Peter Cooper Motor Group’s Master Technician celebrates 40 years with VW

The Peter Cooper Motor Group’s Master Technician, Steve Catlett has just celebrated 40 years with the Volkswagen brand.

Steve started working at Whyke Motors in Chichester in 1980, before the company was acquired by the Peter Cooper Motor Group in 2003.

The anniversary almost mirrors The Peter Cooper Motor Group’s own milestone of 40 years in business next year.

Steve and his fellow colleagues at Peter Cooper Chichester marked the occasion with a socially distanced ‘tea and cake’ break.

Recalling his early days servicing Volkswagens, Steve said: “I’ve loved working on Volkswagens and the last 17 years for The Peter Cooper Motor Group has been very special. It obviously wasn’t so technical when I started in the 1980s; these days we have very sophisticated diagnostic computers to help us but you still have to work out some very complex problems.

“I’ve always loved the Volkswagen brand; there’s something very special about the cars and their reliability is incredible given how complex the cars are; there’s no other brand I’d rather work on as there’s such a diverse range of cars in the portfolio which makes every day interesting.”

Not surprisingly Steve’s car is also a Volkswagen. “I’ve always driven VWs. My favourite car was a Golf Mk2 and I currently drive a Golf Mk4. They are hard to beat for overall value for money.”

At 63, Steve isn’t ready to hang up his tools yet. He added: “I’d like to work for another seven or eight years. I have no plans to retire – I enjoy my job too much!”

Darren Cooper, Managing Director of The Peter Cooper Motor Group, said: “I’ve congratulated Steve on behalf of Volkswagen UK and The Peter Motor Group for 40 years fantastic service. You rarely find this type of loyalty in the workplace and we are very proud to celebrate this achievement with him.”