By CASEY NEILL
NARRE Warren Autobarn has been named the franchise’s top store in Australia.
Owner Gavin Sheedy collected the National Franchise Store of the Year award at Jupiter’s Casino on the Gold Coast on Friday 22 May.
Mr Sheedy didn’t find out until the annual Autobarn dinner that his store was among five finalists for the honour, and was shocked to take home the prize.
“I sent everyone a message to let them know, and through Facebook we announced it to our customers,” he said.
“I was really stoked, it was a very emotional time for me, to be totally honest.
“I’m very proud of myself and all my team.”
Mr Sheedy has worked for Autobarn for 24 years and 16 years ago, with wife Nicole, took over Narre Warren.
“I’d always worked in a store and then worked my way up to part-owning a store and then owning the store outright,” he said.
“My father was one of the original Autobarn members, so I’m a second generation Autobarn store owner – there’s not heaps of those.
“He’ll be pretty rapt.”
Mr Sheedy said the award was great encouragement for him and his 18-member team.
“It shows what we’re doing is the right thing and we’ll always continue to do that,” he said.
“We’ve always been very focused about customer service. Customers are number one.
“Thank you to customers for their continued support.
“We’ll always strive to be number one.
“Thanks to my whole team – I couldn’t do it without them.”
