Barnet’s Paolo De Sio named RAC patrol of the year

Paolo De Sio from Barnet has been named ‘RAC Patrol of the Year’ at the motoring organisation’s prestigious national awards held at Silverstone – the home of British motoring racing – last Saturday.

The 39-year-old, who lives in Whetstone, beat 1,600 other RAC patrols to the honour due to the exceptional service he provides RAC members and his outstanding commitment to fix members’ cars and get them on the move again, helping the company to keep up its hard-earned reputation of fixing four-out-of-five vehicles on the spot.

Amazingly, Paolo only became an RAC patrol in 2020 having had his own garage for the last seven years. The stress of running a car workshop during the pandemic however, made him take up the suggestion of a friend who works for the RAC to apply to join the UK’s longest-running breakdown company’s roadside team.

At the awards ceremony Paolo was described as: “Not just a highly performing patrol delivering exceptional service to our members, but a patrol who does the right thing for them to the detriment of his own stats, a patrol who upholds high standards of safe working practice and a patrol who acts unselfishly to support his team and help them thrive.

“He’s always available to support any member of the team in one of the most challenging areas of the country – our capital city, but he can often be seen helping colleagues across the business too.”

One of the prizes for winning the title of RAC Patrol of the Year is getting to drive a brand-new iconic orange RAC VW Transporter van with the highly sought-after number plate ‘P1 RAC’.

Paolo said: “Having worked in dealerships for years and run my own garage, I’d had a taste of attending roadside breakdowns so when my friend suggested during Covid that I become an RAC patrol I decided to go for it.

“I just love everything about working for the RAC out on the roads as every day is so different. You can go to the same type of car with the same fault as you dealt with the day before and sorting it out can be completely different. I really enjoy meeting so many different people from all walks of life and going the extra mile to help them. That can be anything from going to get a part to fix their car so they don’t have to or, if I can’t get them going again, ensuring they are picked up safely by a recovery vehicle.

“At the awards, I really didn’t think I was going to win, so it was fantastic surprise. In fact, I’m still in shock. Joining the RAC as a patrol is one of the best things I’ve ever done. Everyone’s so positive and so committed to help members out of the situations they find themselves in after breaking down.”