Crash repair -- Westfield style

Shop profile

Greg Henson has recognised the need to specialise in the collision repair industry by catering to different markets with different services.
Greg Henson runs three bodyshops in Taren Point, south Sydney. Each shop serves a different market and is therefore set up accordingly. The flagship Callaghan's Collision Centre is set up primarily to deal with prestige vehicles and is designed to accommodate high volumes and work within direct repair programs. Crash Care Collision Centre deals with low-end and older model vehicles and therefore concentrates on value for money. GH Motorsports is perhaps a unique shop in Sydney in that it deals solely with rapid repairs and has a guaranteed turnaround time of 24 hours.
At present, GH Motorsports resides in a building across the road from Callaghan's and Crash Care, but Henson is consolidating his businesses onto one site. One administration office will handle all three businesses, with the resultant reduction in fixed overheads. Stage one of the development has already gone ahead -- the Callaghan's paint shop has been finished, along with the office block. Four Galaxy bake ovens, one with an IRT curing arch, have been installed opposite six fully-ducted prep bays with mobile infra red and dust extraction boom arms. The office block spans three storeys while the adjoining paint shop has a mezzanine floor and rooftop parking.
Stage two of the development involves extending the new building back from the road to encompass a new three storey panel shop, again with rooftop parking and a car lift. At the same time, a new purpose-built building to house GH Motorsports is taking shape next door.
In the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries, bodyshops have opened which deal specifically with rapid repairs and vehicle 'reconditioning'. Henson had the same idea and has been highly successful with it at GH Motorsports.
Henson believes it is good business to target specific sectors of the market and price work accordingly. "The whole concept is like a Westfield shopping centre," he said. "If you want to buy a suit, you have several choices -- you could go to David Jones for instance and have the assistant measure you, talk you through some choices, alter the pants etc, or you could go to Target and buy one off the shelf. You get what you pay for. Consumers make a choice about what they want to pay for we are giving them that choice. Everyone has different needs, people don't go for price, it's what level of service and quality they can afford. The industry as a whole thinks you have to be cheap to be successful but they are wrong. It is about giving the customer what they want."
Henson has specifically targeted dealerships, OEMs and insurers as the key work providers and has so far signed with NRMA, AAMI, CGU and Allianz. However, he is wary of relying too heavily on one source of work. "A lot of people in the NRMA PSR program for instance have stopped marketing themselves and that is a dangerous situation to be in, with all your eggs in one basket and no back up work supply."

Who: Greg Henson, director
What: Callaghan's, 1800 sq m workshop
new GH Motorsports, 950 sq m workshop
Crash Care, 800 sq m workshop
total staff of 43
When: stage 1 completed, July 2001
Where: Taren Point, Sydney