The Mackay region has been spared large numbers of COVID-19 infections, with just 15 confirmed cases (at the time of publication) since the pandemic began. However, just like the cities with large numbers of cases, Mackay has been subject to the same lockdown and social distancing measures as the rest of the state and, just like everywhere else in the nation, there was real concern amongst the region’s residents and business owners about what was going to happen when the virus first hit the country.

“We have only had a few cases in our region, and they weren’t actually in our town but were brought to our hospital,” said Andrea McCarthy who, with husband Craig, owns McCarthy Panel Works in North Mackay. “So, I think within two weeks people were feeling a lot more at ease with the situation. But there was anxiety at the start of all this. It was huge.”

Preparing for and adapting to the coronavirus lockdown situation was, said Andrea, a real challenge, one exacerbated by the fact that automotive businesses don’t have remote or work-from-home options.

“Those first couple of weeks were tough because we just didn’t know what was going to happen,” she said. “Were we going to be able to trade? The workshop has to be open and people have to be here for the business to function.

“We had to come in and do our jobs every day and face the potential dangers. I called it the ‘front line’ and, at the time, that is exactly what it felt like. The reality was that we didn’t know who we were coming into contact with and though you can take precautions, there was still genuine fear. It’s difficult to explain that to people who aren’t in that situation.”

It was in those early days, when tensions were high and uncertainty rife, that the team at McCarthy Panel Works instigated changes to keep employees and customers as safe as possible, and reassure staff that the business would keep going as the health emergency grew.

“We set up different time for customers to come in, we wiped everything down after each client visit, we even turned off the air conditioning because we weren’t sure if that might cause a transmission problem. And we held production meetings outside rather than in the lunchroom so that everyone could stand further apart,” said Andrea.

“We basically said to everyone that it is ‘business as usual until it’s not’. In our case, which I know is not the same as everyone, we did have work to do, so I was saying ‘don’t panic, your job is still here and will be for the foreseeable future’. The reality was that no one really knew what was going to happen but after a couple of weeks we didn’t have the same fear that we were going to be closed.”

The McCarthy Panel Works team also set in motion new policies to help customers not only access the workshop services more efficiently, but to help them through what the team knew was a tough time for everyone.

“A lot of our clients live a couple of hours or more away, and email images to us so we can do estimates that way. Now, our bodyshop has written that option into their program so clients can upload directly to a job. That means we can start up a job for them and they can email direct to that job. That’s a terrific change,” said Andrea.

“And they have taken it a step further too, and actually reduced fees for a period to help all our clients. That has been pretty huge.”

While McCarthy Panel Works did have work already booked in for much of the lockdown period, Andrea said that new business had been patchy and there were issues with the supply of parts that were now becoming apparent.

“We probably have half as many estimates now, and the ‘quality’ of those estimates has changed – for example, there are people out there who had something happen a year ago and are having it looked at now because they have nothing better to do.

“We were busy going into this period and I think that if we are going to see real impact from this, it is going to be more likely in June and July that we see it.

“The other thing we are seeing, and we anticipated, is issues around parts,” she added. “We are starting to have patchy issues with that now. Some may have to come from Melbourne rather than Brisbane and that pushes out our job times. So, we have to work around that too – rejig plans and approach things from a different way.”

With the country now beginning its road back to normality, Andrea said she was pleased with the federal and state governments’ response and the measures that had been introduced for business, all of which made her feel quietly confident about the future.

“I think the lockdown was the right move, I think we had to do it,” she said. “And I am extremely impressed with the support for business from the government and their efforts to retain jobs. I think they have gone about it in the right manner.

“It does feel now that there is light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a more positive feel about the town at the moment and once we can establish that we are going to be OK, it gives us somewhere to head.

“I think we will be OK on the other side,” she said. “I have to remain a little reserved, but I am quietly confident that we will come out of this all good and, at this stage, I am confident too that the motor industry will keep ticking along.”

Source: Motor Trader E-magazine (June 2020)

22 May 2020