February will be a bitter sweet month for Andrew Yiasemides.
He will celebrate two life milestones – his 70th birthday and the end of his career, as he prepares to take his foot off the gas at work for the last time.
His long-time business, a prominent petrol station on Bay Street at Brighton-Le-Sands is being taken over by developers, who bought the lot to build residential units.
Years of experience will wrap up on February 3, on the last day of trade, with the official hand-over on February 4.
The Sans Souci mechanic and workshop manager has steered the station for 46 years.
Industry changes have been aplenty, with the station petrol being supplied by Mobil for many years, followed by Prime, and most recently, part of the Budget group. It was one of the last petrol stations in Australia to stop drive way service. In those days Andrew would fill up the tanks in a smart suit and tie.
Born in Cyprus, he migrated to Australia in his 20s with his uncle. He began working seven days a week, from 6am-midnight, and to this day has worked a full week. Although now he enjoys a 9pm finish.
He has seen celebrities roll through to fill up their tanks, including chef Neil Perry, singer Guy Sebastian, Sophie Monk, and going back further, the one and only Don Lane.
“I’m a little upset and stressed after being here since 1976,” Andrew said.
“My best memory is August 23 when I bought it as a single male before I got married. I had no parents here. Doing this work has been an extremely good memory for me.”
Times changed since the early days, but what remained was customer connection.
“When I started here petrol was 44 cents a gallon. The biggest change I’ve seen is the growth of the Novotel. Now there are also more headaches, with all these electric cars. It was once simple work.
“I will miss my customers, many have been with me through three generations.”
Mr Yiasemides’s children George, Eleni and Maria, and wife Poppy, have all worked alongside him over the years.
His son George is a mechanic in the workshop.
“I was about 10 when I started working in the school holidays, with my sisters, mainly behind the counter so dad could run the workshop,” George said. “I like the atmosphere of being outdoors and talking to people.”
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically affected business, with a drop of about 50 per cent in petrol sales. But the workshop thrived.
Although it is the end of an era for Andrew, he looks forward to spending time with his grandchildren and travelling.
Extracted from The Leader