Autotech expands into Northern Ireland with prominent appointment

Dasos Michaelides, who has over 40 years of experience working within Northern Ireland’s automotive industry, has been appointed by Autotech Training as Head of Business Development for Ireland.

The training company, created by parent company Autotech Group in 2016, has achieved considerable growth over the last few years across the rest of the UK. With an increase in demand for Autotech Training’s courses, and in particular the company’s ability to roll out its course offering to any garage or business across the UK, the decision was made to create a new role specifically targeting the Northern Ireland market.

With increasing numbers of electric and hybrid vehicles on the roads, training and awareness is essential to ensure the transition is made safely, and Autotech Training offers IMI accredited Levels 1-4 electric/hybrid vehicle courses.

In his new role, Dasos will initially head up the roll-out of these electric/hybrid courses across Northern Ireland along with IMI accredited Air-Conditioning courses, REACT and the NTDA’s Responsible Tyre Repair Technician (RTRT) accreditation. Delivering training on the premises of garages and organisations across the country will significantly cut the time away from business for delegates, while cutting the cost of travel and expenses.  

Dasos’ extensive automotive career has seen him working across multiple organisations, based in Ireland. From manufacturing to retail through to dealerships and HGV fleets, Dasos has created and implemented training, marketing, and business strategies.

Working with several renowned vehicle manufacturers, and one of Northern Ireland’s largest dealer franchises to create and roll-out training programmes, Dasos is a prominent automotive industry figure, particularly within the tyre sector. He also spent several years with Pirelli Tyres, building and implementing a highly successful B2B training programme.

An Irish Tyre Industry Association (ITIA) past executive member, Dasos also holds the title of the NTDA’s Chairman of Northern Ireland and, last year, he was awarded an Honorary Life Membership by the NTDA.   

“Throughout my career I have been dedicated to helping automotive businesses stay at the forefront of change and innovation,” comments Dasos. “As the electric vehicle revolution has continued, I have been working with clients to future-proof their businesses and there are many parallels between my experience and what Autotech Training offers.”

“Autotech Group’s CEO, Gavin White, is a fellow NTDA Chairman, for the South-East and Central Region, and I have been impressed with the forward thinking approach of the company for some time, and its ability to push boundaries.

Autotech Training is committed to up-skilling the sector’s workforce and continually pushes the message that training and retaining the automotive workforce of today is vital for its continued success. Joining them feels like a natural step for me, and I am delighted that I will be bringing their fantastic offering to Northern Ireland.”

“We are delighted to welcome Dasos to the Autotech Training team,” comments Colin Gleghorn, Managing Director of Autotech Training. “His incredible knowledge and experience within Northern Ireland and the automotive sector will not only help us roll out our offering, but ensure that vehicle technicians and anyone working with, or around electric and hybrid vehicles are trained to do so safely. Dasos’ ability to keep the customer front and central in everything that he does matches our business approach, and we are very much looking forward to seeing how our work with him progresses in the future.”