When you talk to major players in the Australian automotive aftermarket industry, many refer to Andrew Schram as being the hub in the growth wheel of the Burson automotive business.
And yet Andrew is an enigma: a high achiever with a low-profile. Andrew played a pivotal role in the Australian automotive aftermarket industry, yet is unknown outside the industry.
The rise and rise of Andrew in the auto industry had its beginnings in 1971 when he left school and was indentured as an apprentice motor mechanic at a garage in Essendon. Back in those days motor vehicles had spark plugs, distributors and carburettors. After serving a four-year apprenticeship, Andrew changed tack and was employed as a service station manager, first at Keilor for 12 months, followed by another year-long stint with a service station at Gladstone Park.
The turning point in Andrew’s working life came about on February 27, 1977, when he went to work for Garry Johnson and his fledgling Burson auto parts business. Andrew says it is one of the few dates he always remembers.
When Andrew joined Burson as an assistant store manager, the business was six years into its development. It was a fledgling company in an automotive world dominated by Repco. The employment opportunity was created because Burson was changing the way it went about business. Burson had seven cash vans calling around to retailers on a regular weekly/fortnightly cycle, however, it was realised workshop customers required parts on call.
To resolve this, in 1977 Burson leased a building in Ballarat Rd, Braybrook. It was the first Burson branch store, and Andrew was employed as assistant store manager and worked there for about five years under manager Terry Penney. The Braybrook store was the catalyst that started the chain of Burson Auto Parts stores.
“When the fifth store opened, Terry Penney the manager of Braybrook, went to run that, and I became the manager of the Braybrook store for about four years,” Andrew said.
Asked to describe Andrew, Burson founder Garry Johnson said: “Andrew, joined Burson with little sales or management experience, he rose to be store manager, and then on to be Burson, and then to director of purchasing and warehousing.
“He was able to grow as Burson grew from handwritten invoices and a limited stock range to a substantial parts range and the introduction of computerisation of invoicing, purchasing and warehouse management as well as other processes.
“He developed a deep knowledge of the automotive industry and was a respected and popular president of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association, and played a significant role in many decisions I and Team Burson made on the journey of growth.”
Garry said Andrew was one of his right-hand men, along with Terry Penney. When Terry left, Andrew became second in command at Burson.
“Andrew was respected in Burson for his hard work, knowledge of aftermarket and for his considered decisions throughout the Burson journey,” Garry said.
“Andrew’s counsel in my decision to sell, and how best to look after staff in the sale process, was of immense importance and comfort to me.”
In 1986, with 13 Burson company-owned auto parts stores, Garry Johnson acquired Ron Burgoine’s half of the business. It wasn’t a friendly buy out. Garry credits support from Andrew during that time as a contributing factor in Burson’s continuing success.
It hasn’t always been plain sailing. Following the buyout, in 1987, Garry attempted to float Burson on the Stock Exchange. The timing could not have been worse as the float was offered at about the time of the October 1987, share market crash. Consequently, the float was unsuccessful.
Garry’s idea was to move away from expansion by debt, to expansion by equity and to include employee shares. Land was sold in 1989, and a new distribution centre that was to be owned was built, but leased and the journey of range expansion and more auto stores continued.
In 1989, Andrew took charge of moving Burson from its warehouse at 70 Dougherty Road to a purpose-built facility at 26 Dougherty Road.
“We were supposed to own the warehouse, but had to sell it because we needed money after the share market float failed,” Andrew said.
Nevertheless, for the past 35 years Andrew oversaw warehousing and auto parts range expansion and, at 61 years of age, he is “transitioning into retirement.”
Andrew said: “I went over to head office as purchasing manager. My role is stock management, warehousing, range and pricing.
“It’s the same job I’m doing here (at Bapcor); all that’s changed is my title.”
But titles don’t mean much to Andrew. When asked about his official title within Bapcor he doesn’t get it right at first; thinks about it, and replies: “General Manager, Merchandising and Procurement.”
Talking about business Andrew, said: “Boring is beautiful; Burson has always been conservative in the way the business is managed.
“We weren’t big risk takers, and that’s Garry’s (Johnson) finance background, and it’s also my nature.
“At the same time, if we needed to be entrepreneurial, then we were. If you look at this industry, there’s only one Burson. No-one else, in the trade, has been able to grow beyond half a dozen stores. As a private business, we got to 91 or 93 stores.”
Andrew said Burson has the highest respect for major automotive competitor Repco.
“This is a tough industry with small margins, and for years Repco was the biggest, way bigger than anybody,” he explained.
“In the last 10 or 15 years, Supercheap has become as big as Repco in retail, and Burson has caught them in trade. But for many years, Repco was the standout superstar of this industry.”
Andrew said Repco threw their weight around, and pointed out that Burson had to deal with this: “We might have appeared soft, but we weren’t,” he said. “The Burson credo was to work with people rather than plaster them against a wall and demand better pricing.
“Supplier relationships was part of the reason we expanded to 90 stores. It’s part of the Burson way.
“We’ve helped a few people out along the way but, at the same time, they’ve done what we wanted. We didn’t buy off a supplier because he was a nice guy; we bought because the supplier ticked the right boxes.”
Suppliers like Mike Shoppee of Bearing Wholesalers had a relationship that goes back more than 20 years.
“As Burson grew, I grew,” he said. And when Colin Smith of Roadsafe Automotive acknowledged the loyalty and support of major customers, the first name he mentioned was Andrew Schram at Burson.
Andrew has been the face of Burson for many years, even though he was a minor shareholder. Even then, he is perhaps better known for his 14-year involvement with the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association, two of those years spent as vice president and three years as president.
The AAAA is the national industry association representing manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers and retailers of automotive parts and accessories, tools and equipment, as well as providers of vehicle service, repair and modification services in Australia.
The Association represents 2,250 member companies in all categories of the Australian automotive aftermarket. Members include major national and multi-national corporations as well as many independent small and medium size businesses. Member companies are in metropolitan, regional and rural Australia. AAAA member companies employ more than 40,000 people and export over $1 billion worth of Australian-manufactured product each year.
In 2007, the AAAA gave Andrew an award for Outstanding Service to Industry, Andrew is also a member of the AAAA Hall of Fame, and in April 2017 he was given the association’s highest award, Certificate of Appreciation.
The AAAA citation said: “His personal success has been achieved while always acting in a constructive and positive manner. Andrew has developed an outstanding reputation for honesty, integrity and fairness; over time he has become universally admired, respected and trusted.”
As for selling Burson to Quadrant Private Equity, Andrew gave some background: “Garry didn’t want to sell,” he explained. “I was involved in all decisions, and it took 12 months of meeting with Garry every other morning in my office before he decided to sell.
“People don’t know Garry. I’m the face of Burson, and I didn’t have the same emotional attachment. And anyway, I thought it was time to take the business to the next level.
“I didn’t have the skill set to take a business like this to the next level, to where it is now.”
Andrew said the intention was to sell to Supercheap, but that company didn’t want to buy and offered less than Garry wanted, so Supercheap were told to go away.
“Garry meeting Darryl Abotomey was happenstance,” Andrew said. “Garry was visiting a friend when he saw Darryl and had a chat with him. Darryl indicated that he was interested in putting forward a proposition with himself as managing director, and a financial backer who would pay Garry’s asking price.
“Garry was comfortable with him and his proposition so he put that past me.”
It is something of an industry legend that Darryl had to meet with Andrew’s approval before a final decision was made to sell.
As Darryl tells the story: “If I didn’t pass the interview with Andrew, the deal was off. It was an interview process and if we hadn’t seen eye to eye then maybe it (the sale) would have been a different story because Garry put a lot of store in Andrew’s opinion.”
An agreement to acquire Burson was signed on Friday, September 16, 2011 and announced on September 19. The $148m sale was completed on October 17.
Darryl said Andrew was highly respected for his knowledge base and ethics, and said he had been successful in part because he was able to build strong, long term relationships.
“Andrew has outlasted everyone, not just at Burson, but the whole industry. In merchandise and supply, you don’t survive in this business unless you have ethics and strong relationships,” he said.
“Many industry players sought Andrew’s advice, and used him as a sounding board, and many companies credit his support and encouragement as helping them succeed.”
Andrew described Burson is the “Jewel in the Crown” of Bapcor, and said: “I’m the only original Burson person left on management.”
But not for long. At the time of the interview, April 2017, Andrew was “transitioning into retirement”. He said he will continue to follow his passion, Essendon Football Club, something he described as a family event that involves Sharron, his wife of 37 years, and 34-year-old son Daniel.
Interviewed April 2017