Ferhat Akkaya is the founder and proud owner of the Papineau Collision Centre, a car repair and maintenance garage. Before setting out on his own, Ferhat, who is a Montrealer, had worked in the restaurant business while he was a student. Even then, the idea of opening a garage was well anchored in his mind and in 2005, he took a course in car mechanics.
"I've always been in love with cars and I knew that one day I would work in this field," he says. Ferhat decided to leave the food industry to work as a mechanic in various garages to gain experience and know-how to start and run his own business. "My father had a business sense," explains Ferhat. "He had always been an owner and had taught me this go-getter entrepreneurial side of business at an early age." On April 30, 2013, Ferhat shifted gears by launching the Papineau Collision Centre.
