Assembly Technician
Lola Cars

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Andy Hoadley

00.00.02 My name is Andrew H. I’m Assembly Technician at Lola Cars. And I basically build cars, all the cars in the Lola range and some surplus assembly jobs of components on the cars. Sometimes I’m testing, with a new car we’ll go out and test it. The best thing about the job is pride when you complete a car, if you see it run and it does well.

00.00.34 When I was a little kid I always played around with cars. Originally I started with classic cars, was going to go to college to do that and the course was cancelled so I ended up doing a different course and got into racing through that. My dad was a mechanic so he always fixed the family cars so I kind of learnt a lot from there. When I was about 12 I bought a Triumph Herald and starting rebuilding that.

00.01.08 When I left school I went to college and did a BTEC National Diploma in automotive engineering. That was reasonable fun. It wasn’t as much workshop time as I’d have liked. After the first year I had to do work experience which was when I started and got involved in motor sport. I was working in a classic car garage part-time, about two days a week and then had to do work experience at college and there was a small firm local to me that built motorcycle engine single seaters. So I started there part-time and that turned into going away racing every other weekend during the summer.

00.01.54 I travelled all over the country. Did one race every year in Belgium. It was a lot of fun. As I kind of got a bit older I decided I’d like something a bit more relaxed, which Lola’s very workshop based and a lot more stable job-wise because it’s a bigger company. A good company to work for and it’s another step up the ladder.

00.02.23 I’ve never really thought about moving up the ladder. I’ve always kind of thought as long as I’m happy doing what I’m doing then I’ll stay doing it. I know at Lola some of the older guys have started off in the workshop and worked their way up through the ranks. I don’t know whether I’d like to do that. I couldn’t imagine myself with a desk job. I’m quite happy running round building cars. As long as I’m happy and I’m earning a living, I’m quite happy with that. The only meeting I would like to do is go to Le Mans and experience that.

00.03.03 A high point in my career is probably the Goodwood weekend. First time I’ve ever been there it was Lola’s 50th year so I was in charge of running Sebastian Bourdais’ champ car. With him driving it, it was something I never quite imagined myself doing.

00.03.24 The thing that’s had the biggest impact on my life is probably meeting my fiancée and getting engaged. Obviously I like spending time with the family and my fiancée so mainly that. I do play bass guitar so I like to try and make time for that which is hard sometimes. If I could do any job in the future I’d probably stay as I am now as long as I’m happy doing it I’ll stay working at it.

00.03.55 End

Andrew H is an Assembly Technician at Lola Cars. “The best thing about the job is pride when you complete a car”. He has always played with cars and has followed his passion. He did a BTEC in Automotive and during work experience he got involved in motor sport.

More information about Vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians

Data powered by LMI For All

£29,640

average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

99% male

1% female

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description

? Vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians accept calls for help and repair and service the mechanical parts and electrical/electronic circuitry and components of cars, lorries, buses, motorcycles and other motor vehicles, and repair and service auto air-conditioning systems.

Qualifications

There are no formal academic entry requirements, although some employers may require GCSEs/S grades or an equivalent qualification. Training is undertaken off- and on-the-job. NVQs/SVQs at Levels 2 and 3 are available. Apprenticeships at NVQ/SVQ Levels 2 and 3 are available and take three to four years to complete.

Tasks

Visually checks, test drives or uses test equipment to diagnose engine and mechanical faults;
Removes, dismantles, repairs and replaces defective parts and prepares new parts using appropriate tools;
Reassembles, tests, adjusts and tunes the appropriate parts, systems or entire engine;
Carries out routine maintenance checks on oil and air filters, brakes and other vehicle parts/systems;
Diagnoses faults in electrical/electronic circuitry, removes faulty components and fits replacements;
Checks condition of electrical/electronic systems and carries out servicing tasks;
Installs additional electrical amenities such as radio/CD players, aerials;
Repairs and services air conditioning, heating and engine-cooling systems.