Mr Philip Worth
Managing Director
Details and picture coming soon................
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Jeanette Suddards
General Manager
Details and picture coming soon..........
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Steve Rowley
Senior Technician
Started in the bike trade at the tender age of 18 as a parts assistant - that was the foot in the door to get into the workshop.
The dealer I worked for was the biggest in the area and held nearly all the major franchises. I spent quite a few years there, working on everything including NEW Laverdas, MV Agusta, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Norton, Triumph and (don't tell everyone), Reliant, CZ and Jawa (the eastern European motorcycle, not the Star Wars creature).
Had a brief spell working for the local Kawasaki dealer and then the Yamaha dealer before returning back to where I started. More years passed, working mainly on Hondas.
Had a short spell out of the trade but eventually started my own workshop, repairing British iron. Financial constraints meant I had to get a proper job, and so ended up back at my first dealer again!
The motorcycle trade was in a bit of a trough at this time so it meant learning to work on pedal cycles as well, more cpmlicated than you would think!
When the dealer closed down I moved with the franchise to work on Hondas and Kawasakis again.
Italia had been on the go for a few years at this time as "Italia Classics". Phil sold and repaired classic Italian exotica. As I had worked on these bikes when they were new, I spent a lot of time talking to Phil when he came into the dealer I was working for. I kept pestering him for a job, eventually he relented and I started at Italia early 1996.
Italia progressed over the years. Phil managed to acquire some new Ducatis which sold quite well and he took on the franchise. MV Agusta and Aprilia followed, with Benelli later. Although Aprilia and Benelli are no longer franchises we deal with, it has been an anteresting period in a technician's life.
That's it really. Nearly 35 years in the motorcycle trade, of which nearly 14 have been at Italia.
Although the bikes have changed, my enthusiasm hasn't. I still get up in the morning wanting to go to work. I work with a great bunch of people and the customers are as enthusiastic as the rest of us, which makes the, sometimes difficult, job a lot easier.
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Terry Martin
Service, Parts, Clothing, Accessories Advisor ??
Our most recent team member but already invaluable to us Terry really does eat live and breathe motorcycles ( even if he does ride an Aprilia at the moment but we'll cure him of that soon!)
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Stuart Dealtry
Technician
Picture coming soon......................
I already had a huge passion for bikes at school, so when I had the chance to do work experience at Italia Classics, I jumped at the chance.
After that, I left school with a handful of GCSEs and managed to secure a Modern Apprenticeship scheme here in 1998. Once I got my GNVQ Level 2 in Motor Vehicle Engineering, I was taken on full time. Since then, my enthusiasm has increased with every year that passed. After training at the factory in Bologna and everything that I've learned here, I could never see myself working on any other type of machinery.
The most frustrating part of my job here was that, until I was 21, I wasn't covered by the shop's insurance to ride bikes. So I would spend all my time servicing and preparing lots of beautiful bikes, only to witness somebody else being able to ride them. Riding my own 600SS was really nice, but not quite the same as being able to experience the newer and more powerful bikes.
When my 21st came though, I can honestly say that the reality was certainly NOT an anti-climax, and a test ride on a beautiful Ducati is always something I look forward to.
The highlight was being able to ride the £40000 Desmosedici RR after I had performed the Pre-Delivery Inspection. Even I had assumed that, as gorgeous as it was, nothing could justify that sort of expense. But, I'm glad to report that it was sensational. If you have the money (which I don't!), it's worth every penny!!
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Francis Stenson
Unofficial Italia Test Rider
Not technically a staff member, but he's certainly part of the Italia family.
We first met Francis in September 2003, when he purchased his beautiful 999 from us. At that time, Francis lived near Loughborough. In recent times he moved to the Lincoln area. He's a regular visitor and a mighty fine chap. He loves and respects his bikes and displays a huge degree of mechanical sympathy and understanding. So, if we haven't got the time to run new demo bikes in ourselves, Francis is charged with the task. We give him a fistful of readies for fuel and off he goes, to pout some nice, steady, early miles on the bikes for us.
By late Summer 2008, he yearned for another Ducati. This time it was the beautiful and exclusive Monster S4RS Tricolore. He was going to trade in his 999, but as the deal came closer to its conclusion, Francis realised that he just could not bear to be apart from his beloved 999, so he bought the Tricolore, but also kept the 999. He had, in fact, already left the 999 with us, but then panicked and rang us to make sure we didn't let it go!!