MB Spares Newsletter No.144
MB Spares Newsletter
No. 144, December 2017
Hello all, so its been twelve months since the last
newsletter. It has been another 12 months of working hard delivering parts to
all the corners of Australia and beyond. We do however, have to pause for a
moment and send you this Newsletter with some sad news.
Chris Righton.
27/05/1958 – 10/11/2017
We are saddened to report that our Manager Chris Righton
passed away suddenly on the 10th of November 2017.
Affectionately known as the “big guy” at MB Spares, Chris
worked with us for just under 15 years. Chris’s encyclopaedic like knowledge of
not only all thing Mercedes, but of all things automotive was astounding. Often
politely correcting others on subjects ranging from total loss oil systems to
exactly how rare such and such a model was. The legacy he has left behind is
all the knowledge and passion that he has passed onto those around him about
all things automotive.
Chris regularly attended the Victorian, NSW and ACT
Mercedes-Benz club concourses and a wide range of car shows of all makes and
nationalities feeding his love of cars in general.
His death is a great loss to both his immediate family and
his family at MB Spares, we will miss him greatly.
His funeral will be held at 10:30am this Saturday the 2nd of
December at the Norwood Park Memorial Gardens. The address is 65 Sandford
Street, Mitchell ACT 2911. All associates of MB Spares and friends of Chris are
invited to attend and pay their respects. As there will be some light
refreshments provided afterward by the family, they have asked that you advise
the staff at MB Spares that you may be attending. No issues if your attendance
is a last minute decision, we are just looking for rough numbers.
Please send
your response to Sandra Green.
MB Spares is for
sale.
On the 6th of November we announced on Facebook
that MB Spares is for sale. Here is the text of the announcement for those not
following us on Facebook:
After nearly 27 years in business John & Sandra Green
are announcing that they wish to downsize their workload by selling off part
of their business.
MB Spares officially opened for business on the 2nd of
January 1994, in reality it had been running since mid 1990 as a backyard
business. Since opening in 1994 as a workshop that also sold parts, the
business models has changed multiple times adapting with the times. These days
we are primarily a spare parts business quite rightfully promoting that we are "Australia's
leading Independent Mercedes-Benz spare parts supplier". We also have a
successful workshop offering routine servicing and full restorations as well as
selling used cars.
We wish to downsize our workload, but are not ready to
retire quite yet. The spare parts business is located at 14 Lyell St and the
workshop 16 Lyell St. We are inviting offers to purchase either business and/or
any aspect of the various business's.
Sounds complex, but with the business spread across the two buildings it
is possible to halve it up. And, whilst it would be difficult to move the
workshop, the spare parts business could be run out of anywhere, as the website
and 1300 phone number make it portable.
Both businesses have considerably more potential than what
they are currently achieving. They have both grown to the point where we have
realised neither business is being run as efficiently as they should. Both
would benefit from a fresh injection of enthusiasm and individual management,
not shared management.
In the last 27 years we have achieved a lot, from having the
first Mercedes-Benz dedicated website in Australia to buying out the local
Mercedes-Benz dealers workshop equipment when they went bankrupt in 2006. There
are over 15000 unique customer addresses' in our database and well over 16000
unique part numbers on file. This position is the ideal base for someone to
take either business onto its next great step.
Interested parties are invited to make contact via our
website, using the "Make
an enquiry" button below. Please ignore the model, year and VIN number
fields. Prospectuses have been prepared for the spare parts business and the
workshop. They include a basic outline of the respective business's strengths
and some basic figures. Parties that are interested after reading the
prospectus would be required to sign a non disclosure agreement before further
negotiations.
In the meantime, it is business as usual. Same staff, same work
hours, same service. We are still busy
as usual with customer quotation requests, orders and workshop jobs still
taking up the time that we used to use to send out our monthly newsletters.
Christmas opening
hours.
Before Chris’s loss, we had already made the decision to
close between Christmas and New Year for the first time in MB Spares 23 year
history. We have all worked hard this last year, with significant growth in
sales and customer numbers, so a rest for all was planned. So here are our Christmas trading hours:
Friday 22nd Dec close
12 noon
Saturday 23rd Dec – Monday 1st of
January Closed
Tuesday 2nd of January – Friday 5th of
January, limited trading hours
Monday 8th of January, business as usual…
Facebook highlights.
Newsletter readers are welcome to check out what is going on
our Facebook page. You do not
need to be a Facebook member to check it out. Here are a few highlights:
Not
all Mercedes-Benz parts are made in Germany, part 1.
Not
all Mercedes-Benz parts are made in Germany, part 2.
Cars for sale.
Newsletters of past would have a range to cars that were
parked out the front of our premises. Not these days with parts sales and our
workshop consuming all out time. We are however still listing some of the
excellent cars that our associate in Sydney has for sale. You can find them at
the links below:
280SE
1974 model with as new engine bay! MB Spares supplied many of the parts for
this car over the years.
C250CDI
2012 model with only 20k, Canberra car that we drove for a week or so
whilst it was here. One owner who went crazy with the option list when they
ordered it.
We doubt we will fit in another newsletter between now and
Christmas so please accept our wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
from the MB Spares Team. May you all get a present with a three pointed star on
it.
Thanks, John & Sandra Green.
