Community
24 June, 2026
Passing the baton
TS MCQUINN and Son will be moving onto a new chapter as owner Greg McQuinn passes the business down to his son, Stephen McQuinn, to continue on the fourth generation of running the family business.
Greg said he had been slowing down recently and knew it was time to pass on the business, and he had complete faith in Stephen to continue their legacy.
“My body’s telling me that I can’t do what I used to be able to do,” he said.
“I still enjoy working but I’ve had enough.”
Greg said he started his apprenticeship with his father in 1975 as a 16-year-old and never looked back.
“Me and my brother took over from mum and dad, I can’t remember the exact date, but it was in the early 1990s,” he said.
“We’ve had it for 30 plus years.
“My brother left in 2003 and then I did five years just on my own and then Stephen started in 2008, he started his apprenticeship.
“He’s now been working 18 years, this is his 19th year, and now it’s his turn to take it over.”
TS McQuinn and Son was started by Greg’s grandfather in 1927 in the back of a building over the road from where the current business stands.
“In 1940, dad started with him at 14 – left school and started working with his father,” Greg said.
“I reckon it was in the 1950s they moved back to where the shop is now and rented that and eventually they bought it.
“In the early 1960s they built the extension and joined it up.
“It’s always been family – when dad was running it, grandfather would still come before he died in 1969.
“When he wasn’t here, because he used to do the books, then my mother took over doing the books.”
Greg said Stephen would take over the business on July 1.
“He will totally run the work side of the business so he will look after all his own accounts and that sort of stuff,” he said.
“We’re still going to run the shop for a while but don’t know how long exactly.
“We’re taking it easier and I’ve got to get a new hip.
“Once we see how things are going and Stephen’s moving along alright, maybe in August or something I will go back to the surgeon and get a new hip.”
Greg said he always left the decision of joining the family business up to Stephen, which he took on when he started his apprenticeship at 18.
“I never forced Stephen into it–he made his decision himself, but he decided he would,” he said.
“He made his own decision to go into the family business.”
The McQuinn family have been in Cobden since 1903 and still live in the same family home to this day.
Greg said while he was stepping back, he would like to thank all the great customers he’d had over the years.
“A lot of them have become friends and it’s been great to work with a lot of people,” he said.
“In the last couple of months we’ve been doing work for a couple of gentlemen in their 90s who have had the whole four generations work for them over the years.”
Stephen said he decided now was the time to take over because his father was ready to step down and he was ready to step up.
“Dad’s ready to retire so it’s just been the natural progression,” he said.
“I’ve been back studying TAFE for the last two and a half years to be able to be fully licensed to allow me to take over.
“Probably from a very young age I did want to join the family business, there were a few years in the middle where I thought I would do something different but always came back to it and been here the whole time since.”
Stephen said the best part of working with family was the ability to be honest.
“You don’t have to worry about being judged and things like that, you can just do what you’re doing and you don’t have to worry about being embarrassed if you muck things up or if you have a question to ask,” he said.
“You don’t have to worry about asking a silly question, you can just be more open and honest.”
Stephen said he had some plans for the business moving forward and was looking forward to seeing it grow.
“I’m looking forward to growing and developing the business, modernising a few things and taking it to the next step,” he said.
“It will take the first six or 12 months to get settled, get my head around it all and get going and from there look to grow things a bit more.”
Stephen said he was proud to work for TS McQuinn and Son and to be the fourth-generation owner of the business.
“Being able to help people out and you meet some wonderful people, we’ve got some great clients that we’ve got some brilliant relationships with,” he said.
“It is satisfying to be able to overcome challenges on jobs and things like that and turn something that’s not working into something that is and building something.
“Being able to work to a really high standard is really good.”
Read More: Cobden