Page 24 - Australian Paint & Panel March-April 2020

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Group Chat • Strategic Collision Repair Group
PAINT&PANEL
MARCH / APRIL 2020
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Stuart McDonald brings his three shops into the SCRG alliance.
SCRG – CONSOLIDATION WITH
get out of the way and let the guys who know what they are doing execute at the shop front.”
McGregor is wearing his Bo- dyline uniform at the inter- view, the obvious question is what the branding strategy for SCRG will be?
“We’re executing a branding exercise across three different levels,” Macri explains. “One will be for SCRG around who we are and what our vision is. The next level down we will show- case our six vendors with six strong brands, which we want to preserve.
One of the benefits of start- ing with a smaller group is that the integration process is easier. “We’re in a position where much of our integration is completed – much faster than I thought – and we’re now starting to put in place a profile that’s appropriate for the people who have come on the journey.”
A FOCUS ON POLICY HOLDERS
THIS NEW CONSOLIDATION GROUP WAS LAUNCHED IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR AND IS COMPRISED OF SIX REPAIR BUSINESSES ON 13 SITES
THIS NEW CONSOLIDATION GROUP WAS
launched in November last year and is comprised of six repair businesses on 13 sites. I met with Laurie Macri, execu- tive chairman of Strategic Collision Re- pair Group (SCRG) and with Craig McGregor of Bodyline Motor Body Re- pairs & Refinishers, one of the busi- nesses purchased.
Laurie’s background is in the finance industry with 22 years at Macquarie Bank, he was also chairman of the Aus- tralian Turf Club.
The initial plan for SCRG was to launch with more shops and possibly float on the ASX, however Macri said that some of the owners they were in talks with weren’t prepared to accept the ‘collective’ and weren’t prepared to align with the group’s vision.
“Some of them wanted to sell and walk away and that didn’t suit us. We need people who want to be part of a
collective and want to do better togeth- er,” he said.
“The industry is going through a once in a generation change from mum and dad shops into what is more a service that is focused primarily on the policy holder. And that’s where this industry needs to go – if we focus on the policy holder we will ensure that insurance work is plentiful because in 12 months time that policy holder will renew.
On the market conditions he commented: “Consolidation is in its infancy in Australia compared with UK or US, I think AMA are gold standard in this country. They are now on the radar of many broking firms. It’s great that analysts are taking an interest be- cause we want more coverage. The more coverage we get and the better AMA do, the easier our game plan is,” Macri said.
“The Strategic game plan is to focus on policy holders, have a really clear strategy around consolidation and then
“We’re happy with this group. All of our vendors are sharehold- ers in the same company now. All have the same class of shares and they are in- centivised to grow the collective because if the value of the business grows we all do well. For us, that’s the model that
makes most sense.
Is there a target for the number of
shops for the group? “That’s difficult to answer. I can’t put a quantity filter on it but I can put a quality filter on,” Laurie said: “There will be a significant num- ber of businesses that will align with our strategy. Whether that’s another six vendors or 60 vendors I don’t know.
Is the group actively seeking to acquire more businesses? “When we put together our first plan we thought it would take at least 12 months to get to where we are after just three months. So, the ability to grow has been brought forward. We are considering a couple of greenfield opportunities, there are several vendors we’re speaking to about acquisitions.