Thanks to Chris Biddle for holding the fort whilst I was in the process of moving offices last week - as ever, some very wise words. Encouraging a new generation of both technical staff and managerial candidates to join our industry has to be a goal which we are all working towards.

One vitally important element for encouraging and retaining new entrants to the industry has to be instilling a sense of pride in work undertaken. Having achievements acknowledged by both employers and indeed the wider industry, goes a long way to making people feel they are making a worthwhile contribution. When you realise that what you are doing is making a difference, one would hope candidates have that extra impetus to stick with an industry and a company. 

This is certainly part of the rationale behind Service Dealer's Dealer Of The Year Awards. Giving industry wide recognition to both dealerships and individuals has multiple positive outcomes.

For a business winning can help distinguish your company’s offering from a competitor's. It can also demonstrate commitment and be a hint towards growth which is always good for a small business. Also having the certificate on your wall and the logo on your promotional material, reassures customers of quality and credibility. It’s that seal of approval we all feel comforted by. And as I was saying, staff should really appreciate the recognition and as such their morale will be boosted by a successful award outcome.

So entering the Dealer Of The Year Awards, should be something which all our readers should consider - certainly as it doesn't cost anything!

We are currently taking entries via our website up until September 23rd. And I've been told by the organising team that this year we have already had a superb response with dealerships across the UK getting involved in their numbers.

As ever we have our core dealer awards in the following categories:

• GARDEN MACHINERY DEALER OF THE YEAR
• PROFESSIONAL TURFCARE DEALER OF THE YEAR
• FARM MACHINERY DEALER OF THE YEAR
• FORESTRY EQUIPMENT DEALER OF THE YEAR
• ATV / QUAD DEALER OF THE YEAR

I have been told that all these categories have very healthy levels of nominations - although the ATV category is a little light on numbers at the moment. So if you're involved in this field, why not think about throwing your hat in the ring?!

There are two ways in which dealership can get involved. You can either nominate your own business via a form on the Service Dealer website, or you may find yourself nominated by one of your suppliers who feel you have done a particularly great job for them this past year.

Once your dealership is in the running for the Dealer of the Year awards, assessment will be made via feedback from the most important people to your business - your customers. We will send you a link which you can email to your customers which will take them to a page on our website where they can submit comments in favour of your dealership. We will also provide you with a logo you can add to your own website and a Word document you can print off and hand out at your premises.

We have been overwhelmed so far this year by the sheer number of comments we have been receiving from customers of nominated dealerships. Also the quality of the comments is a testament to the superb levels of customer service which are being offered out there in the dealer network currently.

We also have two awards which focus on the contribution of individuals to the dealership's success. Firstly we're looking for dealers to nominate their Star of the Dealership. This can be a member of staff from the sales, parts, service or support team who have demonstrated exceptional skills, commitment to customer service or any other compelling reason during the 2018 season - and who are deserving of industry recognition. 

Also we're looking for nominations for an Apprentice of the Year. Service Dealer wants to recognise an individual who during the 2018 season has demonstrated the desire, willingness and ability to progress within the dealership and the industry. Again at the moment, we don't have quite as many nominations for this category as we'd like - so if you've got an apprentice in your place of work, who you feel is doing a really cracking job for you, please nominate them for consideration.

The Dealer of the Year ceremony takes place once again at the Oxford Belfry Hotel, on the evening of Thursday November 15th - following on from the Service Dealer Conference.

You can find out all the details about both the Awards and Conference, including special Early Bird booking prices, by visiting the Service Dealer website.

We'd love to see more of our readers than ever at the Oxford Belfry this year - and indeed have a record number of companies and individuals in the running for awards recognition!

New Holland dealer The Burdens Group Limited has acquired Lincolnshire Motors Limited.

The deal increases Burdens’ coverage to nearly the whole county of Lincolnshire and allows a greater range of New Holland machines to be offered to customers.

The former Lincolnshire Motors Limited territory in North Lincolnshire will be managed from the existing Louth and Brigg depots, continuing to use the Lincolnshire Motors trading name, providing continuity of sales and service in the area. The Burdens Group will retain its depots in Sutterton, North Kyme and Wrangle.

John Southern, Managing Director at The Burdens Group says of the acquisition, “The addition of Lincolnshire Motors to The Burdens Group brings new opportunities to our business in a competitive industry. Customers across Lincolnshire will benefit from an expanded product range and continued excellent customer service. All staff at both businesses will be retained, and all are excited by the opportunity that this expansion brings.”

Kevin Bell, previously Managing Director at Lincolnshire Motors Limited has joined The Burdens Group as a Director and will continue his involvement in the business. He says: “The Lincolnshire Motors business was 99 years old this year and becoming part of The Burdens Group marks the next chapter in its history. The move will provide security to staff and customers in North Lincolnshire and allow us to benefit from the scale of a much larger combined business.

“We expect the Lincolnshire Motors depots to be able to supply customers with a fuller range of New Holland products, particularly tractors, including the T8 Smarttrax, and a larger range of combines, telehandlers and baler products.”

Pat Smith, Managing Director at New Holland UK and Ireland has praised the management and staff at Lincolnshire Motors Limited, saying:

“We offer our thanks to Eric Bell for his 61 years service to Lincolnshire Motors, and his son, Kevin Bell, who has managed Lincolnshire Motors Limited for the past 15 years. We look forward to the enlarged team at Burdens continuing the successful partnership between New Holland, The Burdens Group Limited, Lincolnshire Motors and all our customers across Lincolnshire.”

John Deere dealer New Forest Farm Machinery Ltd has opened a new turf equipment outlet at Cadbury Business Park in Sparkford, near Yeovil in Somerset.

New Forest Farm Machinery’s new turf equipment outlet at Sparkford in Somerset

The premises serve the dealer’s extended trading area that was initially established in 2014 after New Forest took over the professional turf business of Rochford Garden Machinery. The dealership offers John Deere’s full range of professional golf and amenity turf equipment including mowers, aerators, sprayers, tractors and Gator utility vehicles, as well as homeowner and construction equipment.

Based at Ringwood in Hampshire, New Forest Farm Machinery has been a John Deere agricultural dealer since 1979 and has held the turf franchise since John Deere’s commercial and consumer equipment business, as it was then known, started in 1986. New Forest currently employs 43 people altogether and sells to turf customers in the counties of Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.

“As a long established, independent family-owned business we are always striving to improve our company offering, through focusing on customer support and investing for the future,” says managing director Ed Smales.

“The new premises at Sparkford are ideally located to cover our extended trading area and increase our presence in the marketplace.

“We intend to maintain our traditional high standard of product sales, parts and service support in the various turf equipment markets that we serve, and we look forward to welcoming both existing and new customers to the dealership.”

For 2018 Rochfords have announced they will change the format of their annual dealer events significantly.

Mark Rochford said, “For the last few years we have followed a similar format of 1 to 3 shows - however this requires the majority of dealers to have to travel significant distances during a busy time of year. We felt we should bring our show to them, rather than ask them to come to us.”

The 2018 Dealer Meetings will take place at 10 locations across the country, ensuring dealers travel time is kept to a minimum, in most cases less than an hour. Another benefit to the new format, say Rochfords, is that the groups will be smaller.

“A large group has disadvantages in terms of feedback, discussions, and product presentations. With our new format we will have a limited number of spaces at each event, allowing us to actually talk to dealers and have mutually beneficial discussions around our products, some of which we hope will lead to new product development,” said Stewart Anderson, Managing Director of Rochfords.

New exclusive products at the event will include rear roller and 4 wheeled lawnmowers, petrol chainsaws, wheeled trimmers, edgers and more.

The Events will be held at the following locations. Rochfords request that to book your place please email katie.helps@rochfordgm.co.uk or contact your ASM. Limited spaces are available. Further details of the days will be sent following registration.

WEEK 1

• 10th September – Perth
• 11th September – Penrith
• 12th September – York
• 13th September – Grantham
• 14th September – Chester

WEEK 2

• 17th September – Exeter
• 18th September – Newbury
• 19th September – East Sussex
• 20th September – Cambridge
• 21st September – Hereford

The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has revealed some changes to their annual BTME event. 

Prior to BTME 2018, BIGGA announced a set of changes and developments to the annual exhibition for 2019 and beyond, including expanding the size of the exhibition by up to 25%. In a statement the Association said the new layout "contains more opportunities than ever for visitors to interact with exhibitors, gain knowledge and support and experience an enhanced Continue to Learn education programme."

With a little over five months to go until BTME, to be held in January 2019, BIGGA has now released details of developments to the exhibition, including Golf Course Construction Live, in which various aspects of golf course construction will take place before the visitor’s eyes.

There will also be an area of the exhibition dedicated to new products, a golf simulator hosted by Perennial and Rigby Taylor and a theatre on the show floor where short seminars will take place.

As in previous years, Continue to Learn will kick off the week, from Sunday 20 January 2019 - which will be expanded with an all-new Deputy’s Conference intended for those looking to make the step up to management of a course.

The new Links Forum will have education tailored specifically for those working on or wishing to learn more about links courses, while the Ecology & Environment Forum will focus upon sustainability and the environment.

BIGGA Head of Member Development Sami Strutt said, “I’m very excited to reveal the Continue to Learn at BTME 2019 education programme. There will be more than 70 speakers and 80 education offerings, so there should be something for everyone.”

BTME itself will run from Tuesday 22 to Thursday 24 January 2019. The Association said, "Exhibitors have embraced the changes that the association has made to the exhibition’s layout." A total of 140 exhibitors attended BTME 2018 and BIGGA say they are on course to substantially exceed that number.

Campey Turf Care Systems for example has more than doubled the size of its stand, booking 200m2.

Richard Campey said: “BTME has always been a major event in the Campey calendar, attracting our overseas as well as UK dealers. We anticipate BTME 2019 being our most successful yet.”

So far, returning exhibitors have purchased an average of 10.5% extra space compared to BTME 2018.

BIGGA Chief Executive Officer Jim Croxton said, “The support we have received from our partners and exhibitors has vindicated the decision we made to restructure the BTME experience. Our exhibitors were eager to expand and really showcase their wares and I’m delighted we have been able to offer this opportunity and that they have supported our decision so emphatically.

“Over the coming months we’re looking forward to unveiling even more industry-leading innovations to ensure BTME 2019 is not only our best event ever, but also one of the best events the turf management industry has ever seen.”

A new era for the LAMMA show begins in January 2019 when it opens its doors for the first time at the NEC in Birmingham.

Organisers promise a whole new experience, with all stands being fully under cover for the first time in its history.

LAMMA ’19, which continues to offer free entry and car parking, say they will build on the show’s reputation as a key diary event for farmers, contractors and their staff.

To help make the most of their time at the event, visitors are being asked to register in advance. The four-step process is now open here.

Badges will be emailed automatically within a few minutes of completing the form, ensuring visitors can walk straight through to the show when doors open on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th January.

As well as enjoying fast-track entry into the show, visitors will be able to use their badges to share details quickly and easily with exhibitors.

Advance registration is not compulsory - visitors can register at the entrance but may face a delay entering the event.

The organisers of the show say the event has attracted strong exhibitor interest, with over 500 companies having already booked more than 87% of the available stand space.

In a statement the organises said the event "will stay true to its roots, attracting not just large companies but also hosting smaller agricultural engineering and machinery firms from across the UK, ensuring a fantastic array of products to suit all sectors of the industry, whatever their budget."

Elisabeth Mork-Eidem, group events director at AgriBriefing, which owns LAMMA, said, “We are excited by the opportunities that this new venue creates for the LAMMA show.
Both visitor and exhibitor feedback has been incredibly supportive, with a lot of real excitement regarding this important development for the UK agricultural industry.

“By making LAMMA a register to attend event, we can continue to develop the show - the more we know about our visitors, the better we can tailor future shows to meet their needs.”

The first LAMMA show at the NEC will take place on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th January 2019.

From 2nd to 5th August the world's elite of loggers met in Lillehammer, Norway, to crown their champion at the 33rd World Championships.

New world champion is Marco Trabert from Germany. He took overall victory over all five disciplines. In the U24 ranking, Thomas Schneider, also from Germany, won the competition. Both athletes competed with the brand new STIHLWorld Loggers' Championship MS 500i, the world's first chainsaw with electronic fuel injection. The competition version was specially designed to meet the requirements of the athletes.

In the team competition the athletes Shkudrou, Durovich and Zaremba from Belarus succeeded in bringing home victory. All in all, the athletes who competed with STIHL chainsaws were extremely successful: they won  33 of the 57 medals to be awarded.

More than 120 participants from 27 nations competed for the coveted precious metal in the five disciplines of targeted felling, fitting another chain, bucking by combined cut, precision bucking and limbing in front of over 1,000 enthusiastic spectators in the Håkons Hall in Lillehammer. The World Loggers’ Championships - internationally known as the World Logging Championships (WLC) - have been held every two years since the 1970s. The disciplines are based on the traditional tasks of harvesting wood in the forest, focusing on the skill in handling the chainsaw. Safety, precision and speed in performing the disciplines are evaluated. Strong nerves are essential, as often only millimetres are decisive for victory or defeat in the competitions.

Marco Trabert, already Team World Champion in 2014 and third at the 2016 World Championships, made his victory particularly exciting. He won the gold medal in this single discipline in the last run, the limbing, in a heartbeat final with only 3 points ahead of second-placed Ole Harald Løvenskiold Kveseth from Norway. With this outstanding performance, he also won the World Championships title in the overall ranking. The same phenomenon could be noted with the U24 ranking: the new World Champion Thomas Schneider from Germany and the runner-up Daniel Oberrauner from Austria were separated by only two points.

In the team competition, Siarhei Shkudrou, Viktar Zaremba and Valery Durovich (overall World Champions 2016), who competed with the STIHL MS 500i (amongst other chainsaws), left the competitors at a distance due to consistently good rankings in all five disciplines. Thus, the team from Belarus successfully defended its 2016 World Championship title. The team from Germany secured second place, followed by the team from Austria.

A total of 57 medals were awarded at these World Championships, 19 gold, silver and bronze medals each in the U24, women's and active categories.

13 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze medals were awarded to sportsmen and sportswomen equipped with STIHL chainsaws. For this reason, they were able to take home 33 of a total of 57 medals.

Yanmar the Japanese based engine and plant manufacturer, have appointed Phoenix Hire & Sales as one of the first main dealers in the UK, and the only dealer in Wales.

This development follows Yanmar parting ways with its established UK & Ireland distributor A&Y Equipment and setting up an all-new distribution network.

Phoenix have been a leading independent tool hirer in the Welsh construction industry for 10 years and as a result have developed an extensive network of customers which will now be offered the entire Yanmar machinery range, in addition to a full stock of parts.

Jason Derraven, sales director for Phoenix Hire and Sales Limited said, “We took the decision to add plant to our hire product portfolio back in 2012 following a strong increase in customer demand. Sales enquires soon followed and year on year we have seen a very encouraging growth within our plant sales division. Currently, we have just over 100 Yanmar machines on the hire fleet in active duty with a forecasted investment of a further £1.2 million to meet customer demand.

"We feel immensely proud to be selected as one of the first dealers in the UK and the main dealer covering the Welsh territory."

2018 saw Phoenix Hire & Sales reach its 10 years in business milestone. Originally founded by Gary Derraven in 2008, the board of directors felt this needed to be marked by a special event open to all staff and their partners. Hosted exclusively at the Vale of Glamorgan Resort in South Wales, the company acknowledged the hard work and dedicated commitment by all the staff by the means of food, drink & entertainment in the form of a Tom Jones tribute act. 

To further strengthen the Phoenix Hire and Sales brand, the company has recently acquired new premises for their Cardiff branch. This expansion coincides with a large refurbishment programme into the Phoenix livery across South Wales, and makes an important step into the company’s growth plans. Located in the sought after Cardiff Bay area of the city, the grand opening for the Capital Flagship will be in late September. A strong focus on the new plant franchise is expected here as well as across all branches in the group.

Catalyst’s Platinum DMS has been extended with a new Hire and Bookings module which the company says will help dealers to manage their hire fleet, bookings, deposits, invoices etc.

The new features allow dealers to create and manage plant, vehicle, wholegoods and equipment items for hire.

Key features include;

• Viewing all current and upcoming bookings
• Managing hire items and availability
• Managing booking and security deposits
• Printing hire agreements and associated documents
• Invoicing and processing payments

Mike Cameron, Sales Manager at Catalyst said, “Of particular interest to groundscare and arb dealers, the release of this new module has generated a lot of interest with both existing and prospective users of our system.

"Creation and release of this module was an important task for our team and is just one of many features being developed with dealers needs and aspirations in mind.

"We already have several dealers that do not currently use Catalyst Platinum DMS asking us for demonstrations.”

Wrotham Heath Golf Club, situated in the rolling Kent countryside near Sevenoaks, has taken delivery of a Ventrac 4500 compact tractor with two alternative mowing decks and a stump grinder attachment, from local dealer MAB Groundcare.

Head greenkeeper, Bryn Preece, using the ToughCut deck

Established in 1906, Wrowtham Heath is a members club and features an 18-hole golf course situated on a sandstone ridge. A recently installed irrigation system on the tees, fairways and greens together with a new bore hole and holding tank ensures the best playing conditions, even in the driest weather.

Bryn Preece is the head greenkeeper and has been at the club for the past six years. He heads a team of five greenkeepers and works closely with former Captain and current Greens Chairman, Stan Topliss.

“This is one of the best pieces of equipment that I have ever purchased,” Bryn said. “Our Toro Sidewinder was getting a bit long in the tooth and I was looking for a replacement tees and bunker surrounds mower. I read an article in a trade magazine where Peter Pattenden at Carden Park was extolling the merits of his recently purchased Ventrac. Peter is guy I wholeheartedly respect, so I contacted the UK distributor, Price Turfcare and arranged a demo here for the team and the Greens Chairman. We selected the toughest area we could find, some banks covered in bracken on the 3rd fairway. and it dealt with it with ease. In fact, it was the best machinery demonstration I have ever seen.

“We are a heathland course and over the years bracken and unwanted trees have encroached on the margins. We have embarked on a five-year planned process of returning it to a more traditional state and in just the first couple of weeks since delivery the Ventrac has proved its worth. The ToughCut deck is great at removing the bracken and allowing the underlying heather to thrive. It can go anywhere on the course and tackles any slopes with ease.

"We do everything in-house and the versatility is amazing.”

Experienced sales representatives required for leading distributor of outdoor power equipment with well established network of specialist dealers.

The successful applicant should be enthusiastic and self-motivated, and will have a proven track record in the Outdoor Power Equipment Industry.

Remuneration and benefits package will be commensurate with the position and experience of the successful candidate.

Please write in confidence with CV to:

Paul Butterly FGM Claymore Waterloo Ind. Estate Waterloo Road Bidford on Avon Warks B50 4JH Tel: 01789 490177 email info@fgmclaymore.co.uk

Groundscare Sales Professional

Department: Sales
Reports To: Group Sales Manager
Supervises: None

Job Function:

We require an experienced Groundscare Sales Professional to join our busy dealership in Ripon. You will be primarily based from our Groundscare Showroom responsible for selling new and used machinery from major brands including John Deere, Stihl, Kuhn, Mountfield, Kramer and Ifor Williams. You will also assist the Ag sales team when a deeper subject matter knowledge is required in order to build convincing sales arguments for specific products or solutions. Analyses the market and monitors competitive activity.

Essential Duties:

1. Sells new and used homeowner, turf & industrial equipment and utility vehicles to new and existing customers.
2. Provides leadership and support to Ag Salesmen and Parts Staff across the whole dealership organisation for the sale of dedicated products, customer qualification and solution configuration.
3. Works with the Sales Managers to develop, maintain and manage the execution of a sales and marketing plan concerning responsible products or solutions across the organisation.
4. Conducts new equipment demonstrations, at the dealership, customer premises or shows
5. Monitors competitor activity and products and communicates to the Sales Management accordingly.
6. Ensures and maintains subject matter expert relations on the dedicated product area, with key stakeholders and key customer prospects.
7. Manages on-going relationships with key John Deere and other manufacturers personnel
8. Ensures correct stocking profile for all machinery, including winter stock orders and keeps accurate inventory records
9. Values used machinery, and ensures it is stored, tagged and re-sold.
10. Carry’s out monthly or quarterly stock checks when requested.
11. Ensure all machinery sold by them is invoiced before delivery and outstanding debt is sought when overdue.
12. Charges for any machinery on hire weekly or monthly as agreed and keeps accurate hire agreements.
13. Prepares new wholegoods machinery where possible, and builds some of the new walk behind machines / hand held ground care equipment.
14. Liaises with all departments to ensure adequate cover when leaving the dealership.
15. Maintains a clean customer facing environment, office space and ensures their company vehicle is in a clean and tidy condition.
16. Ensures compliance for dealer standards for each manufacturer.
17. Maintains up to date sales brochures and material and manages showroom display setting.

Skills & Qualifications:

• Enthusiasm, engagement and a willingness to take on challenges.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills.
• 4+ years’ equipment sales experience
• Excellent knowledge of groundcare equipment and operational practices
• Ability to use standard computer applications and internet functions
• Familiar with competitive products
• Ability to analyze and interpret internal reports
• Excellent customer relationship skills
• Ability to work extended hours
• Ability to work in a team environment
• Excellent attitude with integrity and honesty

Please apply in writing to Richard Halsall, Group Sales Manager: richard.halsall@riponfarmservices.com

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