We are very excited today to bring you news of the line-up of speakers we have confirmed for this year's Service Dealer Conference.

Taking place once again at the Oxford Belfry Hotel, Thame, Oxfordshire on Thursday 15th November 2018, the event is entitled “Insights for our industry to 2048 – Helping you to prosper over the next 30 years”. Developing from the success of last year, the organising team have decided again for this November, rather than a single keynote speech, to provide you, our specialist dealer delegates, with multiple expert speakers.

These speakers that have been chosen will offer a diverse range of insightful, fascinating and highly relevant talks. Grasscare, professional turf and agricultural machinery dealers alike will all benefit from their words of wisdom.

Service Dealer owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke said, "The theme of the conference this year is key to not just our industry, but a rapidly changing world. Our aim with our chosen presenters is to inspire delegates with useful information, tips and ideas which they can take away back to their dealerships and put into practical use."

The speakers confirmed for this year are:

Ed Gillespie - Futurist 

Ed Gillespie is a writer, communications specialist, serial entrepreneur and futurist. Ed's core talent is to take the complex, interconnected, interdependent nature of the many challenges the world faces, from climate change to disruptive innovation, and make common sense of them for non-specialist audiences.

Ed is co-founder of Futerra, a change agency that specialises in business transformation and creative communications and campaigns.

Professionally Gillespie is known for his own unique brand of authentic ‘insultancy’ – being strategically rude to clients, with judicious wit and wisdom to inspire them to greater heights and aspirations

Ed is also actively involved in a number of pioneering businesses as a Director or Investor, from Zero Carbon Food, a renewable energy powered, LED-lit, hydroponic farm in a disused underground tunnel in South London, to Loco2.com a pan European rail-ticket agency that makes it as easy to book a trans-continental train as a plane. He is also a London Sustainable Development Commissioner, advising the Mayor and the Greater London Authority on green entrepreneurship and cleantech.

Sara Hey, Bob Clements Inc (USA) 

Energetic, personable and competitive – these are just a few of the adjectives that describe Sara Hey, Vice President of Operations and Development at Bob Clements Inc (BCI).

In 2011, Sara joined the BCI team to help build social media and marketing efforts. Soon after, she began to taking on the management of special events such as GIE +EXPO and the BCI Manager Boot Camp.

Today, Sara also assists with the daily operations and product development at BCI. Working with companies in the OPE, AG and Power Sports industries, she oversees the development of customised training programs for their dealers. And, in keeping with the mission of BCI, she consistently works to create new training materials and programs that can be delivered to dealers in affordable and accessible ways.

Sara is an engaging and commanding speaker and will share proven ways to help you gain and retain exceptional employees. She has a passion for helping dealers find and hire great employees, which reduces turnover and can save a dealership thousands.

Angus Lindsay - Group Head of Assets & Fleet Management at idverde  

Angus is an experienced agricultural engineer and a well-known voice in the industry, having spent over 24 years working for national contractors and a short period in the supply side as an account manager for the IPU Group.

His current role encompasses the whole life management of assets and fleet for idverde in the UK who currently turnover £110m per annum with a workforce 2500 operating at sites from the Isle of Wight to Inverness.

Angus will be giving us his insight into what he looks for from a groundscare dealership and how a dealership can help him.

James Price – Farmer, Perdiswell Farm  

James Price is an arable farmer from the edge of the Cotswolds who is pursuing his passion to increase the profitability of his business through implementing precision technology and improving soil health. Since taking full control of the business in 2005 James has completely changed both the machinery line up and also the cultivation strategy and it continues to evolve year by year. The business works with a range of local dealers and has extended warranties on some machines, however at the same time the fully equipped workshop enables in house servicing and repairs to be carried out. The one full time member of staff is a fully trained machinist and he brings a unique set of fabrication skills to the day to day operations.

Through benchmarking with other local business’s a keen eye is kept on costs. One of the key areas identified is fixed costs and in particular machinery depreciation and repairs. By identifying where savings can be made the machinery policy is fluid and there is no huge loyalty to any brand. At the same time all machinery is kept up to date and the ethos of being over equipped for the acreage is born out by the ability to farm with minimal staff but to still keep increasing yields year on year.

Pete Harding, PFW Associates  

Pete recently founded PFW Associates which is a consultancy business focusing on his passion and experience in aftersales people and process, cash flow and profitability.
Pete has spent 28 years working within agricultural and automotive environments as a service technician and a service manager, in both a dealership environment and most recently a manufacture role. He has also worked for AGCO in the UK and has built a team in European aftersales development roles.

He uses his experience as a technician and service manager to help develop aftersales people and processes using logical financial analysis. He combines this with process audits to develop a structured measurable plan of action to increase margins, profitability, cashflow and ultimately customer service.

You can find out more about the Service Dealer Conference, as well as the Dealer Of The Year Awards, by visiting our website.

First, heartiest congratulations to Pat Smith on his appointment to take over from Andrew Watson at CNH. Whilst not quite on the level of a senior Minister crossing the floor, or Liverpool once again raiding Southampton’s squad, the announcement is a huge endorsement on the level of professionalism that now pervades the UK dealer network.

I am obviously not privy to the process nor circumstances that led to Pat’s new appointment, but it also reflects extremely well on the way that many dealers, and in this case T H White, nurture, encourage and train their staff in managerial expertise. No longer are dealers mere ‘order-takers’.

I think it also reflects the ongoing shift in relationship between manufacturer and dealer. Rarely now ‘them and us’, but partners in an ongoing crusade to provide the best possible service (in all its meanings) to customers. I like to believe that today, manufacturers understand dealers mentality much better than in the past - and vice-versa.

Of course, there are still fundamental differences. Shareholder pressures often influence the actions of multi-national suppliers (sometimes to the detriment of dealers), whilst dealers are still largely family units, their ‘shareholder-base’ very much closer to home, their priorities vastly different.

There have been many instances in the past of manufacturer staff joining a dealer and learning at first hand what it is like at the ‘sharp-end’, and likewise dealers going in the other direction having to adapt to very different set of priorities. Some have been highly successful, others less so.

I cannot recall however an instance of a dealer with 30 years under his belt in a senior role, taking up a top job with an major international company, which makes Pat Smith’s appointment so unusual, remarkable and satisfying.

There will be testing times ahead for him given his long allegiance with one of CNH’s longest standing dealers. His relationship with other CNH dealers will be interesting - and I cannot wait for the reactions when T H White are once again in the running for CNH Dealer of the Year!

But that's for the future, for the moment let's rejoice in the fact that one of the industry's largest corporations have raided their dealer network to find the expertise they required. Hats off to Pat, to T H White and to the dealer family as a whole.

Today sees the start of two regional radio test campaigns to promote the dealers who have signed up to the Garden Trader site.

The two and three week test campaigns consist of 20 and 10 second spot lengths and will take place in the West Midlands through Sunshine Radio and in North West Yorkshire through Stray FM.

Last month Garden Trader owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke announced that all revenue received will be reinvested into the site and used for promoting the dealers.

Duncan commented, “Current site traffic levels are hitting 50,000 impressions per month mainly through PPC, social media boosting and organic growth. We wanted to test radio as we know that this can be an effective medium for promoting dealers. The two regions chosen have a fair demographic as well as a good population of Garden Trader listed dealers. What’s more the ads that are running are no nonsense and straight to the point about using a skilled dealer for a product purchase or service.”

Listen to the ad by clicking below:

Garden Trader now has 185 subscribed dealers nationally with more joining every week. Duncan added, “Garden Trader is there to promote our skilled dealer base in the UK and we have more announcements to make in the coming weeks which will clearly demonstrate our commitment to the dealers who have subscribed.”

Pat Smith has joined New Holland as Business Director UK & ROI upon the retirement of Andrew Watson, after 31 years with the company.

Pat joined from T H White Ltd, one of New Holland’s leading dealers, where he worked for the past 34 years. His most recent position at T H White was Divisional Director, looking after Agriculture and Construction, based in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Pat will oversee sales, marketing and service for the New Holland brand in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Pat said, “I’m looking forward to the challenge of this new role and I’m lucky to be working with a great team of people both here at New Holland and throughout our dealer network. We, along with our dealers will continue to build and invest in the brand to make the customer experience even better, we have already had a successful dealer meeting where we outlined our strategy and vision”.

A dealer meeting was held in Basildon on Monday 18th June (pictured below) to welcome Pat in his new role and introduce him to the whole dealer network. Dealer principals attended, along with all New Holland UK staff, the Vice President of New Holland EMEA Alessandro Maritano and the Brand President Carlo Lambro.

Farm and groundscare tractor distributor AgriArgo UK & Ireland has expanded its management team with the appointment of Ben Agar as Sales Director.

Ben Agar

He joins the company based in Harworth, South Yorkshire from the UK office of a French manufacturer of light construction machinery. But before that he worked for 20 years at a global farm equipment company, half of which was spent in area sales and national marketing roles within the UK.

Ray Spinks, AgriArgo managing director, said: “Ben comes to us with a great deal of valuable experience working across multiple farm equipment brands. He brings a fresh pair of eyes to the challenges we face in selling our products in an intensely competitive market.”

AgriArgo is the distributor of Landini and McCormick farm tractors in the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying the machines to farmers, contractors and other rural enterprises through a network of independent local dealers.

The company’s dealers also handle Valpadana turf and groundscare four-wheel drive tractors, with all products supported by a technical services team and a parts operation that holds several million pounds worth of replacement parts to support dealers’ own stock.

Ben Agar said of his appointment, “Although I enjoyed the stimulus of working in the construction equipment market, which was new territory for me, my heart remains in agriculture and I’m genuinely excited at getting stuck into the farm machinery scene once more.

“My impression is that today’s modern Landini and McCormick tractors are underestimated in some respects; their features, performance, build quality and reliability are up there with the best, so I’m looking forward to working with AgriArgo’s dealers and area sales managers to bring these very positive characteristics to the attention of end users.”

The Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) have grant funding available from the Department for International Trade (DIT) for the Golf Industry Show (GIS) 2019 which takes place on the 6th and 7th February 2019 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

The Golf Industry Show is the world’s largest golf course and facility management event and attracts attendees from 63 different countries including golf course superintendents, owners, chief operating officers, architects and builders, equipment managers, and distributors.

The AEA have grants of £2000 available for UK SMEs to exhibit at GIS 2019 and while there are still grant available, the uptake has been fantastic so companies are urged to act swiftly if they are interested.

If you would like more information on the grants available for GIS 2019 contact Kayleigh Holden. Email kayleigh.holden@aea.uk.com or Telephone: 01733 207603.

Magic Distribution showed off the Ambrogio L400 series autonomous mower at the The Lincolnshire Show last week - which they describe as being suitable for commercial usage and "the largest capacity autonomous lawnmower on the UK market".

Ambrogio L400 at the Lincolnshire Show

Offering coverage of 30,000m2 (7.5 acres) and the option to operate without a perimeter wire, the machine had never been seen in the UK before.

Described as being suitable for those with extensive grounds, sports pitches, playing fields, golf courses, schools, turf farms, parks and other very large areas of grass to maintain, it features three independently floating cutter arms, which give a cutting width of 84cm.

With three models in the L400 range, the company says the machines feature advanced cutting and navigation systems and a continuous cutting cycle of 11 hours. Full GPS connectivity means the mowers can run off a combination of perimeter wire and GPS navigation or on the top of the range model, GPS navigation only, with a localised beacon giving accuracy up to 1cm. This means there’s no need to install a perimeter wire.

John Hall, managing director at Magic Distribution, said, “The Ambrogio range has already brought enhanced mowing performance and unique features to the domestic market and the addition of the L400 will enable landowners, groundsmen and landscapers to also take advantage of the technology on offer. The L400 is such a leap forward in terms of what’s on offer in the autonomous mowing sector and we think it’s a really exciting proposition.”

The Groundcare Division of Thomas Sherriff, based in East Lothian and with a further six branches has now become an official GKB Machines dealer, taking delivery of the first three machines, a Combiseeder, Sandfilller and SP100 Sandspreader.

L-R: Jan Willem Kraaijeveld GKB Machines bv; Tom Hobbis sales representative, Thomas Sherriff; Tom Shinkins, GKB Machines Operations Manager and Richard Scott, Groundcare Manager, Thomas Sherriff

“When we met GKB they came across as a forward-thinking company,” says Thomas Sherriff’s Groundcare Manager, Richard Scott, “and with a background in contracting and maintenance they have an exceptional insight into what groundsmen and greenkeepers need from products for maintaining sports turf and golf courses.”

Thomas Sherriff arranged with GKB’s Operations Manager, Tom Shinkins, a series of product demonstrations for customers locally where the three machines were put through their paces.

“Seeing the machines in action the results were obvious and the quality exceptional,” says Richard. “From the day Tom came and met us we have all got on well and he’s always there with support should we need it. We’re very pleased to be selling the product as GKB dealers.”

Thomas Sherriff Groundcare Division covers the Lothian’s & Borders regions.

Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) have announced that their 2018 conference will focus on knowledge exchange in agricultural engineering.

The conference will take place at the Royal Academy of Engineering, Prince Carlton House, London SW1Y 5DG on Tuesday 6 November 2018

IAgrE say successful collaboration between industry and research institutions is crucial to bring new technologies and innovations into the agricultural supply chain. This conference will explore positive engineering partnerships between industry, research and academia.

The Institution says the conference is for everyone interested in bringing new technologies and innovative know-how into the agricultural supply chain.

Delegates will find out about:

• new technological developments in modern agricultural engineering and AgriTech
• the challenges of knowledge exchange and industry/university partnerships
• knowledge exchange best practice
• what you need to consider for successful collaboration

Delegates can take part in short elevator pitches to spark others’ interest in a project, idea, technology or product, hopefully leading to collaborative partnerships.

Professor Jane Rickson, President Elect of IAgrE will chair the conference. “Linking industry needs with research ‘know-how’ is at the heart of UK agriculture meeting its productivity potential. The aim of the conference is to share ‘best practice’ in effective knowledge exchange in agricultural engineering, delivering tangible benefits for both agribusinesses and research partners,” said Professor Rickson.

The line-up of speakers will include:

• Dr Susannah Bolton Knowledge Exchange Director of the Agricultural and Horticulture Development Board
• Keith Norman Technical Director at Velcourt
• Professor Keith Ridgway CBE Executive Dean of the AMRC Group

Short presentations from a number of current industry and research collaborations where Knowledge Exchange has led to a successful outcome are from:

• Harper Adams University/Precision Decisions – Hands-free Hectare
• Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology/Tesco’s ‘Smart Refrigeration’
• Cranfield University – ‘Strip Tillage- in partnership with Frontier Ag Ltd

Full details of the conference can be found here

STIHL GB have announced the keynote speaker for their 40th Anniversary Dealer Conference & Awards which takes place at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre on Thursday October 18th 2018.

Speaking at the conference will be Hamish Taylor, renowned global advisor to some of the world’s largest companies.

Former CEO of both Eurostar and Sainsbury’s Bank, Hamish has an award winning record of driving innovation and change in a wide range of business environments and is in demand all over the world as an inspirational speaker.

In a statement a spokesperson for STIHL said, "We can’t think of anyone better to be there on the day as we contemplate our plans for further growth and profitability, and get to grips with the issues affecting our industry."

Bobcat has announced details of the 2018 Bobcat Customer Roadshow programme in the UK due to take place at various locations in England and Scotland in the first half of July 2018.

New E26 mini-excavator

The company says the events are an opportunity for existing and prospective customers to experience first-hand in their area the latest products in the Bobcat range of compact loaders, compact excavators, telehandlers and attachments.

One of the main themes of the Roadshow events is a focus on the range of compact tracked loaders and the landscaping / groundcare market using a wide variety of Bobcat attachments on these machines.

Bobcat say this will be illustrated by the T450 compact track loader and MT55 mini track loader working with a number of attachments for these applications. The Roadshow will also offer many visitors their first look at the new E26 mini-excavator, one of five models in the new R-Series 2-4 tonne excavator range.

The T450, MT55 and E26 will be complemented at the events with a wide range of other Bobcat machines and attachments provided by the company and the local dealer.

Visitors can see all of the products being put through their paces by skilled demonstrators, before they can try the products out for themselves in true working conditions. The range of machines and attachments available will allow visitors to carry out digging, landscaping, loading, carrying, levelling, cleaning up and many other applications.

The Roadshow events will run from 10 am to 4 pm each day - anyone interested in attending should contact the dealer organising the event in their area.

The dates, venues, dealer hosts and contact numbers for the 2018 Bobcat UK Roadshow are:

• 5th July 2018 – Peach Croft Farm, Radley, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 2HP – TVE Plant Sales Ltd - Tel 01235 523070
• 10th July 2018 – Haydock Park Racecourse, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside WA12 0HQ – Norwest Plant Ltd - Tel 01942 629550
• 11th July 2018 – 5 St Helens Way, St Helens, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 9AD - Lloyd Ltd Tel 01388 660300
• 12th July 2018 – SRUC Oatridge Campus, Ecclesmachan, Broxburn, West Lothian EH52 6NH, Scotland - John H McNae Ltd - Tel 01292 541920

Due to the addition of Major new Dealerships, our Essex based company has an opening for a Skilled Technician within our Service Division.

We are a Distributor for Industrial Petrol & Diesel Engines, Transmissions & Parts to the Trade & Original Equipment Manufacturers.

The successful candidate will be an extremely self-driven, physically fit & energetic individual with a proactive and positive attitude. Applicants should possess a high level of previous experience with Petrol & Diesel engines, although full training will be given on our exact range of Engines & Transmissions; a degree of computer literacy & telephone manner will also be beneficial.

Our Engine Dealerships are: Briggs & Stratton, Hatz, Honda, Kohler, Kubota, Lombardini, Yanmar

Our Transmission Dealerships are: HydroGear, Peerless, Tuff Torq

As well as working out of our Great Dunmow base, the role will also include travelling in our company vehicles across the UK for Service/Warranty call-outs.

The position offers an attractive salary, private medical insurance & company pension scheme.

If you feel that this position is right for you, please email a CV and covering letter to tricia@uni-power.co.uk ; or send via post to Uni-power Ltd, Attn: Tricia Paveley, Unit 8 Flitch Industrial Estate, Great Dunmow, Essex CM6 1XJ

Tel: 01371 875331
www.uni-power.co.uk

Grizzly Tools returned to BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC, Birmingham in June 2018. With record breaking visitor numbers and an action packed schedule of entertainment and informative discussions, there was plenty to see and do for both keen gardeners and those just enjoying a lovely day out!

Grizzly see the event as a fantastic platform for customers to see and feel their extensive range of garden power tools on display and are always more than happy to help customers with the information necessary for them to decide between the technology that’s available to them in this modern day. The Grizzly staff also enjoy regular visits from their loyal customers complementing the Grizzly tools that they have already purchased.

Once again, the sales of battery powered garden products lead the way this year and by an even bigger margin! The tide is well and truly turning with the battery powered products now being a firm customer favourite, particularly in the hedge and grass trimmer product range. Whilst the battery powered lawn mowers are becoming more popular, the growth in them is yet to match the levels seen in other products.

Grizzly offer a full suite of battery garden products including three ranges of battery power; 18V, 24V and 40V covering both the light domestic market to the more heavy duty equipment. To see the full range of Grizzly garden tools or for more information visit www.grizzlytools.co.uk

Grizzly has a three-year warranty as standard, products can be supplied with merchandise packages for demonstration in your showroom and payment options are available for dealers. #GetGrizzly and see the difference!

Celebrating 20 years of trading throughout Europe, Grizzly have an exceptional offering for 2018. Grizzly manufacture quality garden power tools, trusted by tradesmen and home gardeners alike. If you’d like to speak to Grizzly about their range of products, please call on 0845 683 2670 or email sales@grizzlytools.co.uk

Garden Trader is a product and dealer search website/directory only for specialist garden machinery dealers in the UK. It has been designed to support and promote our dealer industry to consumers who are specifically searching for garden machinery products and services.

It costs just £95 + VAT per year to be listed and all revenues this year will be reinvested into promoting the site online.

Join the country’s only independent specialist website, created by the team that bring you Service Dealer. Join our 180+ subscribed Garden Trader dealers now by clicking on “Register Dealership”.

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