In case you missed it in our Jan/Feb issue we'll be publishing our interviews with the major MSOs over the coming weeks. This week itis Western General Bodyworks
Sites: 11 (soon to be 13)
Employees 200
Type of work: All types
Established: 1975
Apprentices: 13
Funding: Privately owned
Sites in: VIC, QLD, NSW
Western General Bodyworks (WGBG) has shaken off the dust of the pandemic and is armpit deep in its expansion and diversification strategy.
2023 was a good year for the group with a focus on high productivity and great key to key times.
Managing director Danny Buzadzic says that the business is now repairing over 20% more cars with the same amount of staff thanks to better systems and processes.
WGBG’s other brand is M Tech which is the umbrella organisation for its ADAS calibration centre, wheel repair and detailing services. That’s in addition to the 19 tow trucks the business runs.
“We’ve grown all of this organically,” Buzadzic says. “We started out with the wheel and rim repairs as a service to our customers and it grew from there. We have a stand alone M Tech wheel shop in Sunshine.
Buzadzic tell us the business has quite a few 2023 achievements to be proud of. Number one is gaining Tesla accreditation, great for the business but especially great for him as he’s a huge fan having driven the brand since 2015. In addition four of the sites have become I-CAR Gold which Buzadzic is immensely proud of. Apprentice-wise the business is running at least one per site.
In the challenge/opportunity space there are also two purpose-built, large sites about to come online - one in Grovedale, Geelong and one in Melton, Victoria which the group is excited about.
When it comes to maintaining profitability Buzadzic says there are no guarantees. “ We have good insurance contracts, we’ve got our wages under control, we get great discounts from our suppliers - that’s what you want. We changed to Axalta, and that’s been gold for us - a better deal, better service.”
CFO Nathan Thai said: “We have maintained robust profits by leveraging economies of scale derived from centralised fixed head office costs and maximising production output by ensuring processes are streamlined across each of our workshops.” As CFO it’s not surprising that Thai’s 2023 highlight is that all of the shops in the group have been at capacity.