For one reason and another (traffic being one of them, damn you Sydney) judges Sam Street and Neil Powell didn't quite make it round to all of the shortlisted shops in NSW and so will have to cram in another day's judging. Unfortunately we don't have that luxury in other states as we are only there for two days.
To recap we'll be in Melbourne on 18 and 19 July, Queensland on 20 and 21 July, Perth on 24 and 25 July, Adelaide on 26 and 27 July. We'll be in touch shortly to arrange visit times with those selected for judging.
Day two in NSW proved very interesting. We started at the new Captial SMART in Ingleburn, a very impressive shop, with a happy relaxed crew enjoying brand new everything in terms of equipment. Musico Smash Repairs was next. Joe and Tony Muisco hover around the border of OCD when it comes to keeping everything in order, which is no bad thing in this industry. Former award winners, the team has built a new area since we last visited to keep more cars undercover and expand the workshop and moved the tow yard a couple of units down the street.
Last visit of the day was to Capital SMART Riverwood - which almost needs a new category - how about humungous? Manager George Makringiannis sometimes clocks up 30km a day overseeing this SMART Plus facility. I certainly achieved my daily step goal after the tour.
The remaining NSW shops will be visited towards the end of July.