I was saddened to hear about Hanlon Machinery loosing its John Deere dealership. The surprise announcement was made by the County Louth dealer on July 13. Hanlon Machinery have been John Deere dealers since Michael Hanlon founded the business 42 years ago in 1981. The franchise with John Deere will come to an end on 31 October 2023.

Michael issued a statement to his customers saying “We have been advised we will no longer be part of the John Deere family and our 42-year John Deere franchise will end 31 October 2023”. Michael and his staff are still shocked of the sudden announcement.

A spokesperson from John Deere told Service Dealer Ireland that they cannot comment on individual dealer arrangements as it is John Deere’s policy not to. It remains to be seen what dealer will serve Hanlon Machinery’s customer area. Earlier this year, Johnston Gilpin & Co Ltd’s John Deere dealership of 54 years in County Antrim was acquired by County Derry based dealer Stephen W Moore. 

This dealership structure by John Deere is happening worldwide. The reduction of John Deere dealerships, is part of their ‘Dealer of Tomorrow’ strategy, which sees a global consolidation of their dealer networks.

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Looking towards Europe, CEMA, the European Agricultural Machinery Association, recently released their July market trend of tractor sales for Europe. It reports that business has reached recession. The trend is continuing to drop and, for the first time since September 2020, the trend is in negative territory. CEMA use an index scale of -100 to +100 and the July trend is at -7 (from +1 the previous month). Their statistics are taken from nine European countries, which doesn’t include Ireland, as we are not members of CEMA. Here is an excerpt from the report which states the reasons for the drop in trend. 

“While the manufacturers' supply side has eased further, uncertainties with regard to the market side continue to increase. The direct customers of the manufacturers - the dealers, are apparently not able to pass on their numerous orders to the end customers and have thus slid directly from undersupply to record-high oversupply. According to the survey, the dealer stocks are now in many European markets already higher than in the year 2019, which went down in history due to high dealer stock levels. Consequently, the current order intake of manufacturers is dropping significantly, especially from Europe, and industry representatives have further downgraded their future expectations.”

The trend in Ireland, however, is the complete opposite. Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that 1438 new tractors were licensed during the first six months of 2023. This compares to 1307 for the same period in 2022, resulting in a 10% increase.

The sale of second hand tractors from January to June this year is also up, showing a figure of 1385. This compares to 1246 for the same period in 2022, which is also a 10% increase.

Looking to the future, how will the 2024 figures compare? Sentiment in Europe seems to be pessimistic. As for Ireland, it will take a brave person to predict what will happen.

Service Dealer has announced that the keynote address at November's Conference will be delivered by Daryl Fielding, a branding expert whose career has included leading global strategies for food brands such as Kraft, Cadbury and Trident.

Daryl Fielding

Daryl was also part of the team that famously launched the Dove real beauty campaign – taking the brand to a new and modern audience.

The former brand director of Vodafone UK will be sharing how bringing a brand to life, is as much about its people and good leadership as it is about the end product. During her keynote, delegates will discover how to make their brand stand out from the crowd – and how their people can be part of that process. 

Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray Clarke said, “We are delighted to confirm Daryl Fielding as our keynote this year. Daryl brings a wealth of brand experience at the highest level with a message relevant to all. She will explain how a brand is now far more than just look, feel and messaging”.  

Taking place on Thursday 30th November 2023 at the Crowne Plaza, Stratford upon Avon, the theme for this year's event is Taking Care of Business.

Service Dealer are delighted to announce that Krone will be joining our Conference & Awards, as a Silver Sponsor - and Catalyst as a Network Sponsor.

This year's theme has been announced as Taking Care Of Business and a new venue, the Crowne Plaza at Stratford-Upon-Avon will take on hosting duties - with the date to mark up in your diaries being 30th November 2023. 

Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke  said, "It is such great news that Krone will be joining us for the first time at our event in November. We know we share an ethos of supporting a strong, independent dealer network."

Marcus Oliver, Krone UK MD said, "‘Here at Krone UK we are thrilled to be sponsoring the Service Dealer Conference & Awards 2023. Supporting dealers is extremely important to us, and we are proud to do so by providing award winning, efficient, and reliable machinery, as well as supporting and sponsoring events such as this.

"It promises to be a great conference where we can continue to build strong relationships and support our industry."

Duncan Murray-Clarke added, "We are also so pleased to welcome our friends from Catalyst to the conference again this year. We know it's going to be fabulous day for all our dealer delegates."

James Buchanan, sales director for Catalyst said, "We love taking the time to meet with like-minded business leaders and find this conference to be the perfect place to do that within our industry."

Look out for further announcements, including confirmation of seminar and breakout sessions, soon.

With over 80 percent of floor space taken at SALTEX 2023, and available space up by 20 percent compared to the 2022 show, organisers are promising more exhibitors in one place than ever before and one of their biggest shows yet.

Sarah Cunningham, director of commercial and events at the Grounds Management Association, SALTEX event organisers, says, “Exhibitors are the heart of any show and SALTEX has always attracted a good mix of new and returning, young and established, small and big companies. 

“The reason for that is, they know the visitors will come. And yes, the quantity will be there as it always is, over 8000 visitors last year, but the quality is too. Research has proved that the decision makers attend.”

Two of the latest new exhibitor signings for example, are from overseas. Joining over 20 international exhibitors already signed up to the show, Grupo Sanz is a Spanish-based power tool distributor whilst Monty Miracle meanwhile, sells a patented cleaning product for outdoor spaces.

SALTEX takes place at Birmingham NEC on 1-2 November 2023. 

The Gammies Live demonstration event is set to return this August.

The dealership say they are inviting their manufacturers along to showcase their products, provide demonstrations, and this year, host talks.

Sophie Elder of Gammies said, "We have over 25 different brands who will be in attendance and a variety of machinery from different industries such as groundcare, farming, forestry, construction, and more.
 
"The talks we are hosting are educational talks focusing on innovation and are provided by our manufacturers, they will cover topics such as GPS, professional battery products, asset management, and robotics.
 
"Our event is designed for professionals and specialists in the industry and we invite a range of individuals from councils and businesses to come along and experience the equipment firsthand, and speak to the specialists."
 
Gammies Live is being held on the 23rd of August between 9.30 am - 7 pm at Edzell Base, Brechin, Scotland, DD97XH

A 41-strong team of John Deere employees has completed its 1,000-Mile Challenge in style, smashing through its distance and fundraising targets in the process. 

The 41-strong John Deere team which completed the 1,000-mile challenge

The group took on the Peak District Ultra Challenge on Saturday 8 July, choosing to navigate either 50km in 24 hours, or 100km in 34 hours. In doing so, team John Deere managed to collectively cover more than 1,400 miles. 

Generous sponsorship has seen more than £11,500 pledged to Cancer Research UK in the process. 

“Cancer Research UK does really important work which touches the lives of so many, and it is our chosen charity for 2023,” said Chris Meacock, John Deere division sales manager for Golf and Turf.
 
“We wanted to find something to suit varying fitness levels to encourage more participation, in turn helping to raise as much money as possible. We achieved both and a highly enthused team set about the challenge.”

Five brave souls completed 100km with 36 covering 50km, and collectively the team far exceeded the 1,000-miles target.

Some of the team completed the 100km course

“It was not easy, but the team was spurred on by the cause,” Chris said. “The event organisation was superb, and our team was looked after fabulously, with food, water, and feet patched up as required. 

“From the company’s point of view the challenge has generated fantastic positive energy and strengthened relationships. The whole team is delighted to have completed the distance and raised a huge amount of money for a thoroughly worthwhile charity.” 

Donations can still be made at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/johndeere1000milechallenge

Never get bogged down cutting dense grass again. The brushless motor spins the blade with a monster torque of 9.5 Nm for optimal cutting efficiency.

And with high vacuum levels and spiral tunnel design, bagging and mulching capabilities are on par with commercial petrol-powered walk-behind mowers. Go green without compromising on performance.

The Kress Commercial line of tools for turf care professional and landscapers has been designed from the ground up to withstand the unprecedented power delivered by the 8-Minute CyberPack batteries.

Powered by a 1.6kW motor, the KC711.9 delivers 9.5Nm torque easily rivalling petrol machines of an equivalent size. The 51cm reinforced steel deck, heavy duty composite wheel, all rubber tyres and sealed ball bearing construction will provide a long service life.

The mower has an intuitive LED control panel, which is also found on the other machines in the Commercial range. This makes varying the self-propelled speed and turning the machine on and off a simple experience.

The system also features an advanced constant speed control that will vary the cutting speed via both the loading of the grass and in line with the self-propelled speed being used to ensure you maintain a higher working efficiency. The handle itself has an ergonomic design and all steel construction. The handle has a quick fold mechanism for ease of storage.

Our unique spiral bagging tunnel provides increased air flow, forcing clippings to the back of the bag for a more complete bag fill. This provides an additional up to 33% capacity, matching the performance in petrol mowers.

A long reach mulching plug combined with the gator mulching blade transforms this machine into an effective mulcher, along with the continually flat deck to give more precise and even mulching performance. There are 4 types of blades available for this machine to suit all environments from a coastal low lift that can also provide a long run time, a medium lift multi-purpose blade, a high lift blade for bagging, and then a gator-type blade for the most effective mulching performance.

2-point height adjustment ensures professional landscapers can make the required adjustments easily. There is a replaceable front bumper guard to ensure the battery is protected and the mower unharmed when being transported in the back of a truck or on a trailer, and the steel wear plate provides side protection from bumps and scrapes.

Welcome to the post-petrol era.

A game-changer in every way, Kress is leading the charge with a breakthrough innovation in battery-powered technology, built to deliver the performance and power of petrol.

Learn more: kress.com