Alan Jolly is 59 years-old, and a difficult man to contact, not unreasonable when you consider that he and wife Irene spend most of the year travelling, only returning to Australia at Christmas.
And it’s been a long road in the auto industry for Alan who started with PBR/Repco as an apprentice filter and turner in 1974, at 16 years-old. He was later to spend 27 years in partnership with Graham Stewart at Auto Brake Service and Australian Truck and Auto Parts.
Asked how he met Graham, Alan said: “During my apprenticeship with PBR, around 1979, I finished as a top apprentice in my year, and was offered a marketing Cadetship with Repco.
“As part of the Cadetship program, I had to work in different divisions within Repco.
“Graham was the foreman at the PBR/Repco remanufacturing division. We worked together for three months during my training and became firm friends.”
Once Alan completed his Cadetship he undertook various roles, and eventually, at the ripe old age of 26, he was appointed National Commercial Brake Sales Manager for the company.
ABS was started in 1981, and by 1986 the business was taking off. In 1986, Graham and his then partner, Les Clifford, offered Alan a job.
“I was doing very well at PBR, and rejected the job offer from Graham,” Alan explained.
“I suggested an offer of partnership was the only way I would come across.”
In 1987, PBR in Footscray Road, which was a large commercial store specialising in truck and bus repairs, bonding and remanufacturing wanted to sell.
“This was a great opportunity for us to move the business to larger premises,” Alan said.
Les Clifford went to Footscray Road to manage the store, while Alan and Graham remained in George Street, Fitzroy. In 1989, Les decided he wanted to pursue different interests and asked to be bought out of the business. This gave Alan the opportunity to become a 50-50 partner with Graham, a partnership that spanned 27 years.
And although it was a partnership, Alan and Graham had different priorities: Alan had ATAP as a priority; Graham was more involved in the day to day operations of ABS.
This period also saw an upgrade to the manufacturing facilities in Footscray, which were now manufacturing boosters and valves to supply PBR.
ATAP opened its Western Australia operation in 1991, followed by New South Wales and South Australia in 1994. All wholesale operations were running under the name of Brake Parts Australia.
ABS continued to expand, and by 1994 there were 20 franchises in four States. In 1996, the company got a major boost in size when it purchased Adelaide Brake Service off the receiver. There were 13 stores, but ABS kept only nine it regarded as viable.
In 1997 there were 40 Auto Brake Service franchise stores in five States.
ATAP Queensland opened in 1999 and finally, ATAP was truly a national distribution business. With this, the wholesale division changed its name nationally from Brake Parts Australia (BPA), to Australian Truck & Auto Parts (ATAP).
The Protex brand was launched the same year. This ATAP “house” brand was to grow over the following two decades to establish itself as one of the leading names in brake, clutch, suspension, driveline, cooling and commercial components.
“As the wholesale business continued to grow, we made it a priority to ensure we surrounded ourselves with the very best industry people,” Alan said.
“I think we had the reputation that we employed the very best of the best.”
Twelve months later saw the Gabriel Shock Absorber Program introduced, and an exclusive distribution agreement was reached with Brembo.
Alan said ATAP was dedicated to product development: “With our key staff, we travelled the world seeking world-class suppliers, and sourcing quality parts.
“We had product managers committed to each product range to ensure we were first to market with parts as new vehicles arrived on Australian roads.
“We also placed a great deal of emphasis on our printed catalogue range, which was second to none, as well as maintaining comprehensive online cataloguing.
“We believed this was the very best form of advertising; we wanted our customers to confidently call on ATAP first, with the knowledge we would have parts for new and old vehicles,” Alan said.
In 2001, Queensland ABS was bought, adding 11 more stores. The Protex/Daikin-Exedy clutch program was launched, and the company signed distribution agreements with Lucas/TRW and Tekonsha.
In 2002, Darwin ABS opened bringing the franchise store numbers to 50.
Alan said that throughout the 2000s, the wholesale business also grew by acquisition: “In the late 2000s, we purchased Independent Brake Supplies - IBS, who had been a keen competitor for many years in the passenger vehicle brake market.
“IBS also had a distribution centre in each State, mirroring ATAP, so the decision was made to continue to run the business separately to ATAP.
“The reason behind this was we did not want to create a vacuum in the market, or leave space for any competitors to move in; we wanted to own the brake category, and saw this acquisition as critical to our goal.”
Alan said the business continued on with two more acquisitions over the next few years, including Garrmax, a specialist engine parts company based in Brisbane, and Melbourne Clutch and Brake (MCB), a Melbourne-based wholesale brake component supplier.
“Once again, we left these businesses as standalone and the administration and purchasing was integrated at ATAP Melbourne.”
Alan explained that although many in the industry knew he and Graham owned all these companies, “We believed they offered their own style of management and maintaining their independence in the market continued to give customers a choice.”
The acquisitions continued to boost revenue and purchasing power, which saw the group turnover and profit increase dramatically.
In June 2011, Alan told Undercar Review magazine: “During the 2000s our focus was to grow the product range and strengthen our position in the automotive aftermarket. During this time, we signed distribution agreements with many world leading brands across a range of products, including Brembo, TRW, Haldex, Exedy and Gabriel.”
That the businesses continued to grow through some tough economic periods is a tribute to the business acumen of Alan and Graham. The three worst economic times were October 1987, when the Australian share market crashed. The so-called “Black Tuesday” 25 per cent slump on the share market was unprecedented. Then came the 1990 recession, followed by the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-2008, considered by many economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Nevertheless, for Alan and Graham, business continued, and Alan said being able to achieve continual growth throughout the business over the time he was there was a business highpoint: “This was very satisfying; particularly during tough economic times when we saw some of our opposition collapse.
“It was also a nice feeling knowing we were leaders in the aftermarket, particularly in our brake category, which was our core product.”
Alan admits that when Metcash Automotive bought the business in 2013, he was unsure of his future.
“Having worked in the industry since the age of 16, I initially wondered what else I would do?” he said.
“I quickly came to the realisation I had a lot of living to do and travel to catch up on, much of which I didn't get the chance to do while we were building the business.
“While I did travel a great deal, it was mostly for business, and not much leisure.”
Irene and Alan married in May 2015, and he has two children from his previous marriage. Brooke, 26, is a lawyer based in Melbourne while 31-year-old Luke maintains a family connection in the auto industry. Luke was ATAP’s first Cadet, and has remained in the industry working for Toyota in Canberra.
As for the future, Alan said he and Irene have enjoyed traveling the world since selling the business.
“And we don't see ourselves stopping in the foreseeable future,” Alan said.
“The world isn't as small as everyone says, so we spend most of the year travelling, returning to Australia for Christmas.”
Interviewed January 2018