I’m new to this so bear with me; let me introduce myself! My name is Rachel Murray; otherwise known as Paint by Rach! You might have seen me on social media. (If not, check me out on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tiktok and coming soon to YouTube.)
Here’s a little background on me. So, let’s rewind to January 2016… I passed my driving test and got use of my dad’s 2014 1.0L Citroen C1.
I thought I had the coolest car in the entire world, so much so that in the school leavers assembly I got voted ‘most likely to marry their car’. Well fast forward 3 and a half weeks and I’d binned said coolest car in the world thinking that I was either Ken Block or Colin McRae (depending on your favourite era of cars I guess).
I thought this is it; my life is finished – what is the point?! I had to phone my dad and make up an excuse – skipping past the fact that the passenger’s side wheel was in the passenger’s door… Safe to say he wasn’t impressed with my driving abilities and I think he questioned his decision to actually have a daughter at that moment!
The car was fixed at Killaughey Road Commercial Repairs, where Richard and Terry Henry worked their magic and saved my bacon. A week after I got it back, I went back to KRCR with some beer and chocolates to thank them, and whilst I was there, I thought I’d chance my arm and ask them to take me on 1 day a week on unpaid work experience. I think my actual words were ‘I don’t even care if I just brush floors, I just need experience with cars’, and so it began.
One day Ricky brought in a broken lawn mower that he’d lifted from the dump for me to fix. I stood there explaining that I knew nothing about lawn mowers, engines, or how to fix them. He just walked away laughing saying that he wasn’t helping me! I took photos as I stripped it down so that I knew where the parts went. We fixed it and I built it back up. I remember being so nervous to start it in case I’d made a mistake; everyone in the yard had come round for the moment of truth… it worked! Must be one of the proudest moments in my career even still!
I got experience in various aspects of the industry during my work experience, and I documented every bit of it with photos. Photos that I would later take into my interview at Charles Hurst Accident Repair Centre where I ended up serving my apprenticeship and got my Level 2 and Level 3 in Vehicle Refinishing. Between my work mentor, Kieran and my college tutor Davy Frizell I was well on my way to forging my career in car painting!
During my time in Charles Hurst, I was involved in some exciting projects! As a first-year apprentice I was let loose with a restoration of a TD5 Land Rover Defender 90, in my second year I was trusted to repaint Ricki’s Land Rover Defender pick-up in JLR Caesium Blue with a JLR Santorini Black roof, arches and accents. I also got to do all the prep and paint after repair on an MX-5 kit car done up to be like a Ferrari 250 GTO. This one was my favourite – seeing the customer’s reaction just made me so proud of my work!
In June 2017 I travelled to Thatcham Research to compete in the Apprentice Paint Technician competition where I was named a runner-up at the Bodyshop Awards 2017 – also a massive moment in my career!
In December 2018, after becoming a fully qualified paint technician I went free-lance and Paint by Rach was born. I spent my first year learning anything and everything I could. I arrived at my first job thinking that I was the best painter in the world (plot twist – I wasn’t). Johnny (who owns Elite Refinish) spent a long time 1-to-1 with me, helping me master the basics and build on the groundwork from my apprenticeship. It wasn’t easy – I can’t even count how many times I very nearly threw the towel in and gave up but thankfully I didn’t! I spent the entirety of 2019 learning metal work, dent pulling, hydrographics, welding, fibreglass repairs and small basic amounts of airbrushing and custom paint.
In 2020 I won Bodyshop Magazine’s 30 under 30 award! Again, a HUGE moment for me, all the work that I had put in over the years was being recognised. This put me in contact with School of Thought and I became an ambassador for them; going to schools and events, promoting careers in automotive to the next generation – something that I’m passionate about.
Skip to September 2021, I travelled to Remit Training to compete in the Senior Paint Technician awards and to my absolute shock was crowned as the Paint Technician of the Year UK at the Bodyshop Awards in April 2022.
Next, I headed to La Spezia, Italy to do some repair work to the SanLorenzo flagship superyacht, The Seven Sins. I was so fortunate to work alongside Quintin Broussard who showed me the ropes and taught me some tips and tricks on how to work in the marine industry – what an experience! I learnt so much both personally and professionally from this trip!
I then travelled to Milton Keynes in March 2022 to the Red Bull Racing MK7 facilities to support the mental health movement, [M]enable at the Talent Recharge Event hosted by AutoTech – what an event, what a venue!
This takes us up to the present; I attended Automechanika’s UK Garage Bodyshop Event in June 2022 representing Silco – I even won a spray gun from a VR painting competition! As soon as I was home, I was back on a plane heading to Monaco for the IBIS Global Summit 2022 to represent the younger generation in the industry and was a part of the IBIS interview on stage alongside Daryl Head and Ase Brekke Roe discussing just how we deal with the skills gap in our industry. Thinking about it, it’s probably one of my favourite moments in my career so far… until I did the Banger4Ben challenge with Louise Baker in October 2022 – teaming up with Automechanika Birmingham for this event was INCREDIBLE. I miss our little Royal Magenta Rover already!!
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! It was a long journey, but we got there! Hopefully after reading this, you’ll have a better understanding of my background in the industry. Stick around for all the topics I plan to cover over the coming months!
By Rachel Murrey