Mark Rowe is the chair of Capricorn and also Vice-President of VASA, but apart from being a passionate advocate for the industry through those organisations, he is also an MTA Queensland member and has been delivering auto electrical services to Beaudesert and the surrounding communities of Southeast Queensland for nearly 30 years through his businesses, Rowe Auto Electrical and Jimboomba Batteries.
What products and services do you offer at Rowe Electrical and Jimboomba Batteries?
MR: We offer a wide range of auto electrical and air conditioning solutions for cars, trucks, earthmoving and agricultural equipment. Recently, in Beaudesert, we have also started offering mechanical services as well. I employed a mechanic about 12 months ago and did so because a lot of jobs now overlap. It has been a great development for us.
What’s your background in the industry & how did you come to establish your business?
MR: I started off as an apprentice and worked for five years with a local business in Beaudesert before they came to me one day and said they had run out of work. I went home that day to work out what I was going to do – I had a fresh mortgage – and I started the next morning working on a mate’s truck.Then the phone started ringing and it went from there!
Doing it that way was never my plan, but that’s how it happened. I was mobile at first, with a workshop at home, and did that for four or five years before I moved into this location at Beaudesert. About eight years ago, I saw an opportunity to open a battery shop at Jimboomba, and that has now grown from being a battery retail shop to a full-blown auto electrical shop.
How many staff do you have?
MR: I have 14 staff across the two shops, including four apprentices across the two stores, a manager at each shop, a mechanic, and a handful of auto electricians. It has grown a fair bit since I went out on my own.
Are you still hands on in the workshop as an auto electrician?
MR: Absolutely. Very hands on! When I am not away with Capricorn, I’m hands-on as an extra tradesman – in fact, I did an air conditioning job and worked on a John Deere tractor just this morning. I enjoy the work, always have done, and these businesses work perfectly to give me the flexibility to come and go as I’m needed. It’s what I enjoy doing but the Capricorn role is very exciting, a real challenge, and I love it.
It seems obvious, but will electrification of the auto industry in the form of EV’s and Hybrids have an impact on you?
MR: Electrification is a major factor for businesses to consider. From mechanical to paint and panel, everybody’s got to think about it these days. Because we are regional here in Beaudesert we don’t see a lot of EVs, but half the guys I’ve got here have done EV training. We can depower and repower EVs, we have all the equipment and are prepared and ready to work on them.
The arrival of EVs is exciting. It’s change. It’s different. And that means there are new opportunities and challenges. Workshops need to be prepared as EVs are going to come. It might not be as quickly as first predicted, but they will roll through.
That’s part of the reason I’ve employed a mechanic as I think this work is going to morph together – mechanics with some electrical knowledge or electricians with some mechanical ability. I think that will be where the EV market will end up. However, there will still be a need for separate auto electricians and mechanics for quite some time. ICE [Internal Combustion Engines] engines are going to be with us for a bit longer than first predicted.
What sort of training is available for you and your staff?
MR: I am big on training and keeping the guys up to date with new techniques, across the changes that are coming through, and staying on top of it all. It’s good for the team environment and very important. We do that training with the MTA Institute or whoever we can use at the time. MTA Queensland’s training is second-to-none.
What challenges are you facing as an auto electrical and mechanical business?
MR: Finding skilled staff is quite challenging. There’s a real shortage. I do advertise but I usually find staff via word of mouth and they actually have approached me – they find out I am looking for someone and they turn up on my doorstep.
Having a good reputation is important, and I’ve got some fantastic apprentices at the moment. They are really good young men, all very enthusiastic and keen to learn, and have great attitudes.
You’ve been a member of Capricorn for many years, have taken on senior roles there, and are now its chairman. Why take on such responsibility while also running your own business?
MR: I’ve always been a massive fan of Capricorn and what it offers. The ease of one statement, insurance needs taken care of, fuel cards – it is a great concept and I’ve always been very supportive of it. In 2022, the opportunity came to become a director, and I was lucky enough that Queensland members voted for me. I took over the Chair role in October last year.
There’s a lot of strategy and a lot of high-end decision making at the Board level. That is exciting and there’s a lot of good things coming. Nothing I can share right now, but stay tuned! Capricorn is the same as all automotive businesses – dealing with electrification and that uncertainty – and it has got to keep evolving to be able to keep our members informed and keep them viable. It’s an important link in the chain as Capricorn members are facing the same challenges as everyone else – staff shortages, skilled staff, the supply of parts is often slow. They are all the same challenges. We have 30,000 members so we hold a bit of clout when we do get involved in different issues. Capricorn is a powerful beast these days.
Capricorn has been working with MTA Queensland on the skills shortage issue through careers expos held in parallel with Capricorn Trade events. Have they been a success for you?
MR: Absolutely. I’m very pleased with how well that has gone, and I’m always bringing it up at Capricorn that Queensland is doing it better than the other states! And that’s got a lot to do with Rod’s [MTA Queensland CEO] drive to make these things happen.
Capricorn happily partners with them to enable these young people to come and have a look and see what’s available – from selling parts to being a heavy diesel mechanic and everything in between. Feedback from Capricorn members is great and I believe we have 28 apprentices that have come through from those events. Relationships and partnerships such as that between MTA Queensland and Capricorn – and VASA too, of which I am vice-president – are very important, and will continue to be in the future.
When and why did you become a member of MTA Queensland, and what have been the benefits of your membership?
MR: I became a member probably 20 years ago. It was important to be part of a bigger group and be able to get some workplace health and safety advice and so on. The flow of information, particularly with HR, is very useful because that’s a changing environment and it’s very hard as a small business owner – when you’re worrying about customers and getting parts, when you’re having problems with apprentices and your tradies are having dramas and so – to be across HR stuff that changes constantly. I find MTA Queensland is a very good reference point and always very helpful and ready with the correct information.
The benefits of being a member of MTA Queensland are great, plus there is a wonderful gala dinner at the end of the year!
What advice would you give a young Mark Rowe just starting out in business in the industry?
MR: As a young person starting out, you need a good accountant, you need to get some good legal advice about a structure when you set up, and you need to join MTA Queensland – lots of great information comes from them – and become a member of Capricorn!
It’s important to be part of a network, especially if you’re a sole trader or you’ve got just one member of staff, because you can feel very alone at times, and you may think the problems are just yours.
However, when you join a network, you talk to other people who have all the same problems. So, it’s important to become a member of groups that suit what you do.
Do you own a classic car or is there something a little bit special tucked away in your garage?
MR: I do have a GTF – the last of the GT Falcons. It’s 10 years old and has 1200km on it. It doesn’t get out very often! I have no interest in selling it because it was something I always wanted – and it is just beautiful!
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (March 2025)
29 March 2025