Panel beater turned racer Travis Lindorff is a local success story on the hunt for new talent to join his growing panel beating operation.

Lindorff founded Casey Accident Repairs more than a decade ago, building on his own experience, and hasn’t looked back since.

“We’re growing bigger and bigger at the moment, we’ve picked up a few insurance companies along the way, being an approved repairer, hence why I’m looking for more staff,” said Lindorff, who is also a very capable racing driver in his own right.

“I’ve been panel beating for 32 years, I suppose,” he continued.

“Had this business, coming up to the 12th year now I think it is, in Pakenham. It’s kicking along all right.

“Started off just by myself small, and then grew up from there.

“But now we’ve sort of outgrown where we are; not outgrown where we are factory side of things, it’s just the staffing is the biggest thing at the moment.”

The business focuses on repair work rather than restoration, with its clientele a mixture between insurance repairs and race cars.

“We do a fair few race cars, obviously because I’ve been doing it a long time and [you’ve] got your normal mates that crash their cars, a few other core customers that keep bringing their cars,” Lindorff explained.

That includes cars across a range of categories, from Toyota 86 to TA2, and the Saloon cars in which Lindorff has been so successful.

He’s looking now to attract experienced talent to help ease the load, along with general labourer opportunities, too.

“You’d have to have obviously previous panel shop experience, as in I don’t have to hold your hand in that respect; as in, don’t have to say, all right, this is a bolt, and this a spanner you’ve got to use to pull this door off, you have to have some knowledge, and go ‘yep, okay, I can pull that apart’,” he explained.

“I need a minimum of experience, even a third- or fourth-year apprentice that’s got some sort of basic knowledge, or fully qualified.

“You can get general labourers type thing, that come in and strip cars and put cars back together and wash cars, clean cars, help the painters sand the cars down, and so on from there,” he added.

“The industry’s very hard to find good staff at the moment.

“COVID slowed everything down, a lot of people got put off, and then I think, we’ve been talking in the industry, that a lot of people have left the trade and gone and done something totally different.”

Lindorff hopes by using JobStop that he’ll be able to speak directly with those already in the industry looking for a new opportunity.

“I know there’s a lot of guys that love motor racing, and have got trade background as well,” he said.

“That’s why I reached out to this area [JobStop] as well, because I wasn’t not having any luck anywhere else.

“Your main platforms like your Seek, and Indeed, and those other ones as well, you get the odd inquiry and the odd application.

“With JobStop, it’s more the fact that it’s in the trade.”

CLICK HERE to apply at Casey Accident Repairs.

CLICK HERE to visit JobStop.com for your new start.