Miami Smash Repairs: Winner

AAMI/AP&P Autobody Repairer of the Year

Since setting up Miami Smash Repairs with their father in 1982, brothers Jamie and Mark McHugh have taken the business of repairing accident damaged vehicles to new levels on the Gold Coast. Their newly renovated shop is immaculately presented and with plenty of space to play with, has been well thought out with regard to workflow and ease-of-use.
As a mark of the success of the business, the shop is an authorised repairer for BMW, Porsche and Saab and the brothers believe working with car manufacturers is the best way to secure the future success of their business. "OEMs are the future," says Mark. "We are not interested in becoming a 'sausage shop' where work is just churned out -- we have streamlined the shop and have great staff so that although we work fast and efficiently, we do the job right."
The company owns a successful Tyrepower franchise nearby and is negotiating a joint venture with Gold Coast dealership Bruce Lynton BMW to set up a bodyshop next door to its existing bodyshop. The brothers have also secured first purchase option on a local smash repairer and are on the look-out for further business opportunities. "We want to make sure all our eggs are not in one basket when it comes to work providers so we are diversifying as much as we can to secure our future," says Jamie.
Using the Bodyshop Management System in the workshop has helped the company measure performance and has allowed the management team to create greater efficiencies. "Insurers are not going to raise the rates so we've just got to work smarter and look at ways of increasing net profit," says Mark.
The workshop features a separate paint shop with two Lowbake drive-through ovens which open onto a soon-to-be-canopied courtyard. A laneway connects the courtyard with the front of the property. The panel shop is sectioned in two and features extra entrances/exits for ease of access. Features such as overhead dust extraction, mobile infra-red systems and four Car-O-Liner benches, as well as false walls to contain all the necessary tools, mean the shop is very well presented and equipped.
"We put our name to the cars when they leave the workshop and we have to be proud of them because of that," says Mark.

Who: Mark, Sharon & Jamie McHugh
What: 5000 sq m site
35-40 cars repairer/week
21 employees
BMS, Car-O-Liner
Lowbake, Glasurit
Where: Miami, Gold Coast
When: Rennovated, July 2000