Charlie Battisti & Co

Best New Shop

An old roller skating rink is the not the first thing that comes to mind when looking for a building to house a state-of-the-art bodyshop but Charlie Battisti is not afraid to think big. The 4000 sq m facility has been immaculately finished -- the old concrete floor, with a large circular concave dent in the middle from years of roller skating was relaid and painted and the ceiling was stripped back.
At present the shop is not at full capacity so there is plenty of room to work with but the shop has been designed for more. "We have got to fully utilise this space," says Battisti, "I would like to take it up to 60 cars per week." Battisti's previous facility was a quarter the size of the new shop and Battisti is conscious of the extra challenges inherent in running a large bodyshop. "We have had to learn how to run a shop this big. We've created a monster and we have tamed it, now we need to work it," he says. The scale of the task has meant Battisti himself has removed himself from the day-to-day running of the shop to work on marketing the business. "I have tried to free myself from within the business so I can work on the business."
Battisti has skillfully trod the line between presentation and functionality. "I wanted to make sure that when a customer walks into the reception area it is the same as walking into a car dealership but the workshop has been designed around total efficiency. We have enough equipment and parts to allow the staff to do their job to the maximum of efficiency."
Although the new shop represents a dramatic upscale for Battisti, he is not planning to stop there. Future moves could include opening another, smaller bodyshop on the nearby freeway, becoming an insurance broker, setting up a car hire company and even adding a further 750 sq m to the existing shop if volume demands it. "It's important that we diversify as much as possible," says Battisti.

Who: Charlie Battisti, Noel Griffiths, Rick Fisher
What: 4080 sq m facility
30 employees
36 cars repaired/week
Seetal, Globaljig
Dataliner, Glasurit
Where: Nunawading, Melbourne
When: Opened January 2000