21 MUSTANG SALUTE
NZV8: Thanks for your time today, Malcolm. Can we start by looking at how you got into this business. Was it your passion for cars, or was owning your own panel shop always your dream?
Malcolm: Not at all. My first passion was rugby, and while I was growing up that was always my first love, but cars became a close second thanks to the influence of Dad and my brothers — Steven, in particular, who was an apprentice panel beater with Bardsley and Williams. We played with cars for a while before I ended up in Ireland with rugby. It was while I was away that Bob Dalley from the local rugby club asked me to come home to play, which I agreed to. But for me to do this, I needed to have a job to come home to first. Bob eventually found me one at Matamata Panelworks. The relationship here was perfect, as I could work and earn and still play local rugby, which was great, but I soon found myself, with the support of my new employer, in France playing rugby again. Then I got another phone call to come home, this time from the owner of Matamata Panelworks, offering me the opportunity to manage the business, which I just could not turn down. This was a new challenge for me, and I threw myself into this role for the next few years.
NZV8: So how did you go from running Matamata Panelworks to owning it? That is a big jump!
It sure was. I was running Matamata Panelworks at the time, and I was approached to buy the business, and I knew I could not turn this opportunity down. I knew it was going to be tough, so I asked my brother, Steven, to go in partnership with me. It was not easy by any means, though, as the bank certainly did not have faith in us, but with support from my family, we managed to swing the deal, and on 14 April 2000 it was ours. Steven has since moved on to open his own successful panel shop and restoration business in Pukekohe. It has not been easy, though, as anyone
