Our CEO: Andre Borell Interview

Home // Our CEO: Andre Borell Interview

We’ve decided to post an interview with our Founder and CEO, Andre Borell.  Andre is 27 years old, and has been around business and the electrical industry for most of his life. He was helping his electrician father, Walter Borell, on-site by the time he was 12 years old, and was working in the family business (Extreme Safety – an electrical safety wholesaler) by the age of 15

Whilst working in the family business, Andre completed a Bachelor of Business Management at The University of Queensland. Andre then joined Extreme Safety full-time and in four years helped transform the company from a two-person operation run by his Mum and Dad into a company that employed nine staff and turned over more than $2 million annually. Andre then helped broker the sale of the business to Legend Corporation/CABAC in 2011 to allow his parents to retire.

What made you decide to start Mobile Test n Cal?

“I can honestly say that I did not start this company with profits or riches in mind. I started it because the industry was not being serviced properly, and that annoyed me. It was amazing to me that no one had come up with a good way to service this industry for this service. I wanted to build, to create, something impressive and something I could be proud of. I wanted a really nice van design, inside and out, I wanted easy and fast to use technology, I wanted a tech to be able to set up quickly and easily so he could get on with the job. I wanted to make the service better, and build something impressive. I wanted it to be a good product, for both for our staff to use, and for our customers to be serviced by. Why? Because just OK irritates me, we want to be impressive.”

What has been the key factor in the growth of Mobile Test n Cal?

“Without question, our high level of customer focus. Some other companies offering testing and calibration services seem to almost treat their customers with distain. They are treated as an inconvenience. We could not have a more different mindset.  Customers are everything to us. Without them, we don’t exist. We value each customers business, no matter how big or small they are. We try and bend over backwards to deliver the best service and customer experience in the industry. We aren’t perfect, but we try very hard to be.”

Where do you see Mobile Test n Cal in 5 years?

“I see us continuing to improve our service and our range of services offered – to make us even better to deal with than we are now. I see us servicing every state and territory in Australia with multiple vans and labs in each state. I see us with a few vans in New Zealand, but the big aim for me is to take our service to the USA and Europe. I hope in 5 years we have a strong presence in the US, and also in the UK, Germany and potentially other European countries. I say the UK as it is an English speaking country, which makes expansion easier, and I say Germany specifically as I can speak fluently thanks to my parents teaching me at a young age.”

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