This is a shop that turns out top notch work in a beautifully organised fashion in a less than ideal space.
Owner Carl Francesca is proud of his record that in 27 years the shops has never had to carry out a rectification.
West Perth Panel & Paint ticks all the boxes, a smart exterior, adequate parking a clean, tidy, well organised workshop with a place for everything.
The business has achieved Green Stamp level three certification and uses PPG Envirobase. Electronic measuring is standard, Thatcham repair methods are used if manufacturer information isn’t forthcoming.
The paint shop has a large and small booth which painters can walk between. Paint standards are very high, with each car brush touched before it goes out.
A team of 13 repair around 18-20 cars a week. This includes spray painters and an apprentice and four panel beaters. Carl’s two sons, one a painter and one a panel beater, both work in the business.
The shop is manufacturer approved for Subaru, Citroen and Peugeot and splits its workload between mum and dad cars and European makes.
Like many repairers, Francesca has never struggled to find work in the past but has been finding it thinner on the ground recently. That’s been a wake up call to start seriously marketing the business and a new website is underway along with some other marketing initiatives.
The shop does sponsor local football clubs too, which is always good for business awareness in the community, but is no longer enough in today’s tougher environment.
Francesca’s methodical approach, his workshop planning, clear labelling and signage to keep order in the long narrow workshops extends to his customer service levels also.
As well as the brush touching, each car’s tyres are checked before it leaves the shop. It’s no surprise that there is a high level of customer loyalty and repeat custom.
There is a well thought out health and safety manual and equipment is well maintained. For example, the spraybooths are serviced every three months.
The shop has its own customer feedback program, operating procedures, a quality policy manual and conducts business management reviews with internal minutes and auditing.
This small shop has turned out some stunning apprentices over the years, winning at competitions such as WorldSkills.
Building on his excellent reputation for quality, Francesca will be looking to gain more manufacturer approvals.
Parris’ comment
A small shop in and old part of town, Carl and his team have streamlined the layout of this shop for the best work flow possible, it’s like a well oiled machined, with a reputation of high quality work to match. Space is at a premium but procedures have been put in place to maximise everything you can think of, they put through impressive numbers for the size of the shop, it was a pleasure to visit.