CoolDrive Celebrates 40 Years in Business
10 Aug, 2017
CoolDrive marked four decades in business with a celebratory dinner in Melbourne late July.
Attended by 250 industry luminaries, suppliers, key staff past and present, branch managers and special guests, the evening at the iconic Zinc restaurant at Federation Square included CoolDrive’s annual Branch Manager awards presentation.
Hosted by Nine Network television personality Brodie Harper, the CoolDrive 40th Anniversary celebration was attended by company founder John Blanchard Senior, known to everyone as “Senior” and his wife Shirley, who was surprised to learn of a new perpetual award for Branch of the Year named in her honour.
This new Award joined a similar established trophy named after company founder WJ Blanchard who, with Shirley, began the business in a home garage in 1977.
CoolDrive also announced a new ‘Hall of Fame’ Award to recognise the contribution of individuals to the business.
Inducted at the dinner were Robert Picone, CoolDrive’s longest-standing employee who started with the business in 1980, the now-retired Bernie Kelly whose contributed significantly in the areas of product sourcing and training, David Ellis who opened CoolDrive’s first interstate branch, Helen Dermanakis who as Senior’s PA remains the only person who can tell him what to do, and the late Keith Murray, a major contributor in Product whose son Max accepted the award.
Across the celebratory evening, many stories were related of CoolDrive’s early struggles and the challenges along the way, and Managing Director John Blanchard spoke of the tremendous growth the business has experienced over the last 10 years.
Guest speakers included Mark Padwick, Managing Director of Sanden Australia, Anthony Kittel of REDARC and Kazumoto Ejiri of Koyorad Japan.
“It was a tremendous night for everyone involved with CoolDrive, from the early days to the present,” General Manager - Marketing Tim Blanchard said.
“We were honoured that so many key industry people and suppliers chose to join us to celebrate our 40 years and to acknowledge the efforts of our amazing network of Branches over this past 12 months.”
One theme that predominated throughout the night was the ‘family’ culture of the family-owned CoolDrive business, with both Branch operators and employees likening the company to one big family.
“At the end of the day, it is the values of the people that have been and are today a part of the CoolDrive business that have stood us apart and enabled us to grow as a credible brand that customers want to deal with,” Tim Blanchard said.
“It’s a business built on people and product, and I think that is something the family is most proud of.”
The Blanchard family has a long history in automotive, beginning with Senior’s first job at the family garage and his mother’s role as the first female taxi driver in Melbourne, and continuing through the generations. Son John raced Formula Ford successfully and his son Tim today races Supercars for the Brad Jones team.
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