George Hinkley appeared on everyone’s radar after the IMI Skills Competition 2022. Named Scania UK’s Apprentice of the Year and receiving gold at the IMI Skills Competitions, George’s inspiration came predominantly from his father – an engineer by trade.

From a young age, George fixed vehicles alongside his father, especially amongst the family’s beloved Land Rovers. As his interest grew, George was often found helping at his local bus company during the school holidays. Breaking away from the usual go-to administration jobs, George loved working in the garage beside the technicians, helping them diagnose and fix problems.

However, George’s love affair with Scania didn’t start until a friend introduced him to the brand via a truck simulator game.

So, when the time arrived for George to take his first steps into the working world as an apprentice, there was only one brand that would do – Scania.

But, as passionate as George is about diagnosing and fixing vehicles, there’s another strength he has – one he’s learned to turn as a perceived disadvantage into a considerable advantage. Autism.

“I wouldn’t call my autism a disability. In my case, I would call it an advantage. It’s quite simple really. I’ve learnt to forget the negatives and focus on what I love. And for me, that is fixing trucks.”

Since secondary school, George has been captivated by researching technologies, such as the diesel cycle, different mechanical parts and discovering how it all works. So, when he later found Scania’s technical information library, George sat down and read all the manuals in one go! He reckons he could probably rebuild one from memory after his three-day stint of reading.

Looking towards the future, George has increasing ambitions to restore classic trucks or become an escalation technician due to his enjoyment of diagnosing faults.

“If anything comes in with a fault, I find it no matter what it is. My brain works best on logic, which is why diagnosing is so easy. I can go step-by-step and figure it out using logic.”