Some information regarding dealership statistics came to my attention recently. The details of which came from CLIMMAR. Curious to find out more I visited the CLIMMAR website. CLIMMAR stands for the French wording Centre de Liason International des Marchands de Machines Agricoles et Réperateurs. This is a European organization of agricultural machinery organisations across Europe but can include the amenity sector as well. When I opened the home page I came across lots of information.

They held a Congress (which is an annual event) in the Czech Republic last October and the results from the congress saw some interesting findings. For example, one of the questions asked in Prague was, ‘What makes the money in a modern machinery dealership?’ The findings showed that for the ‘average’ CLIMMAR dealer, 55% of turnover came from new equipment sales – namely tractors and machinery. Sales of second-hand equipment accounted for 14% of overall turnover. The workshop drummed up 10% of turnover; parts accounted for 17%. Other sundry items ran to 4%.

This was very useful information so I searched to see if the findings were broken down for each member country. CLIMMAR has 16 member countries in its organization encompassing national associations and their member companies. In all, its 16 national bodies account for 18,864 individual dealers and dealerships. In total, they employ almost 160,000 people.

‘So, what are the statistics for Ireland?’, I asked myself. To my surprise I found that Ireland was not a member. How could this be? Our neighbours in the UK are members through BAGMA (British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association), which represents around 3000 dealers.

I feel it is important to be part of a wider community. Aligning ourselves with our fellow European organizations surely cannot be a bad thing. I am a member of the GCSAI (Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland) and it is a member of a European group called FEGGA (Federation of European Golf Greenkeepers Associations). FEGGA is mainly an educational organization and strives to develop the professional development of its members, which represents over 20 greenkeeping national associations.

This concept of professional development can be included in the different machinery associations in Ireland.

CLIMMAR was founded in 1953 and meet regularly each year where each of its members contribute new ideas. If you want to find out more about this organization their website address is www.climmar.com

The next CLIMMAR Congress takes place in Thun, Switzerland from 24th – 27th October this year. It would be nice if Ireland be represented at it. Something to think about perhaps?