Page 32 - Australasian Paint & Panel March-April 2022

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Industry Insights
PAINT&PANEL
MARCH / APRIL 2022
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
CAR CRAFT
MEMBERS 122 some with multiple sites EMPLOYEES APPROXIMATELY 1200 ESTABLISHED 1987
CAR CRAFT CELEBRATES 35 YEARS AS A
network of like-minded independent re- pairers this year. What started out as a buying and networking group in West- ern Australia has developed into a na- tional network that is about so much more than just buying power.
Car Craft is not a franchise, it is an un- listed public company where the repair- ers who are part of the network own the network and receive a return on invest- ment. “Everything we do is about put- ting money back into their pockets,” says CEO Peter McMahon.
Car Craft operates as separate compa- nies in each state which sit under the na- tional umbrella. In this way the mem- bers of each state will pursue relationships and buying deals that are relevant and helpful to their members.
The way it works is a one off buy-in which purchases one share. It doesn’t matter what size your shop is or how many you have, each member only has one vote so everyone is on an even foot- ing. “It’s all for one and one for all – it always has been,” says McMahon.
Car Craft has had a careful plan of meas- ured growth to attract the right businesses so that the group can offer the appropriate services to the right work providers.
“The growth we have seen in the five years since we started the national ex- pansion has been incredible. We’re now sitting at 122 businesses around Aus- tralia. This is because people are start- ing to understand that to be part of a greater group adds more security to their business going forward.
“Now that we have such a large nation- al footprint the industry is coming to us — insurers, fleet companies and suppliers are looking to strike up a relationship.
“We’re interested in pursuing partner- ships — we want long term relationships which will benefit everyone.
“Octoral, a Sherwin Williams refinish- ing system which is exclusive to the Car Craft network in Australia is the perfect example of a partnership” says McMa- hon. “We are growing together and the repairers that use it are increasing their profitability while using a top quality
product.” It’s an entrepreneurial organi- sation and has a hail repair, recycling, re- calibration, and distribution company within the group as well as being the dis- tributor of Ezi-Methods.
It’s taken time to find the right repair- ers in Sydney and Melbourne – because no one had really heard of the group. “In Melbourne there was already a very well established group that do great work in
The growth we have
seen in the five years since we started the
national expansion has been incredible. We’re now sitting at 122 businesses.”
the Sheen Group which made it difficult to break into the market – but there is room for both of us,” McMahon says.
“When AMA went on a buying spree in Sydney our phones started ringing at the head office here in Perth. Its growth in the short time we’ve been operating there has been fantastic.
“We’ve all been talking about the huge AMA Group network but at the end of the day they only have a percentage of what is available. There are MSO and franchises in the industry and they all have their place, we just offer a different point of view and offer repairers the op- portunity to grow with us.”
Tasmania will be the next location for Car Craft and the group also have inter- est from New Zealand. “We will contin- ue our measured growth. I’ve seen many companies come and go because they have grown too fast and are under re- sourced.”
There are still vacancies in Sydney and Melbourne metro and the group is keen to have more members in major ru- ral locations like Mount Gambia, River- land and Wagga Wagga.
Car Craft is focussed on high stand- ards and training with regular inspec- tions carried out to ensure minimum standards are met. “We primarily wel- come good family owned businesses. Our goal is to be the first choice for ac- cident repairs and having a network where standards are maintained is criti- cal for that.”
LEFT: Car Craft HQ in Perth. Car Craft runs a recycling, recalibration and distribution company in WA.
ABOVE: CEO Peter McMahon.