In our Host Employer Spotlight series, we step inside the businesses creating opportunities for CCGT apprentices and trainees.
Just off busy Wyong Road, the workshop at Tuggerah Auto Group has its own rhythm. The radio’s giving good tunes to match the team’s good vibes, with cars up on hoists and apprentices working alongside qualified mechanics. There’s plenty happening, and everyone’s firing on all cylinders, so to speak.
Among the team are Service Manager Andrew Sammut and Workshop Controller Steve Kilpatrick, who have spent decades in the automotive industry and seen plenty of changes, from workshop technology to the way apprentices learn their trade.
Part of Central Auto Group, Tuggerah Auto Group services Hyundai and Mitsubishi vehicles for customers across the Central Coast and beyond. The dealership is also a longstanding CCGT host employer, providing local automotive apprentices with opportunities to learn their trade.
For Andrew, developing apprentices is part of preparing the business for the future.
“Having a new group of apprentices coming through, a constant flow, continues the growth of the business down the track,” he says.
From first-year nerves to capable technicians
Andrew has watched many CCGT apprentices find their feet in the workshop and gradually take on more responsibility.
It’s something Steve has seen plenty of too. As Workshop Controller, he allocates jobs to technicians and apprentices, sometimes coordinating around 50 vehicles a day. But he says one of the biggest changes he notices in apprentices has little to do with their technical skills.
“Coming out of their shell is the biggest thing. Most of them are usually pretty shy. You’re coming into an environment where you’d normally know no one, you’re normally 16 or 17, and you’ve got all these older guys.”
As their confidence and skills develop, Steve and the team give them more challenging work.
“We try and upgrade the style of jobs that we give them as they go forward and hopefully help them grow from apprentices, into being good technicians that we can keep on.”
A trade that’s changed with the times
Steve remembers a very different workshop from the one apprentices walk into today.
“Now we’ve got a hoist in every bay. When we started, there was no hoist. We were working on the ground. There were no pneumatic tools.”
Today, mechanics work with sophisticated electronics, diagnostic systems and electric vehicles. The way apprentices learn has changed too.
Steve recalls being shown how to complete a task once and then being expected to get on with it. Today’s apprentices have access to digital resources that weren’t available when he started.
The career opportunities have changed as well, with pathways into management roles within dealerships or smaller workshops.
“There’s a lot of reward for them if they put their head down and have a go,” he says.
Why apprentices matter to the business
Steve recalls a time when workshops received dozens of applications for just a few apprenticeship positions. In his experience, attracting applicants has become much harder.
“If we don’t have the apprentices, the trade suffers, so they’re massively important.”
For a busy dealership workshop, bringing new people into the trade is also a practical consideration. As experienced technicians move on or retire, businesses need people coming through who can take their place.
Andrew has also seen potential in people coming from completely different industries.
He recalls an applicant who had previously trained as a chef, recognising that the attention to detail required in a kitchen could translate to working in a workshop.
“I thought if he’s going to be a chef, he’s going to have an eye for detail,” Andrew says.
Working alongside CCGT
Andrew has worked with Central Coast Group Training across two Central Coast dealerships. At Tuggerah Auto Group, that relationship includes working with CCGT Workforce Consultant Amanda Lennon to support the dealership and its apprentices.
“Central Coast Group Training have always been helpful and always been out there to make sure that the kids are looked after, the adult apprentices are looked after, and the business is looked after as well.”
After 39 years in the motor industry, Andrew has seen plenty of apprentices come through the workshop. Some have gone on to become qualified mechanics, others have moved into different roles. For him, watching that journey unfold is one of the best parts of the job.
“It’s such a gratifying moment to see these young people come through into young adults and showing their skills and their craft,” he says.
Written by Chanel Gellin, Marketing Coordinator & Business Support, CCGT.
Interested in partnering with CCGT?
Whether you’re looking to take on an apprentice or trainee or want to learn more about our workforce solutions, our team is here to help.
📞 02 4353 2655
✉️ info@ccgt.com.au
CCGT’s Host Employer Spotlight series features the local businesses we partner with. We support a diverse range of industries here on the Central Coast, but they all have one thing in common. A commitment to providing a supportive, hands-on learning environment for our apprentices and trainees.
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