owner and founder of Drive Green, found himself on stage collecting the winner’s award.

Dave, who opened the business in May 2021 and who specialises in the repairs and servicing of electric vehicles (EV) and hybrids, said: “It was a lot of effort (entering the awards) but it was nice to come out with a win.

“ It was really good, especially as there were nine other garages in our category alone and I never expected to win, and having the garage still so young in our premises since opening it up. It was a shock to win.

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“The judges gave me some really lovely feedback. They were very impressed.”

As well as winning the title, the garage has won a prize of a behind the scenes tour of the Alpine F1 Team (formerly the Renault F1 Team) factory near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, next January.

The prize was provided by Alpine, through its partnership with Delphi, which sponsored the category won by Drive Green.

Top Garage was launched by trade magazine Aftermarket to shine a light on the best garage businesses operating in the UK.

The competition looks at all aspects, including business planning, customer care, investment and methods.

The competition begins online, but at the final garages meet the judges in person, where they are interviewed on all aspects of their business.

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The judges included representatives from some of the biggest suppliers in the sector, along with leading sector trainers.

At the finals, garages compete with businesses of a similar scale, in categories based on the number of employees they have.

Top Garage was established in 2018, and followed the long-running Top Technician competition, which began in 2002.