Man wins Mechanic of the Year before appearance on Radio 2

Edward Hunt, 40, is known professionally as Edd Hunt the Car Consultant and works in the motor industry, originally training as a mechanic by way of an apprenticeship at Volkswagen.

Before becoming a mechanic, Edward was a paper boy, delivering the Andover Advertiser around the village of Broughton after taking over the round from his older sisters.

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Edward became self-employed after working various mechanics jobs at places such as the AA, before becoming a consultant for problem motors within the VW group, such as Volkswagen, Skoda, SEAT, Audi and more.

Edward and OJ Borg at the BBC Radio 2 studios (Image: Edward Hunt)

In 2019, Edward specialised in becoming a consultant for 'problem jobs' for other garages and private customers, travelling up and down the country to try and sort out issues which others had had little success in fixing.

Most of his travel is around the UK, although he has travelled to Europe to places like Milan and Geneva to fix issues that could otherwise not be fixed.

In 2021, Edward saw an advert for a competition called League of True Mechanics, a competition to find the best mechanic in the UK. Edward entered, thinking of the publicity it could give his work before, to his surprise, winning on his first entry.

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He subsequently entered the competition in 2022 and 2023, winning again in both years to complete a hat-trick of wins.

To commemorate the achievement, Edward was announced as the winner and awarded the trophy live on BBC 2 on Wednesday, March 6 after being invited on the show as a special guest by OJ Borg.

OJ and Edward dressed up for the occasion, with Edward spending the majority of OJ's show in the studio with the presenter and taking part in numerous parts of the show.

After his third win, Edward has decided to retire from the competition undefeated in 2024, but said winning three times and getting the opportunity to go on the radio was 'a dream come true'.

Edward said: "Having OJ and his producer Sophie invite me on the show to do the announcement was such a treat and was so much fun to get to experience the whole three-hour show and see all the behind the scenes stuff. I really can't thank both of them enough!

"It was one of the coolest things I've ever been lucky enough to do, and I went wing walking for my 40th so that's saying something. Special thanks to OJ for taking the time to really go above and beyond by donning a tuxedo and naming the show after me on the BBC Sounds app!

"He's such a cool, entertaining guy, if you aren't up late enough to listen live I'd recommend giving his show a listen on the sounds app during the day as it's easily one of the best shows on radio in my opinion."

More information on Ed and his work and awards can be found at thecarconsultants.co.uk or on Instagram @edd_hunt_the_car_consultant.

A recording of the radio interview is available for one month via the BBC Sounds app. A link to the programme can be found at bbc.co.uk/programmes.