A motor vehicle lecturer from Ipswich drove off with first prize in a national paint spraying competition.
Richard Glover, 38, from Ipswich overtook seven other competitors when he was crowned the overall paint spraying champ in the Automechanika 2025 National Paint Championship.
Earlier in the year, Mr Glover, who works for Suffolk New College in the Accident and Body Repair department, submitted a planning design in the heats based on the theme of ‘nature’.
His work impressed the judges as he was then chosen to take part in the final stages of the competition during Automechanika 2025 – a bi-annual trade event that was held at the NEC in Birmingham.
The panel of industry leaders, including Simon Wait (Editor, Bodyshop Magazine), Michael Massey (Brand Development Manager at Morelli Group), Craig Bourke (The Specky Painter) and Tom Evans (Paint Sprayer Professional) chose Mr Glover as being best in show and he received a cheque for £1000 and a trophy.
On being crowned national paint champion, Mr Glover said: “Winning this was a massive honour.
“It took me forty hours to complete, and four judges who work in industry announced me as the winner. I was shocked as the level of the competition was incredible. As soon as the theme of nature was mentioned, I immediately thought of parrots. There is a really popular paint brand called Glasurit, and they use a really beautiful parrot as their logo. That’s where the inspiration came from to link it back to industry.”
After winning this national contest, Mr Glover now has the chance to compete in the world finals that will be held in Frankfurt in 2026.