Page 38 - Australasian Paint & Panel Nov-Dec 2019

38
2019 WINNERS
PAINT&PANEL NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2019
BEST PRACTICE AWARDS
EDITOR’S AWARD COMMUNITY HERO
ROB RICHARDSON,
FAIRWAY PANEL & PAINT, WA
When we announced Fairway Panel & Paint as best boutique shop in WA we received a touching email from Graham Smith, director of Global Autocoat. We knew that owner Rob Richardson had rebuilt the shop after a devastating fire but Smith told us. “After the fire which set them back 18 months, Rob’s brother and business partner Brian was left with a paralysing virus that hospital- ised him for 12 months. Rob was there with support all the way. Brian unfor- tunately had to resign from the busi- ness leaving Rob to make all decisions alone.” He recounted Richardson’s bat- tle with the council to rebuild the shop and his tenancity.
“Yet he never turned his back on his other hobby of looking after people less fortunate in Indonesia. Rob visits these people with hospital aids like bandages and recently out of date stock from hospitals that cannot be used in Australia but are good in small towns without such good medical aid available to them as we have here as- sisting the less fortunate. He has brought (at his own expense and pain
FROM FAR RIGHT TO LEFT:
Kristy Clyde, AkzoNobel with James Black and Jake Pantas, Sheen Panel Service.
Robert and Margaret Richardson, Fairway Panel & Paint.
Jason and Sandra Noach, Extreme Dents with Helen Davies, Paint & Panel.
of working through visas) people to Australia from Indonesia to show them WA for short breaks.”
We also discovered that Richardson is also a stage four cancer survivor. A very worthy Editor’s choice award winner.
YOUNG ACHIEVER
MAXINE COLLIGAN SPONSORED BY PPG
This is definitely Maxine Colligan’s year. The Sydney paint technician ap- prentice who works at AMA group won the Bronze medal at Worldskills in Russia and won ‘Best in Nation’ for scoring the most points out of all the Skillaroos taking part. She recently came third in the PPG Colour Match- ing Competition. Colligan is humble about her achievements and is an out- standing ambassador for the industry, grasping every chance she can to pro- mote the industry to young people in schools, especially women. “For me, representing my trade at the World- Skills International Championships in Kazan means that I get to represent other females in trades and show them that women can do anything men can do. I aspire to convince young women out there to give it a go because they will always surprise themselves with their abilities.”
Her employers say she has a strong work ethic and love of learning and that
she is constantly raising the bar when it comes to spray painting.
BEST MSO
EXTREME DENTS SPONSORED BY PAINT & PANEL
Extreme Dents is a fast turnaround, cos- metic repair specialist in Melbourne op- erating four sites. It’s run by husband and wife team Jason and Sandra Noach who are passionate and positive about the industry and are always seeking complementary diversification streams. As well as non-structural and PDR work, the business also specialises in hail re- pairs, bumper repairs and machined al- loy wheel refurbishment.
Extreme Dents offers its staff many incentives. It provides regular team building days, which cover training of new elements within the industry, monthly lunches and birthday cele- brations and it encourages regular consultation with suppliers regarding training.
The current management team is home grown and has progressed through internal channels to secure the positions they now hold. Extreme Dents continually develops new training strategies to deal with the technological advances within the industry and the business and is currently employing and developing four apprentices. Ex- treme Dents Geebung location’s ap-