Page 128 - Australian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2020
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NATIONAL WINNERS
                PAINT&PANEL
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
          BEST NATIONAL MEDIUM SHOP
EXCLUSIVE BODYWERKS
Well this was a first for judge Powell and I as we were actually tied and had to call in our third judge Steve Lozenkovs- ki to break the deadlock.
Each of our medium shops could have taken out the title. Drive Accident Solutions in Queensland and DSI Panels Croydon, Vic- toria are both incredible businesses. Both reasonably new, well run, volume shops.
What tipped the balance in favour of Ron Goodman and his team? There were many factors. Exclusive is a prestige shop – when we say prestige we’re talk- ing Aston Martin, McLaren, Rolls-Royce and Porsche. We’re talking real car en thusiast customers who are extraordi narily demanding and particular.
It’s not a huge shop, and not nearly the fanciest prestige shop we’ve seen and it’s certainly not laid out for volume repairs. What it is set up for is for his, essentially craftsman, team to work their magic.
Goodman himself is a rockstar panel- beater - and a bit of a TV celeb. Not only is he heavily involved in the global Por- sche racing scene with his 356, he and the business are also starring in some episodes on Rides Down Under.
Car companies have been known to fly him overseas to make sure an important customer gets a perfect repair. His shop is the only one in Australia to be approved for structural repairs to a McLaren. It’s not just the expertise, but it is the extraordinary customer experience that he offers. Cus- tomers can immerse themselves in the re- pair process if they want. They can come in and watch a respray or watch it online, or
LEFT: Reception at Parramatta Smash Repairs.
BELOW: BMW dedicated panel shop at Parramatta Smash Repairs.
he’ll document the repair process on video. He’s developed his own detailing products which he gives to customers.
If anyone was in the slightest doubt about his passion for cars, then just pop into his Porsche memorabilia museum that is also part of the premises. What we have here is a highly specced, speciality business where the whole team exudes both passion and precision for their work.
Goodman says: “So humbled to re- ceive this recognition not just for the shop but it also recognises the incredi- bly passionate team I have behind me. It makes all we do worth it when we are judged and awarded by our peers.”
BEST NATIONAL LARGE SHOP
PARRAMATTA SMASH REPAIRS
Again, there were some corkers in this category. Gabba Collision Repairs in Brisbane has taken the national gong in the past, 5 Star is a progressive and grow- ing business in Melbourne, Auto Care Panel Works is multi-badged and a great, modern facility up in the Northern Terri- tory, and Fletchers Smash Repairs in WA is a shrine to productivity, but actually this was an easy one to award.
We kept having to remind ourselves that this wasn’t a dealer owned shop. Third generation Ryan Simpson and his team have expanded an already enormous busi- ness and invested heavily in improvements that have been sure to warm to cockles of the hearts of Lexus, BMW, Subaru and Mercedes-Benz whose badges they proud- ly wear. The entire workshop has been ren- ovated over the last three years, a whole new panel shop for BMW and Lexus and
Subaru, a new paint shop and a Mercedes- Benz dedicated repair facility created. This is a business that is now set until the fourth generation takes the reins. It’s all been car- ried out in a practical and professional manner, nothing over the top, just well pre- sented and well thought out.
The business has a staggering 13 ap- prentices and so has a keen eye on sus- tainably feeding through the next gen- eration of technicians. It keeps as much in house as possible including mechani- cal, wheel repairs and windscreens as well as offering paint protection.
As well as investing in training the team, there are staff barbecues, pizza lunches and big Christmas parties. We always say that it is a sign of a well run business when so many of the team are long termers.
We were thoroughly impressed with the processes and quality checks in place. The fact that the business has garnered over 256 Google reviews shows that cus- tomer are impressed too. The business understands its marketing and as well as social media, great dealership relation- ships it also sponsors Mercedes-Benz rac- ing (a passion of Simpson’s).
A shop on a 12,000m2 property repair- ing 70-80 cars per week takes huge logisti- cal skill and Simpson makes it look easy.
Simpson says: “It is an honour being awarded best large shop nationally and best large shop in NSW. As a company that has now been established for 55 years we con- tinue to work extremely hard on our values of quality repairs and customer service.
“The entire team at PSR work tirelessly in striving for excellence in these areas and we are always looking for ways to be better at what we do. This award reflects the many years of dedication to our ad- vancing trade and we look forward to continuing to deliver this industry lead- ing service for our customers and busi- ness partners heading into the future.”
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