While most people just work at a trade, there will always be an ambitious few who aim to be the very best at what they do. When Gavin Dixon started spray-painting eight years ago, he set himself a target of being one of the best spray technicians in Ireland.

Earlier this year, Gavin achieved formal recognition of his progress, by being a finalist in the acclaimed Thatcham Automotive Academy Paint Technician of the year competition.

Gavin, who is key member of the team at the Dublin based White and Delahunty Accident Repair Centre, successfully competed with the cream of paint technicians from all over the UK and Ireland, in a gruelling series of tests over two days, at the Thatcham Academy in Berkshire. Here he was able to demonstrate his finely tuned skills in areas such as three-stage panel repair, spot repair, tinting and blending.  

Gavin’s award is recognition of the hard work and dedication he has put into his specialist trade since he started spraying. In the motor trade since leaving school, and part of a third generation of a family involved in body repair, Gavin first worked at a Toyota dealership in Sligo, before moving on to Dublin to further his career.

Gavin is currently studying modules at DIT, for a level seven honours degree and continues to seek out training opportunities, to keep him at the forefront of developing refinish technology. He comments, “I still see every day as a school day in my job and I am always keen to learn about new products and techniques.” To this end, Gavin has also developed skills in management and business, to go alongside his hands on ability. He says, “Being a painter is now about much more than spraying, you need to carefully manage your mixing room, your own time and aspects such as colour information, as well as being able to make a contribution to the wider business.”

Gavin is a prime example of how a dedicated approach to training and skills development, can pay dividends, to both individuals and companies. However, he does have some concerns about the coordination of training options currently open to painters and body repair technicians. He says, “Effective training is absolutely vital for the future of body repair in Ireland, so it will be important for the industry to develop a more coordinated progressive approach in this area.”