It was a full-circle moment for Towers Automotive owner Aaron Stibbs and his wife Kelly in December 2020.

Tony Ireland Charters Towers (formerly Peters Motors) was opened as a General Motors franchise back in 1967 by Ron Peters. Sons Malcolm and Campbell Peters were both working at Peters Motors when Aaron commenced his apprenticeship with the company in 1995 (not long after Aaron and Kelly started dating!).

With the Holden dealership's decision to close its Charters Towers workshop in December, largely due to rural communities struggling to find qualified staff, fourth-year apprentice mechanics Jack Rodighiero and first-year apprentice Amy Smith were left out of work.

Aaron has always maintained a good working relationship with the Team at Tony Ireland, so when business manager Jay Paterson advised us of the workshop closure, we jumped at the chance to help two apprentices complete their training, with the photo below being taken on Holden's last day of trading in Charters Towers for over half a century on 4th December 2020.

Pictured left to right: Campbell Peters, Aaron Stibbs, Amy Smith, Jack Rodighiero, Jay Paterson and Malcolm Peters.