Page 18 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine May-June 2022

18
News • In Focus
PAINT&PANEL MAY / JUNE 2022 WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
CAR CRAFT CELEBRATES 35 YEARS
NOT QUITE THE 40 RACKED UP BY PAINT & PANEL BUT AN IMPRESSIVE STRETCH FOR AN ORGANISATION THAT IS GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH.
CAR CRAFT’S PETER MCMAHON REPORTS.
Car Craft celebrated its 30th on Hamilton Island.
suppliers over the years have been price- less, as is the the ability to pick up the phone and call a member to seek advice or just have a chat.
Along the way Car Craft and its members have won countless industry awards, the group has an ethos of sup- porting their local MTA’s and to be ac- tively involved in the national conver- sation when AMBRA used to be a voice. The group also has had a pas- sion for training our own and bringing fresh young blood into the industry. Along the way we developed an indus- try hourly rate calculator which has
been donated to the MTAA, so all re- pairers can under- stand the cost of business. The group always aims to give back to the industry.
And we want to keep on growing, offering indepen- dently owned fami- ly businesses a place to be a part of and to grow. We in- tend on Car Craft being here for an- other 35 years.
I
T’S MARCH 1987, AND FIVE
business owners in West- ern Australia decide there has to be a better way. That’s when the Car Craft story was born and from humble beginnings it has grown to a 122 member business network across Australia, the largest
of its type.
It is now bigger than the five wise
founders could have imagined when they started it in Perth. Then, deals were done with an handshake and few beers and some of those relationships are still part of the group. Who would have even dreamed that the company would start at five and then expand across Australia and include a recy- cling business, an ADAS business, hail business and a paint and consumables business?
The initial goal – to set the standard for the industry in WA — was soon re- alised. Car Craft was an early adopter
of I-CAR training, and in WA has pro- vided I-CAR with a training room for their courses as well as being a spon- sor of the training organisation.
From the first newsletter in 1988 to the current Carlines newsletter, the member — or more
accurately share-
holder — is always
number one. The
biggest repairer has
the same single vote
as the smallest and
the profits earned
by the company go
back to the share-
holders.
Supporting each other has always been the ethos of the Car Craft Group. The relationships built with other repairers and with industry