You may have already read today that, in conjunction with some of our readers from dealerships around the country, Service Dealer has established what we're calling The Working Title Group.

As Duncan says, we felt an informal, discussion group might be helpful because at industry events such as our Conference and Awards, it quickly becomes apparent what the dominate demographic of our sector is.

The Group doesn't claim to have any highfalutin aims. The intention isn't to smash the system and reshape the world to any radical political agenda. No, it's simply to discuss the issues that women have faced and are still facing today in the industry; think about why more women are not choosing to join dealerships; and then perhaps plan ways we may be able to offer some practical help.

With the expert guidance of the experienced, switched-on women who comprise the Group, we feel we can at least get a conversation started and then see where that leads.

Changing perceptions

The Group held its first meeting recently, where some home truths were raised.

We heard that ours is clearly a male dominated industry. There are of course women in roles at dealerships around the country, perhaps more often than not in admin or office roles rather than workshop or sales positions. Also these women may well be second or third generation, choosing to enter the family business. The real challenge perhaps, is finding ways of encouraging women from completely outside of the industry to consider joining a dealership.

One problem that our panelists highlighted that can adversely affect their working lives, is the archaic attitudes of certain customers. Apparently farmers or other professionals can often refuse to speak to women working in a dealership. They will try to go around them, asking to talk to a man about their machinery problems or requirements.

Some of our panelists are actually the daughters of bosses at dealerships and this still happens to them. So what if this happened to younger, non-family members of the team, they speculated? They stressed to us it's therefore vital that all women in the business have the complete backing of everyone around them.

We also heard some shocking testimony that male customers have acted a lot a worse than simply refusing to deal with women in the dealership. Inappropriate comments or actions, either in person or over the phone, that frankly would be classified as full-blown sexual harassment, have also been experienced.

We heard that specific types banter within the business is also something that is regularly encountered. Shrugging it off, or giving it back were given as means of dealing with this - although it was questioned why it even needed to come to that?

Encouragingly, we heard that the younger generation of women who come up against behaviour such as this, are not prepared to simply tolerate it. "I'm happy to put up a fight," one of our panelists told us.

What can be done?

Moving on, some initial thoughts were offered as to methods which might be employed to encourage more young women to consider joining the industry?

One quite simple but potentially effective means that more manufacturers might want to consider using, we were told, was to improve the visibility of women in their marketing materials. More images of women in workshop or sales positions when promoting jobs or in their general campaigns, would help towards normalising the idea of women working in dealerships. Certainly some of our panelists spoke of trying to source images such as this from their own suppliers when advertising jobs in their companies - but with limited success.

Also potentially helpful when looking to recruit more women, it was suggested, could be to offer a more detailed breakdown of job requirements. For example, when promoting a service manager position, it could be made clearer that a candidate doesn't need to be a machinery or parts expert straight away. It could be much more valuable to stress the skill-set requirements such as organisational and methodical abilities - something which could be better related to.

Through this sort of approach it was felt that it may be possible to achieve a sales-rep crossover - appealing to women in sales positions from other sectors where representation is naturally higher.

Messaging

A crucial element to getting the right message to potential new candidates, would be how and where the story of what a career in the industry could offer is told.

The consensus was that dealerships need to reach out through social media. Finding the right content combined with the right platform is vital.

It was felt that young women of 16-24 years old would be most influenced via Instagram and TikTok. Whereas there would be greater impact with the 22-32 year olds through YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The question was posed, what is most important to a young woman who is looking for a job? Is it long-term job security for example? That was probably not their number one priority we heard. More important would be the promise of a fun, dynamic work environment, where they can enjoy their work and interact with friendly people. Therefore it was said what is essential is to pick appealing elements of dealership roles to highlight and to present those to the right audience in the right way. Quite the challenge.

Next steps

The Working Title Group is going to keep meeting throughout the year. Working within limitations, the Group intends work together to test some messaging and content and see what the uptake is.

In the short-term, the Group is considering options on how best to communicate the message to the industry. The intention was stated to also stress the whole angle of diversity and inclusion – because appealing to all young people across the board is of vital importance to the overall health of the industry.

As one of our panelists said, assumptions about traditional roles within dealerships need to be broken.

“Things change when people talk about them”.

Service Dealer has established an informal group with women in key roles at dealerships around the country, to discuss issues faced and to think about what could perhaps be done as industry to improve the current situation.

The group comprises of:

• Joanne Balmer, group marketing manager, Balmers GM
• Hannah Robinson, operations and marketing manager, Brian Robinson Machinery Ltd
• Sophie Burgess, digital content & social media coordinator, Buxtons
• Kelly Burgess, key account manager, Buxtons
• Jessica Hutton, business development manager, Oak Garden Machinery

Service Dealer owner, Duncan Murray-Clarke said, "I don’t have to tell our readers that the Service Dealer Conference and Awards demographic is predominantly male and 'of an age'. This is of course reflective of the industry. But I can’t help being a little optimistic with our awards last year, as there appeared to be some - if small - momentum shift. By establishing what we're currently calling The Working Title Group, we wanted to see if we could leverage the experience, wisdom and knowledge of our readers in some way to perhaps encourage a more diverse set of entries into the awards this year.

"There is also the wider discussion to be had of course, regarding the industry and what can be improved for women who are currently members - or for attracting potential new members. And who knows, maybe we can spread the net wider in time regarding inclusion.

"I have no preconceptions regarding this scheme. Initially the hope it is just to see what we can do to help through utilising the advice of our expert panel. Then we can see where it leads. We are though in the unique position to be able to feed back to the whole industry - dealerships, distributors and manufacturers."

Our panelists said . . .

Joanne Balmer

"I’ve been working within the groundcare machinery industry on and off now for 25 years - it’s an exciting and varied profession to be part of, but unfortunately we still don’t see many females within our dealerships. So I’m looking forward to being involved with this group to start conversations of how as an industry, we can come together to make it a diverse, inclusive and welcoming sector for all to work within."

Kelly Burgess

"Growing up in the arboriculture and lawn care industries has had its challenges, and learning to overcome prejudice has been something that is now second nature. I am grateful to be a part of any movement to raise awareness of the challenges women face in our industry. I hope that by understanding what currently goes on, more support will be offered to others."

Jessica Hutton

"The industry as a whole needs to get better at looking after women."

Hannah Robinson

"This group is important to me because I feel very passionate about encouraging more women into the agricultural and grassland sector due to it being a male dominated industry. I would like to use my experience within the industry to promote jobs for women within agriculture and show them that it is 'ok'."
 
Sophie Burgess

"I strongly believe that a diverse workplace brings together the strengths and ideas of people from all walks of life. Shining a light on some of the issues currently faced by people in our industry is an important first step in improving diversity going forward."

Spearhead has announced they have become the exclusive UK & Ireland distributor for Roberine.

The Alamo Group, who are Spearhead's parent company, bought the Dutch Power Group who owned Roberine back in March 2019.

Spearhead has initially introduced four Roberine amenity mowers with the promise of further development in this space.
 
Serving the UK and Irish market, Spearhead said in an official statement that they "..will provide enhanced UK-based customer support, including help with road registration, rapid parts distribution, and general aftercare."
 
The Spearhead Roberine range includes four ride-on commercial mowers. The F3 (3 gang) machine is available as a flail or cylinder mower, whilst the F5 (5 gang) machine is also available as a flail or cylinder mower.

 Antony Prince, director of sales and marketing at Spearhead, said, “Adding high-end, commercial ride-on machines to our line-up fits perfectly with our growth plans. And this is only the start. Using our product development strength, here in the UK, we’re working to expand the range soon.

"We want those managing amenity space to have the best possible equipment supporting them.”

Tallis Amos Group (TAG) has confirmed the recruitment of Mark Smith as agricultural sales director (East).

L-R: Mark Smith and Ben Tallis

Mark had previously spent 27 years working for John Deere Ltd. at Langar, latterly as strategic account manager for UK & Ireland. 

The announcement follows recent news from TAG regarding significant expansion into Shropshire after the decision by Rea Valley Tractors (RVT) to resign the John Deere franchise. TAG's new 40,000 sq ft depot at Allscott nr Telford is due to fully open in March 2023.

Currently operating four depots in the West Midlands and Wales at Evesham, Kemble, Leominster and Narberth, TAG also has plans to open an additional site near Lampeter in Spring this year. 

Ben Tallis, TAG managing director, said, “We have plans to double our turnover to £120m within four years. This appointment illustrates the ambition of the company and our desire to recruit first class people to help drive this journey.

“Simon and I have known Mark for over 20 years. His strong relationships, extensive knowledge of the Agricultural industry and exceptional product knowledge make him the ideal person to help TAG deliver its next stage of continued growth.”

Mark Smith, said, “TAG has a phenomenal reputation and is at an exciting point in its expansion. I look forward to working with the team to help take the company from strength to strength”

The 1st of March 2023 marks the inaugural year of a new turf care event in Scotland, with The Scots Turf Show opening its doors at Hamilton Park Racecourse.

Richard Heywood of Campey Turf Care and Alan Thomson of AllGrass

Devised by 17 industry companies, the organisers of the event say it will "strive to give back to the Scottish turf community by providing a local event". 

Organisers believe that almost 50% of the grounds industry in Scotland, be they groundsmen or greenkeepers working in football, rugby, golf or at schools or councils, have never attended an industry event.

A primary reason they give for this is the time and cost of travelling to existing exhibitions in England. Alan Thomson of AllGrass Turf Care, who had the original idea behind reviving a Scottish Turf event, felt this had to change.

“Back in 2019, I went to Richard Heywood at Campey Turf Care with an idea to create an event in Scotland that gave back to the Scottish market,” Alan explained.

“There used to be Scots Turf, and we’ve not had it for roughly 15 years, and as a result, almost half of the Scottish turf industry has missed out on educational opportunities and seeing machinery that could help them in their day-to-day work.

“Clubs can’t afford to let their staff go to current events, which means two days away from Scotland, financially they can’t do it, and there are various other reasons.

“We held a trial event in 2019 with seven companies at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club and had 118 people turn out. The clubhouse was probably only big enough for 100, so it was great to see that there was something there.

“After a delay due to Covid. We got back to the vision of how big we could make this. We had to bring it back to earth a little because we’d love to have 40 companies there and make it a big grand event, but we want to grow at a steady rate that works for the visitors and companies involved.

“So, this is another step. There’s a market, and there is a demand. This year we have a fantastic venue at Hamilton Park Racecourse. There’s plenty of parking, an onsite hotel, various marquees and live demonstrations outside.

“As well as the 17 companies, we’ll have seminars in one day consisting of twenty-minute sessions, so people stay engaged. We have devised everything to benefit those attending, and we’re looking forward to their support so we can continue to provide this for them.”

A significant difference between this event and others already on the industry calendar, say organisers, is that this one is purely financed by the companies behind it.

Organisers believe this allows for every discipline of turf care to be covered in a focused one-day event that engages visitors and makes it financially viable for whole teams to attend.

Email scotsturfshow@gmail.com to register your attendance.

New Holland has recently announced the winners of its 2022 UK and ROI Dealer of The Year Awards, which celebrate excellence in performance and service quality across its UK and Ireland dealer network.  

Lloyd Ltd were named Overall UK Dealer of the Year

The awards were announced at the 2023 Dealer Kick Off Meeting which was held at the Basildon plant followed by an evening dinner and horse racing at the Chelmsford City Racecourse. The awards were presented by Sean Lennon, vice president New Holland Agriculture Europe together with David Rapkins, the company's recently appointed business director for UK & ROI.

Main category winners:

• Overall UK Dealer of the Year: Lloyd Ltd
• Ireland Dealer of the Year: MC&S Agri Sales Ltd
• Medium UK Dealer of the Year: Ravenhill Ltd
• Small UK Dealer of the Year: Burkes of Cornascriebe Ltd

Product Line Category Winners:

• Combine Dealer of the Year: Russells Ltd
• Tractor Dealer of the Year: Ravenhill Ltd
• Hay & Forage Dealer of the Year: Ernest Doe & Sons Ltd
• Aftersales Dealer of the Year: Agricar Ltd
• Implements Dealer of the Year: Agricar Ltd
• Construction Equipment Dealer of the Year: Menai Tractors Ltd
• Telehandler Dealer of the Year: Ernest Doe & Sons Ltd 

MC&S Agri Sales Ltd were named Ireland Dealer of the Year

David Rapkins said, “I would like to express my congratulations to all the 2022 New Holland Dealer of the Year winners. These awards are created to motivate and encourage all our dealers to drive business growth. We acknowledge and thank the whole team in each dealership which includes service, parts, marketing, administration support and all the sales teams.

"2022 was a very successful year for New Holland and our dealers which shows the excellent teamwork across our whole dealer network”.

Following a hiatus due to the pandemic, STIHL has has announced the launch of a new Master Technician training programme for their Approved dealers, with a series of face-to-face courses available throughout February, March and April. 

Available via the STIHL Academy, the manufacturer says the programme offers a blended learning approach for dealers, who will be asked to initially complete online modules for each of the foundation, intermediate and advanced servicing courses, before the respective face-to-face sessions can be booked. For those who are successful, the final element of the path is unlocked - the Master Technician course, which runs solely face-to-face.

The first series of face-to-face Foundation Servicing courses are available to the company's Approved dealers at the following locations:

• Merrist Wood College, Guildford - 28th February and 1st March 2023
• Myerscough, Preston - 22nd and 23rd March 2023
• Riseholme College, Lincoln - 21st and 22nd March 2023
• Bicton College, East Budleigh - 21st and 22nd March 2023
• Pavillions of Harrogate, Harrogate - 12th April 2023
• Writtle College, Essex – 25th April 2023
• Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, 27th April 2023

In a statement, the company said, "The announcement of this new training programme follows a huge drive to enhance the learning and development available to STIHL dealers. Just last year, STIHL launched a new podcast series that offers its dealer network an alternative way of learning useful product and technical information about the STIHL range."

Spearhead has awarded family-run dealer Olivers with its ‘2022 Dealer of the Year’ accolade.

L-R: Antony Prince, Spearhead, director of sales & marketing; David Jarman, Oliver Agriculture, md; Simon Gurney, Spearhead, sales ,anager GB West; Russell Hallam, Oliver Agriculture, south area sales director

The manufacturer say they have worked closely with Olivers for over three years. The dealership's five branches serve Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex, and the Isle of Wight.

To select its winner, Spearhead say they analysed annual sales growth for all dealers turning over a significant amount with the brand and then reviewed feedback from several departments to assess the shortlist.
 
“The Olivers team is incredibly proactive and we have a great relationship with them,” said Antony Prince, director of sales and marketing at Spearhead. “MD, David Jarman, and sales directors, William Helliwell and Russell Hallam, have worked tirelessly throughout 2022 with our area manager, Simon Gurney. The results have been phenomenal, and we’re delighted to give Olivers this award,” he added.
 
David Jarman, Olivers MD commented, “We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working closely with Spearhead to drive our sales growth. Both businesses are on the same page and its testament to everyone that we achieved so much last year.”

Henton & Chattell has announced the launch of its new ride-on tractors as part of its Cobra range. This comes as part of the 10-year anniversary of Cobra and is the biggest innovation for the brand yet.

This significant investment in Cobra marks the next chapter for the brand, reiterates its success over 10 years and bolsters its position in the marketplace as one of the leading garden machinery brands.

In launching the new ride-on mowers, Henton & Chattell has tapped into its 1500+ dealer network and utilised the companies’ unique position in the industry to gain an understanding of what customers want and ensure that the products are expertly based exactly on the needs of UK gardeners. 

As such, the range has models for both domestic and professional markets so creates ample opportunities for dealers for both sales and servicing. 

Discussing the new range expansion, Peter Chaloner, managing director of Henton & Chattell, commented: “We’re so excited for this next chapter for Cobra. We’ve been developing the new range of ride-on mowers for some time now and it’s a significant step in the brand’s history. We can’t wait to hear what customers think of them! We have further plans to keep expanding Cobra over time with more products already planned for the year. To support this and accommodate our growth plans, we have also doubled our warehousing facilities in Nottingham which will also help us to ensure that we continue to create business opportunities for our dealers.”

The ride-on mower line-up features eight models, all aimed at helping those with larger lawns to mow with ease and comfort, at an affordable price. The range starts with two rider models. These have a particular focus on manoeuvrability, allowing gardeners to flow and mow around the gardens, taking into account garden beds, curved edges and obstacles such as trees, patios and planting schemes as well as any other intricacies that make UK gardens so unique.

The two compact LT62 rider models each have a 24” cutting width and comfortable seat. Being smaller, these models have great manoeuvrability coupled with a 75cm turning radius. The LT62 is available with either manual or hydrostatic automatic gear change transmission, with the latter offering smoother usage and even greater manoeuvrability.

For larger gardens and paddocks to mow, there are six ride-on tractors available. With cutting widths ranging from 33” up to 42”, and choices again being manual and hydrostatic gear changing, as well as a twin cutting blade and the option to collect the cuttings, release them back to the ground or turn them to mulch. They also offer enhanced comfort with an ergonomically designed padded seat and easy electric key starting.

For further information about Cobra, please visit www.cobragarden.co.uk.

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