Most people buying a caravan, a new car or a boat are sold protection in the final ten minutes of a deal they have already emotionally committed to. It arrives as a line item, a laminated brochure and a promise. Very few buyers walk away understanding what was actually applied to their asset, what it does, who stands behind it, or what happens if something goes wrong three years later.
That gap is the reason Protect Group exists.
The first strategic decision was the most important one: what goes in the bottle.
Protect Group began its journey in partnership with ThreeBond, a globally recognised chemical manufacturer with a long established presence in automotive and industrial applications worldwide. That partnership was chosen deliberately over the alternative available to every new entrant, which is to buy white label product, apply a logo and hope nobody asks technical questions.
ThreeBond gives Protect Group something that cannot be manufactured through marketing spend: genuine manufacturer backing, technical data sheets, formulation expertise and a name that dealer principals and OEM procurement teams already recognise. When a dealership asks who stands behind the product, the answer is not a brand invented last year. It is a global chemical company with decades of trading history.
For consumers, that translates into something more practical. The product applied to your caravan or vehicle has a documented specification, a defined performance profile and a manufacturer behind it.
Protect Group is a genuine family business, and the two founders bring very different strengths to it.
Melissa Rae spent more than fifteen years in the beauty industry, including building her own successful nail business, which she continues to run alongside Protect Group. That background matters more than it might first appear. Fifteen years of hands on client work in a finish driven, detail obsessed industry produces exactly the standards that premium protection work demands. Within Protect Group, Melissa leads the operational side of the business. She manages the staff, runs the warehouse team and heads up social media. She is known for her organisation, and by broad internal agreement, for keeping Conor pointed in the right direction.
Conor Rae brings more than ten years in sales, with a specialisation in customer excellence and sales training. He leads sales, production ordering, product development, stakeholder relationships and accounts. Much of Protect Group’s dealer training program comes directly from that background, built on the view that a dealership salesperson who genuinely understands the product will always outperform one working from a script. There is a third member of the team who has been on the road since day one. Melissa and Conor’s son, Brooklyn, has become a familiar face at caravan shows around the country, and has probably shaken more dealer hands than most sales representatives manage in a year.
Six months into trading, the numbers tell the story better than any positioning statement.
More than 500 caravan protection packages have been sold. The dealer network has grown to more than 30 dealerships. Three manufacturers have partnered with Protect Group at a factory level. Contracts have been secured across the automotive, caravan and marine sectors. The team has grown to more than 17 people across employees and contractors, delivering service nationally.
None of that happened because Protect Group was the cheapest option available. It happened because dealerships were looking for a protection partner who would turn up, train their staff properly, deliver consistent workmanship and give their customers documentation that actually made sense.
The most recent addition to the business is the exclusive Australian and New Zealand distribution rights for NAR PPF, a paint protection film range covering both vehicle paint protection and window film applications.It would be poor form to set out that list and then avoid it, so here are our answers in short.
That appointment does two things. It gives Protect Group control over a second premium product category rather than reselling somebody else’s film at whatever margin they allow. And it lets dealers and installers source coatings, film and corrosion protection from a single accountable supplier, with one point of contact, one training standard and one guarantee framework.
Alongside ThreeBond coatings and ThreeRuster corrosion protection, Protect Group now covers the full protection stack across automotive, caravan and RV, marine, fleet and OEM applications.
Six months is not a long trading history, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What it has proven is the demand.
The plan from here is deliberately unglamorous. Deepen the dealer network rather than simply widening it. Keep investing in applicator training so that the standard in Perth is identical to the standard in Brisbane. Continue building the technical and compliance documentation that lets an OEM procurement team say yes with confidence. Grow the manufacturer partnerships already in progress.
The objective has not changed since those first seven weeks. Build the protection company that dealerships, manufacturers and consumers trust because it earns that trust with evidence rather than claims.
If you are a dealership, a manufacturer or a fleet operator looking for a protection partner who will do the work properly, we would be glad to talk.
Protect Group Australia and New Zealand was founded in 2026 by husband and wife team Melissa and Conor Rae.
Protect Group is based in Perth, Western Australia, and delivers service nationally across Australia and New Zealand.
Protect Group is the exclusive Australian and New Zealand distributor of ThreeBond protective coatings and NAR PPF paint protection film and window film. The range also includes ThreeRuster corrosion protection, dash cameras and aftercare products.
Yes. Protect Group runs dealer protection programs across automotive, caravan and RV, marine and fleet, including staff training, marketing support and national service delivery. More than 30 dealerships are currently part of the network.
Yes. Protect Group holds Australian and New Zealand distribution rights for both ThreeBond and NAR PPF.
