I returned last night from a cracking two days at the NEC, attending the IOG's SALTEX exhibition.

As I've felt the past few years, the show has really found its feet in Birmingham - and if anything, this week certainly had the feel to me as the best one yet.

I don't know what the organisers are saying about official attendance figures as these haven't been disclosed yet, but walking the aisles, the halls felt packed and buzzing each day during the peak hours of 10-2.30ish. Several exhibitors commented to me during day two that on the first day they hadn't even had chance to look at their watches before 3pm and at certain times several mentioned how they were concerned that visitors to their stands were having to hang around before being able to grab someone to talk to. This is despite the stands being well manned.

Briggs & Stratton's busy stand

So my impression is certainly that most stand holders were pleased with the numbers, and more importantly, the quality of the people coming through the doors. These visitors clearly included key personnel from commercial businesses, be they sporting facilities, amenity workers or contractors. Alongside this there did appear to be plenty of dealers in attendance this year too.

Service Dealer contributor & TurfPro editor, Laurence Gale caught up with several manufacturers around the halls this week. You can view the first above.

We'll have more videos from the show to watch next week.

Many stand holders remarked on how pleased they had been to see so many dealers coming on to their stands. Some they already knew, but also a good number of those they didn't, making enquiries about possibly taking on new franchises - which is an encouraging sign that business might be looking up for some and therefore new avenues are being sought.

Also from Service Dealer's point of view, it was fantastic to meet so many of our readers who popped by the stand or whom we bumped into walking around the show floor. Thanks to everyone who took the time for a chat. It really was heartening to receive such positive feedback about the magazine, this Update and our conference. Like any business, direct responses from the people you're serving is invaluable to make sure you're on the right track and delivering what's required.

Walking around the halls this week, clearly what many manufacturers believe is required for their commercial customers is a strong battery and robotic offering. Similar to what we saw at GIE+EXPO in the States a couple of weeks ago, these technologies were in abundance around the halls.

Mike Hind, UK Field Sales Manager at Husqvarna; Duncan Murray-Clarke, Service Dealer owner; Kevin Ashmore, UK Commercial Landscape & Groundcare Manager at Husqvarna; and Steve Gibbs, Service Dealer editor on the Husqvarna stand

What seemed like a significant and indeed really quite bold statement, was that Husqvarna's stand only featured cordless and robotic machines - not one single petrol item was on show. Kevin Ashmore, UK Commercial Landscape & Groundcare Manager, told me this was of course a conscious decision. This year they were very much wanting to show their confidence in their new technologies, by concentrating on battery, robot and fleet management offerings only. It was move which appeared to pay off with a busy stand across the two days.

The new pro battery mower generating interest on STIHL's stand

STIHL had a mixture of battery and traditional products on show, but the company's business development manager, Steven Greenup, was keen to point just what attention their new professional battery walk-behind mower was receiving from visitors. He said the time was clearly right for a machine such as this to hit the commercial sector. Indeed, everytime I passed the stand, there were always lots of people surrounding the machine, asking questions and giving it a thorough inspection. It did genuinely appear to be gaining a lot of traction.

Ego's stand

Ego, of course, only deal in battery products. Steve Roskell, Director of Marketing (EMEA), told me what a great show they'd had, so different from four years ago when they first attended. Back then the commercial users had a certain cynicism about battery products in general, he said. Now these pro users are seeking out Ego out to see what's new. Steve, as well as a couple of other stand holders dealing in cordless, remarked that the professional users are now not asking themselves if they want battery machines at all, but rather which battery brand should they commit their budget to?

Eco Village area

Reflecting this trend for battery, the organisers had added a new feature this year, the Eco Village. A section placed to one side of the show hall, it was a large area which allowed companies to present and demonstrate their latest cordless technologies. I actually felt this worked really well. During the peak hours the companies presenting gained some good exposure, with large crowds listening and watching. I guess because it was slightly less formal than the regular lecture theatres, where people had to go in, find a seat and put on headphones, the Eco Village allowed people to simply pause on their way past - hence creating quite large groups on occasion. I would imagine the companies who chose to demonstrate here, including Husqvarna, STIHL, Fleet, Infinicut, TP, Allett, Avant and Mean Green, would have been pleased with the attention they received.

That's not to denigrate the lecture theatres mind you. They performed an excellent role, offering plenty of valuable educational opportunities for the turf professionals in attendance. Sessions which I observed dealers listening in to, included talks from BAGMA's Keith Christian and Sara Hey from Bob Clements International.

Keith Christian of BAGMA

Keith gave a very interesting talk on recruiting for the future. He said there were many things which the industry needed to do in order to encourage more people to join the industry and then, vitally, to retain them. Fundamental to this, was everyone working together as one to raise the profile of the industry. There were no simple solutions but it is ever so important to be able to demonstrate to potential candidates just want an interesting, varied and profitable career path the landbased industry can offer.

Sara Hey from Bob Clements International

Sara Hey meanwhile, presented on the subject of motivating employees. She spoke about how in order to keep staff engaged it was most important that business owners need to lead with clarity. Sara said that leaders need to ask good questions of their employees and listen carefully to the answers if they want to keep staff motivated. Three questions she suggested owners could ask of their employees were 'What was the most exciting part of your work this past month?'; 'What could make work more enjoyable?'; and 'Are there any discussions or meetings that you feel you could be a part of, but you aren't?'.

Handy's stand

Elsewhere around the show, there was plenty to interest the many dealers who made the trip to Birmingham. Handy were talking to people regarding the Cramer range of garden machinery which they're now promoting. 

Magic Distribution with the Ambrogio robotic mowers

Paul Chandler from Magic Distribution who distribute the Ambrogio robotic mowers was telling me that many dealers have been asking about the new small model which is ideal for the lawns on new build homes. 

Kubota's David Hart

David Hart from Kubota said they'd seen plenty of dealers come onto the stand who the company had been talking to about opportunities to perhaps deal in other ranges which the company offers, such as ag or construction, which they might not yet be in to.

Of course this is only a snapshot of what was taking place around the halls. I really felt that there was a vibrant, upbeat atmosphere pervading, with a sense of real business and valuable networking being done.

Congratulations to the IOG for organising such a valuable and worthwhile show. We shall feature more about some of the new products seen across the stands in the next issue of Service Dealer magazine.

Confirmed at the SALTEX exhibition this week, Lister Wilder have become the first non-John Deere dealers to be appointed for the Roberine range of commercial machinery.

Maarten Ponne, senior sales manager at Roberine shakes hands with Phill Hughes, sales director of the groundcare division at Lister Wilder at SALTEX this week

Whilst talks have been taking place for the deal for some time, hands were shaken and the deal announced on day one of the show on Wednesday.

Lister Wilder will be stocking the Roberine range in all five of their groundscare branches across the south of England.

Phill Hughes, sales director of the groundcare division at Lister Wilder, believes the machines are an ideal match with their current commercial offerings. "Roberine fits so perfectly with the other franchises that we hold," he told Service Dealer. "We are confident we’re going to do really well with the products. It completes the jigsaw for us in terms of the commercial customer.

"I have a strong belief that this is the future of commercial mowing."

Maarten Ponne, senior sales manager at Roberine, said he had been delighted with the impact the machines had made with visitors to SALTEX this week. He went on to say, "I'm very excited about the prospects for our machines across the south of England now we are partnered with Lister Wilder."

A well-known figure in south Wales agriculture has been tempted out of retirement to help create a new business selling farm machinery.

Terry Coles supplied many hundreds of tractors and implements to farmers and contractors through his dealership JG Plant, which he sold in 2014 to enjoy a well-earned retirement.

Steve Evans

“Devastatingly for all concerned, the business was placed in administration at the end of last year and overnight my loyal and friendly customers in the Bridgend area and beyond found themselves with no local source of parts and service for their machines,” he explains.

“It was partly in response to that situation, but also to realise an opportunity for some younger friends in the trade, that I agreed to help set up our new dealership.”

T C Agriculture, operating from premises on the Brackla Trading Estate in Coity near Bridgend, has been formed by Terry, workshop technicians Will Lean and David Howells (who is also involved in sales), and parts/stores manager Steve Evans.

Collectively, they have many years’ experience with agricultural machinery and are pooling their expertise to create a business supporting farming and other rural enterprises across south Wales.

“Having bought the parts stock at the Bridgend depot, we were immediately able to supply service consumables, replacement parts and all the other small but essential items that farmers need day-to-day,” said Terry.

“We’re also providing workshop services such as repairs and routine servicing, and we planned to only trade in used tractors and machinery - but then we had the opportunity to take on McCormick, and having studied the products, it was irresistable; I think they have great potential in our area.”

Terry also says that having access to genuine parts for past McCormick and legacy Case IH tractors operating in the area was another attraction for himself and his colleagues in taking on the franchise.

According to figures released by the AEA, after a dip in August, UK registrations of agricultural tractors (over 50hp) picked up again in September 2019.

At 1,044 machines, the monthly figure was 8% higher than in September 2018.

This brings the total for the first three quarters of the year to 10,312 units, 6% up on the same period last year.

Stephen Howarth, agricultural economist at the AEA said, of these figures, "Remember that registrations in 2018 will have been suppressed following pre-registrations in late 2017, ahead of the application of the Mother Regulation. Once this is taken into account, the registration figures indicate a market which is at a similar size to 2018."

Currently the monthly tractor registration figures coming from the AEA will temporarily be published later than normal while they test new processes with DVLA, to ensure that the numbers released are accurate. The associations says they hope to be able to revert to their normal publication schedule soon.

Kuhn Farm Machinery has appointed the agricultural machinery and farming supplies business Alexander Mills as a dealer for Northern Ireland.

The appointment, which came into effect from October 2019, confirms the Benburb-based company as an official stockist and service support dealer for the manufacturer's full range of agricultural machinery. Alexander Mills will complement the existing dealership arrangement that Kuhn has with Ballymena-based D. S. Logan.

“Alexander Mills is a highly respected business and has the resources and capacity to work across our broad range of livestock and arable equipment,” said Sian Pritchard, managing director of Kuhn UK. “We’re delighted to welcome the Alexander Mills team as an official Kuhn dealer and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

Commenting on the appointment, managing director Alexander Mills said it marked another important milestone in the company’s history.

“We already have strong relationships with Case IH tractors, and a number of other leading farm machinery brands,” he says, “and we see this latest development as a great opportunity to bring another superb product range to our customers, whilst also being well placed to service existing Kuhn customers.

“We have previous history of working with the KUHN brand, selling mowers, tedders and power harrows, so we are excited about this opportunity to work across what is now a far more comprehensive range of equipment.”

Although the second day was plagued with heavy rain, this did not deter visitors to Turf Maintenance Live, held at St Albans School’s Woollam Playing Fields, on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 October.

Over 130 delegates visited the event to see an eclectic mix of equipment that the 10 manufacturers and distributors had assembled at the venue, immaculately prepared by head groundman Ian Smith and his team.

Visitors were able to visit each of the exhibitors - Agria UK, Ernest Doe & Sons, GKB Machines, Husqvarna UK, Iseki UK, Martin Lishman, Price Turfcare (Ventrac), Rigby Taylor, Wessex International and Wiedenmann UK - to see their equipment offering and in some cases ride and drive the machines on display.

“Considering the weather on the second day we were pleased,” said Val Graham from the TML team. “Some attendees came from as far away as south Wales, which proves the value of the event. With minimal opportunity to demo equipment at other industry events, this was a great occasion for our groundscare colleagues to see a wide range of equipment and, for some, the opportunity to ride and drive the machines.

“We are indebted to St Albans School, and Ian Smith in particular, for allowing us the use of their superb facilities, which were in pristine condition and looked fantastic.”

To support their continued expansion, MTD Specialty Turf Products have announced the appointment of Oliver Hall into their territory sales team.

Oliver joins as sales manager for the Midlands region, a role which will see him providing sales support to dealers and customers, across both the Cub Cadet Infinicut and TMSystem product ranges.

Oliver first’s step into the industry was as a school groundsman, a position he held for six years, before more recently becoming a sales manager with a line-marking supplier to the sports turf sector. He joins MTD with a wealth of industry experience and know-how and the company says he is well placed to offer technical advice, backed up by a number of accreditations including IOG, NPTC and LANTRA certifications.

“The opportunity to join MTD was one I just couldn’t turn down,” Oliver explains. “I have long admired the design and engineering prowess of the products, as well as their emphasis on environmentally-friendly technology. The battery-powered market is one that is moving forward pretty quickly and it was something I was keen to get involved in."

Five McCormick tractor dealerships are exhibiting, some for the first time, at this year’s Midlands Machinery Show at Newark on November 20/21, as the event continues to grow in popularity.

Among established dealers, Robert Crawford & Son at Frithville near Boston is a regular exhibitor with an outdoor stand showing McCormick models from the top end of the range, while fellow Lincolnshire dealer The Tractor Shop at Louth has opted for a stand in the marquee this year.

Sam Plowright (left) of dealers The Tractor Shop with Argo Tractor eastern area sales manager Tim Lawrence

“We launched our involvement with McCormick at the show three years ago and it’s become a regular event for us,” says Sam Plowright of The Tractor Shop. “But we decided to do things a bit differently this time, moving into the marquee with the X5 and X6 series tractors for visitors to have a close look at, hopefully in the warm.”

Moore Farm Services, the dealership that recently moved into larger premises at Harworth near Doncaster, has also exhibited at the Midlands Machinery Show before.

But this year’s will be the first with McCormick tractors on the stand following a change of franchise earlier this year as part of an expansion initiative.

“It’s certainly been a useful show for us in the past and this year we have a lot to tell people about,” says Liz Moore. “Not least, explaining our return to McCormick for our tractor franchise and also the move into premises with four times as much workshop space and a bigger area for parts and sundries sales.”

First-time exhibitors Catley Engineering at Desford, Leicestershire and A Downing Agricultural Engineers based at Gorefield near Wisbech, Cambs are collaborating with a joint stand.

“With LAMMA having moved further west, we find that more of our customers are going to the Midlands Machinery Show instead,” says Andrew Downing. “So it seems to be the right thing to do, following on from our successful field demonstration recently, to help raise our profile.”

The Manitou Group's new Training Center was inaugurated recently at their Ancenis site in France.

The company say this new structure offers a training environment specifically designed for the machines' clearance that will more effectively address dealers' growing demand for training.

This site, which spans 1,600 m², offers four 200 to 300 m² sized workshops. This new infrastructure addresses needs relating to machine dimension, especially height. The design of this infrastructure is based on the proximity of the training rooms to the workshops, thereby reducing travel time and improving the technicians' productivity during the various training sessions. 

The Training Center is also equipped with three distance learning rooms and a recording studio.

Maxime Deroch, President of the Services & Solutions Division for Manitou Group said, "It is critical to continuously adapt to train our technicians who maintain or repair our products all over the world. This investment is part of a broader vision, with the deployment of dedicated trainers in our subsidiaries. We also launched a Learning Management Software, which will make it possible to monitor the level and needs of our customers more closely, and increasingly effective diagnostic tools in relation to our connected machines.

"Thanks to this quality training, our teams, our dealers, and our key accounts have all of the knowledge they need to fully meet the expectations of our users."

Are you a service minded and enthusiastic individual? Do you want to work with relationship building sales? Do you enjoy travelling and spending time with people, making business and building relationships with your clients? Then this could be a job for you!

Anglo American Oil Company ltd (AAOC) are the UK distributors for Swedish produced Aspen Alkylate petrol – A low emission petrol alternative designed for small engine machinery. The Aspen brand is the market leading alkylate petrol in the countries throughout Europe which it is sold in. Aspen is currently sold within a dealer network of around 430 shops around the UK. AAOC is a family owned business employing a total of 18 people in which the Aspen side of the business is rapidly growing. For more information please visit www.aspenfuel.co.uk

As a salesperson for Aspen fuels, you will be responsible for sales within central and southern England + Wales and your key clients will be garden machinery dealers, hire shops and other suitable outlets. You will develop a business relationship with each shop and their employees. As a sales person, you will be responsible for the complete sales process including developing new business with new shops, training shop staff about the technical aspects of the product and how to market it to their customers. You will also be responsible for maintaining/entertaining current dealers, working closely with them to develop their Aspen business further and educating them about new products or campaigns in their area.

For more details and information for how to apply visit https://aspenfuel.co.uk/join-aspen-team/

This Autumn Cobra are introducing an exciting new range of petrol powered chippers into their already comprehensive garden machinery range.

Powered by a 6.5hp Loncin engine the Cobra CHIP650L & CHIP650LE (Electric Start Model) are small and compact wood chippers which can easily chip branches up to 80mm (3") in diameter through it's large, self-feeding input chute.

Cobra CHIP650L

Both models are equipped with low emission Loncin 196cc engines which power the heavy duty rotor and twin reversible blades. The unique, hinged design of the chute allows easy access to the blades. To provide maximum safety for the user, the chipper features an emergency stop brake.

The CHIP650LE is also equipped with an electric start system for even easier user operation.

With their large wheels and user friendly design, the Cobra CHIP650L & CHIP650LE can be manoeuvred easily into most spaces in the garden. Supplied with tool kit, these are great value machines backed by a fantastic two year manufacturer's warranty.

The Cobra petrol chippers are packed with innovative features to help you create the perfect garden with the minimum of effort. Dealer Nett prices start from just £440.17 ex VAT.

For more information on Cobra products visit: www.cobragarden.co.uk or to become a Cobra dealer, please contact Andy Marvin on: 07771 581 296 or call our sales team: 0115 986 6646 today.

Garden Trader is helping send quality leads to 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 is easy and quick to register and costs just £96 + VAT per year to be listed and all revenues in 2019 will be reinvested into promoting the site online.

Garden Trader

Join the country’s only independent specialist website, created by the team that bring you Service Dealer. Join our subscribed Garden Trader dealers now by clicking on “Register Dealership” and let's fight back against the zero value retailers.

Map of dealerships registered with Garden Trader

FIND OUT MORE