Page 20 - Australasian Paint & Panel Magazine Sep-Oct 2020
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News • In Focus
            PAINT&PANEL SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020
 MOTORONE HAS BIG AMBITIONS
MOTORONE EXPRESS REPAIRS, PART OF THE LARGER MOTORONE GROUP, HAS QUIETLY BEEN GOING ABOUT STRIKING UP RELATIONSHIPS WITH CAR INSURERS AND SETTING UP NEW REPAIR FACILITIES.
                         G
  ENERAL MANAGER DALE PURDIE
talked to Paint & Panel about the
MotorOne Group journey and roadmap for the future.
Purdie is a second-generation re- pairer originally hailing from Edin- burgh. He started out in mobile repair and had his own shop by his mid-20s, which he sold with the intent of jet-set- ting to America on a 12 month travel adventure. Those plans were put on hold as he received a job offer from BMW to help set up the new smart re- pair strategy at Bundoora, in Mel- bourne. The lure of the open road still strong, he then set up his own mobile
repair business. Within two years of start-up, the business was rapidly ex- panding when he was approached by MotorOne Group who bought his busi- ness in 2017. MotorOne Group has had a strong presence in the automotive after- market for over 35 years. Specialising in car care products and services, it of- fers everything from vehicle tint and commercial film, to vehicle electronics, ceramic paint protection coatings and many aftercare products. Moving from scratch and dent into non-structural re- pairs was a natural progression.
Having proven the concept of mobile re- pairs after a trial with RACQ and NRMA, along with developing relationships with other insurers and fleets, along came the flagship fixed panel shop in Brendale, Queensland. This was quickly followed by a site in Box Hill, Melbourne, tailoring to non-driveable repairs. The newest site in Acacia Ridge, Queensland is now oper- ational and plans are underway to build a further four sites: in Sydney, at Eastern Creek and Penrith; and in Melbourne at
Keilor Park and Wantirna South. The group is focused on a hub-and-spoke model that sees multiple locations in each state within the next three years.
Purdie says that having a strong focus on creating a customer waiting area at each site that reflects a ‘Qantas Lounge’ style concept has been a real game changer for the busi- ness and has gone down extremely well with customers. "They come from a bad experi- ence to such a good one and we're proud to say we have a 96% CSI score at Brendale."
MotorOne Express Repairs says it has identified a massive opportunity for a new repairer to enter the Australian market.
"MotorOne is a safe option because we have such a large dealer footprint, and the backing and resources to build a network of sites at scale." MotorOne has the market ad- vantage of being able to purchase parts at prices set to melt the heart of the sternest assessor. The company is not pursuing the acquisition route, but intends to build from the ground up.
"It's an exciting time in the industry at the moment, there are so many opportuni- ties, and actually COVID-19 and lockdown have accelerated changes especially in the digital space with online quoting and as- sessing,” he said.
    ABOVE & LEFT:; MotorOne flagship fixed panel shop in Brendale, Queensland
        
















































































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