This December, Service Manager, Ben Fletcher, will be flying the flag for Britain when he competes in the European Kyocera Service Awards.
Ben, who has worked at Gateshead-based office technology company SOS Group for 10 years, won the national competition held in Reading and will now test his technical skills and knowledge against the best of Europe.
The finals of the long-standing competition, a mixture of skills tests and questions about Kyocera products and service quality, are normally held in Germany. This year, because of Covid, it will take place online on 8 December. Under normal circumstances the top three European service technicians would then have travelled to Japan to compete against the rest of the world.
The prestigious awards allow service technicians to benchmark skills and knowledge, helping improve their knowledge and also to engage and network with colleagues across the world.
It is an exciting prospect for Ben, aged 39 from Killingworth, who has won the national competition once before and is hoping to go one better on the European stage this time.
Ben says: “I know from experience how testing this competition is because the challenges are set by the manufactures themselves and they literally know the Kyocera copy, print and scan devices inside out.
“I’ve previously competed in the European competition in Meerbusch, near Dusseldorf, in 2015 and it was a very positive experience. Hopefully this time I can go on to win!”
Launched in 2002, SOS Group is celebrating 20 years of innovation and growth this year. Working with local start-ups and large multi-national firms alike, anticipating new client requirements, embracing technological advances and attracting the very best service technicians have all proved key to firm’s success.
George Young, SOS Group Director, says: “We’re very proud of Ben and hoping he’ll be on the top of his game in December. Our clients know his technical skills and software knowledge are excellent and it’s great to see external appreciation of that, too. The whole company is backing him for a European win.”
SOS Group supplies and maintains leading brand digital office equipment and offers a full range of office management services, including unified communications, IT support, document management, cost consultation and managed print services.
In addition, the firm’s DDB Workspace Solutions Division supplies a range of furniture, designed and constructed in the UK, that helps tackle common issues including posture and lack of space.
The company pride themselves on their community involvement and have donated more than £250,000 to support charities, talented young individuals and community organisations since they set out in business.
In 2020 they were proud to receive Community Business of The Year at the Federation of Small Business Awards in recognition of their work and were highly commended in the North East Charity Awards 2020.
For more information, please visit www.sosgroup-ltd.co.uk.