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 is MotorOne.
Sites: 17 (at time of print 20 now)
Employees: 462
Type of work: Drive and non-drive
Established: 2019 (in collision repair)
Apprentices: 48
Funding: Privately funded (managed by Quadrant)
Sites in: NSW, VIC, QLD
MotorOne has been growing consistently since its launch in 2019 through a combination of acquisitions and brownfield sites. The group has been investing in systems and structure to support its growth says COO Nick Gillies. “Running six shops was very different to 17 and it will soon be 20 plus. We’ve put down a really good core base behind it.”
MotorOne has invested to grow the network with an intention of having 40-50 sites on the East Coast. “We’re tracking well to get to that number but it’s not just about number of sites, it’s the quality and the size. I do see it sustaining at a similar level of growth for quite some time as far as the number of sites - the eastern seaboard is a big geography to lay down a network. There’s plenty of runway, that’s for sure.”
There’s a dedicated team to handle onboarding acquisitions. “We know what the plan is going into each acquisition, how we onboard it, how we make sure all the staff get to know us and feel comfortable. In terms of what we are proud of - we’ve got a great team of people and a great operations team managing the sites. We now have our first area managers. Our business relies on capable individuals who we can trust and who can go out there and make things happen. So we very much make that part of our culture in our business.”
MotorOne has maintained profitability throughout the year. “It’s obviously a challenge in the current environment with inflationary pressures and that’s across the board, even for insurers and their premiums. You work with facts and you can’t dispute them,” Gillies says. “The key for us around sustainability with our insurer partners is being in a position where you can have honest conversations. If you’re not making money or if something’s not working you need to be able to talk about it so you can fix the problem. So, we’ve grown with all of our key insurer partners over time, strengthening those relationships. If you can deliver a good quality product to your partners, you deserve to get paid correctly. So that’s what we really focus on, the things we can control is what we deliver each day.”
Apprentice numbers have been climbing but MotorOne would like to see more. Gillies says the approach is different by state. “In Queensland, for example one of our sites does really well getting the high school leavers, networking very well with the local high schools. We’ve tried to replicate that in other areas but you need to have someone who can lead a program like that and when you are growing that can be a challenge.
“We could always accommodate more staff but I’ve never known this industry to not have a need for more people. I think it’s easing generally as more of the international recruits start to flow through but it remains a challenge for the industry as a whole”