Taking on more apprentices

State, AMI and NZI’s specialist vehicle-repair centre, Repairhub, is building an apprenticeship programme to attract new talent into the industry.

“The collision repair industry as a whole has been struggling to find enough talented workers for some time now,” says Dean MacGregor, executive general manager of supply chain and adjacencies.

“With New Zealand’s growing population, we need to ensure we’re set up to support customers when they need us.”

Repairhub has seven facilities across Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton, and there are more in the pipeline.

The team runs a comprehensive apprenticeship programme overseen by a dedicated training manager. Support technicians in Auckland and Christchurch who work alongside apprentices to mentor and support recruits.

Gary Geeves, chief executive of Repairhub says: “We have 22 apprentices across our sites, but we’re ambitious to grow that. We aim to be the place to come for young people wanting to start out in collision repair.”

Repairhub’s apprentices are taken through the New Zealand Qualification Authority’s level-three programme with exposure to all four sectors of the business – detailing and grooming, stripping and assembling, panel beating and painting.

On successful completion, trainees – such as Elias Kauta, pictured above – can move to level four to begin to specialise in panel beating or painting.

Geeves adds: “Students who choose to focus on painting at level four get a chance to learn advanced techniques and awareness of all the new tech coming through.

“Panel-beating students in Christchurch have the benefit of our dedicated training area, which consists of two classrooms and an open-plan workshop.”

All up, the programme runs for three to four years, giving trainees an NZ Certificate in collision repair and automotive refinishing, which opens employment opportunities for them.

Repairhub is now recruiting for more people to join the programme, promoting it through job fairs, women in trades expos, school visits and career days. The team is also working with the Hanga-Aro-Rau Workforce Development Council to attract more Maori apprentices and permanent Repairhub team members.

“This isn’t just about Repairhub, but about contributing to the wider sector as well,” says Geeves. “We work closely with MITO (Te Pūkenga) and other private repairers to ensure our training is up to date and relevant.”