Page 96 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine Nov-Dec 2021

BEST COUNTRY REPAIRER NATIONAL WINNER
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PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
BISSELLS
IS NOOSA RURAL? NOT REALLY, BUT IS IT METRO? DEFINITELY NOT, SO BISSELL’S TAKES A SECOND NATIONAL CROWN.
Some years you get a shop that’s so good it’s really not fair on the competition
– this year it’s Bissells.
W E STRUGGLED WITH WHAT category to put Bissell’s in. Last year (when they won Best Boutique National) which was the first time we judged via zoom and there was only one country shop win- ner and we spread our judging net wider than before as we weren’t limited by how many shops we could get to by car on the judging trail. This year, Best Country Shop sponsor Motor Trades Association of Aus- tralia wanted to widen the recognition of the many amazing country repairers out there and to have a winner in each state and a national winner to bring them in
line with the metro shops.
Unlike many of the country shops we
visited Bissell’s doesn’t turn its hand to a backhoe or tractor, it just repairs cars. I say it just repairs cars but this shop is undoubt- edly, as demonstrated by this second na- tional crown, one of the best in Australia wherever you picked it up and put it.
Yes a lot of wealthy people live in Noo- sa but the cars in the workshop aren’t Ferraris and Lambos. Bissell’s doesn’t have to be as amazing as it is to be suc- cessful where it is – no one expects a collision repair shop to look like this.
Kippen doesn’t come from the industry at all – his background is financial ser- vices – that he was able to start with a blank sheet when it came to designing this frankly awesome shop.
It’s not just it’s presentation, which is next level from the sleek dealership exteri- or, the incredible customer reception area and hell, even the bar upstairs. It’s the way it flows and Kippen’s professionalism, real- ism and enthusiasm that really makes it stand out. Since last year they have also grown in turnover and profits.
I love the way everything is state-of-the- art, clean, ordered and tidy yet still has Noosa touches. The meeting/boardroom where the team assemble every week to touch base, iron out wrinkles and suggest improvements has wooden seaside shelves. There’s a curtained welding bay to keep dust and fumes out of the workshop. Some years you get a shop that’s so next level that it’s really not fair to the competition and Bissell’s is that shop.
And maybe it’s because owner Iain
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