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After 21 years, the couple behind Graham Edwards Crash Repairs is still going strong

Sharon and Warren Pratt are the second generation to run their family business.

Peri Strathearn

May 19, 2020 — 2 min read

This sponsored post is brought to you by Graham Edwards Crash Repairs.

Some matches are made in heaven, but this one was made in a crash repair shop.

Sharon Pratt chuckles as she remembers meeting her husband Warren in the early 1980s – she was the office secretary who had started with Schubert Crash Repairs at age 16, and he the apprentice panel beater.

"Marry the boss' daughter and you'll be right for life," she quips.

Her dad, Graham Edwards, was then a partner in Max Schubert's Murray Bridge business.

In 1984 he and his wife Maureen took over and gave it his name, and it has remained in the family ever since.

Sharon and Warren took charge in 1999, after Warren returned from furthering his knowledge in panel beating and towing in Adelaide and the Hills.

Their son Thomas now drives trucks for an affiliated business, Pratt Towing, after Warren saw a need for a heavy towing tilt tray in the area.

The family's commitment to dependability is still paying off, even as the Pratts celebrate 21 years at the helm this month.

"We've had customers that have stayed here from when Dad had it," Sharon says.

"We have some customers that were with the original owners ... they have come from Max to Dad to us.

"There wouldn't be too many businesses that have had only three owners in 68 years, and two in the one family."

Running a towing and crash repair business is a 24/7 job, Sharon says, but a satisfying one, with reveals as dramatic as any reality TV show.

"Customers come in, look at their vehicle and go 'how did you fix that?'" she says with a grin.

"They see what they drove in with and say 'this is never going to be the same'.

"Then when the job is done they say 'I can't work out how you've done what you've done', and they go and recommend us to others.

"It's good when someone tells you you've done a good job and they thank you."

Pratt Towing has come to the rescue of many a farmer, truckie and boatie since 2010, from the Adelaide Hills to the border, up the river and down the Dukes.

So when you need help after a crash or breakdown, there's only one name you need to remember: go to Graham Edwards.