Haymes Paint, based in Ballarat, is the largest remaining Australian made and owned paint manufacturer and has been proudly Australian owned and operated for the past 85 years. Today the business is operated by the third generation who are passionate about supporting Australian and other family-owned businesses.

"We only sell our products through other family businesses, independent paint specialists such as Haymes Paint shops, PaintRight stores and Hammonds Paints, and independent hardware stores," director Matt Haymes said. "We cherish dealing with those family businesses. A lot of people we have known for 20 or 30 years and we are now seeing the succession in their business. We are Inextricably linked. Their success is our success."

"The past 10 years have seen the market become more challenging and foreign owned companies control the distribution network. There are no national Australian owned and operated paint manufacturers left, we're it. So we're expanding distribution right across Australia. All of our competitors are foreign owned."

Not only does walking into a Haymes Paint store (or other locally owned paint store) mean you are getting Australian made quality paint you will also be able to tap into expert advice. "It is a bit of a destination shop," Matt said. "But it's definitely worth it, as you will get a project partner to call on. They can organise a colour consultant, provide advice on the correct products and preparation if you are doing it yourself, or even coordinate a professional painter to come to your home if needed.

"And it's not just paint for walls, your Haymes paint specialist can assist with everything including the garage floor, deck, render on bricks - any surface coating, any colour, any project. Your Haymes paint specialist can be your project partner across any project. They can help people who have never done it before and they are specialists in colour. Corporate hardware just doesn't have that expertise."

This story is from Your Home 2020 magazine. Click here to read the emag online.

Not only do you get to support an Aussie business and get great service, but it's also not going to cost any extra. "People have the perception that it's cheaper to buy paint at Bunnings or other major retailers but it's not," Matt said. "If you're getting the expertise, great service and the price is comparable or less why wouldn't you support local businesses?"

Not only has COVID encouraged people to complete odd jobs around their own homes it's also given a lot of people the chance to reflect on where they spend their money and support Australian business. "I am proud to say that we made some changes at the start of COVID to see what we could use that was more local," Matt said.

When it comes to the Haymes Paint, 93 per cent of the final product is Australian sourced compared to some other companies who use paint tins and high proportions of raw materials that are made overseas. The only elements that aren't Australian in Haymes Paint cannot be sourced in Australia.

Haymes Paints employs almost 300 team members across Australia with 100 in the Ballarat region. Part of this team is the research and development team with 12 in the technical team based in Ballarat. These team members ensure paint quality is the best possible, and the products produced are at the cutting edge for both performance and environmental responsibility.

However, it's not just wall house paint being produced by the team at Haymes. "We don't take any shortcuts on quality, we produce the best paint people can buy," Matt said. "The paint business is a lot more complex now with many different surface coatings in production including woodcare products, render and texture, paint for concrete floors just to name a few."