IRTE Northern Centre

We have recently received this great photo of Kenny Jones from Preston Scania.

Kenny has placed the IRTE Northern Centre plaque and certificate on the wall in the reception area at their Walton Summit dealership.

Thanks Kenny for the photo and for being a supporter of the Centre!

The IRTE Northern Centre kicked off their new season of CPD presentations with a return to the centre by Former Senior Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell CBE and now operating as Chief Executive Officer at Beverley Bell Consulting & Training

The evening began with a little bit of reminiscing as the speaker informed the 59 members and guests who were present that 26 years ago, she had attended the centre having just taken up the post of NW TC to give her first address to the industry in her new role and that she always held the centre in high esteem and had returned on a number of occasions over the years to speak.

Beverley began her address by speaking about how the maintenance of commercial and public service vehicles is unregulated and that anyone can set up as a maintenance contractor, unlike many other industries. To address these failings, she spoke about good practice guides and Traffic Commissioner recommendations relating to maintenance standards, vehicle brake testing, staff training, earned recognition and MPRS (the Maintenance Provision Rating Scheme).

Beverley then took some time to talk about several taboo subjects that can be easily forgotten, overlooked or shunned in an industry that can sometimes be guilty of being macho and not looking at the bigger picture that included, employee welfare, wellness, physical health, testing for fitness to undertake specified duties that related to drug and alcohol testing within the workplace.

The evening finished with a very informative and at times amusing Q&A.
Upon completion of the Q&A session, Northern Centre Hon. Vice Chairman Rhian Hughes thanked Beverley for once again attending the Centre and giving another informative and at times very amusing presentation.

As an act of appreciation, long standing committee member, and PSC member Chris Grime on behalf of the Northern Centre presented Beverly with an IRTE Northern Centre plaque and certificate to thank her for her continued support of the centre for over 25 years.

L to R: Rhian Hughes (Hon. Vice Chairman IRTE Northern Centre), Beverley Bell, Tom Reed (Hon. Chairman IRTE Northern Centre), Chris Grime (IRTE Northern Centre Committee member)

Are you a member of the IRTE? - What's involved?

As a Professional Sector of SOE, IRTE promotes best practice, compliance and excellence in vehicle maintenance, playing a vital role in road safety, workforce development and the future of the road transport industry.

Find out more here:- https://soe.org.uk/our-sectors/irte-professional-sector/

This Atkinson of McGarrie's was spotted by the IRTE Northern Centre's Hon. Sec. at .convoy earlier this year, what a great looking wagon!

We want to see some other great examples of trucks from a previous time in industry, share them in the comments below!

Volvo Trucks New Electric Range named 'International Truck of the Year 2027'.

Read more here:

VOLVO TRUCKS’ ELECTRIC RANGE NAMED INTERNATIONAL TRUCK OF THE YEAR 2027 1Truck.TV bietet unterhaltsame Informationen rund um die Themen: Truck Racing, Berufskraftfahrer, Insider Stories, Experten Talks, Biggest Trucks, Fahrtechnik, Weiterbildung, Testfahrten, LKWs, Technik und vieles mehr.

SOE launches new digital experience with three new websites for members and industry.

The Society of Operations Engineers (SOE) is pleased to announce we have launched a new website, alongside dedicated new websites for irtec and IRTE Workshop Accreditation, making it easier for engineers, technicians, workshops and industry professionals to access the information, support and resources they need.

Check the new website out now at https://soe.org.uk/

⭐Commercial Vehicle - Young Engineer of the Year - Highly Commended!⭐

The next winner from this years' IRTE Northern Centre Young Engineer of the Year Awards is......

🎉BEN THOMAS from MULTEVO!🎉

Well done Ben from Multevo!

Pictured here is Jake Cowburn from Multevo, Ben Thomas from Multevo and Chris Grime, IRTE Northern Centre Committee Member.

Following the 2026 Young Engineer and Apprentice Awards the IRTE Northern Centre paid tribute to the management and staff at Preston Scania for their Excellence in Road Transport Engineering Training.

Northern Centre Hon. Secretary Corneilius Mitchell informed those present at the Awards Presentation that was held as part of the Inaugural TECHkow event, that the company who are located at Walton Summit near Preston have submitted every year since its inception a high quality and extremely informative submission relating to any of their apprentices or young skilled members of staff who had been put forward by them, into the annual awards held by the Northern centre.

Corneilius spoke of the dedication of the management team at Preston Scania who ensure that all their young employees gained high levels of knowledge and skills through the various Scania training programs and how their staff make sure that the young engineers and apprentices are made to feel part of the team at Preston, which was clearly evident by their staff retention and advancement opportunities.

In recognition of this and their continued support to the IRTE Northern Centre through CPD Presentations and dinner dance attendance the centre Hon. Chairman Tom Reed presented a Certificate and Centre Shield to Preston Scania Shift Supervisor Ady Mather who had attended the event in support of their 2026 entrant Charlie Gildea, who had earlier in the evening collected the commercial vehicle Apprentice Accolade.

Scania UK

Last night, the IRTE Northern Centre Committee met for the first time this season!

The group meet to make sure we are delivering on our commitment to our members and guests.

Amongst other items, we covered:-

- 2026/2027 CPD Programme
- Technical Updates
- Legislation Updates
- Dinner Dance 2026