How has everybody been doing this week?

Have things perhaps been slightly less frantic these past seven days? By which I mean less stuff seems to have been changing as quickly as it was the previous week. One suspects that many dealers will have settled into a routine of what they feel is the right course of action for their business right now.

As for us, Service Dealer convened another industry think thank, Zoom meeting on Wednesday morning. Again attended by manufacturers, suppliers, business support services and trade associations, we were pleased to welcome to some new additions to the chat this week who were unable to make the first one.

You may have already read elsewhere in today's Weekly Update that next Wednesday we are going to hold a similar conversation, but with dealers who will represent a cross section of machinery specialisms (agriculture, commerical grasscare and domestic garden machinery). If you were interested in contributing to the session, please let us know.

Don't worry though if you can't make it, we'll be reporting on what comes out of the session in an edition of this Update to be published next Thursday (because next Friday is Good Friday and it'll be nice to keep some sense of normalcy!).

Regarding Wednesday's call, we heard that since the addition late last week of "Agricultural supplies shops" to the government's official list of retail outlets exempt from closure, there has indeed been some more clarity for dealers of farm machinery. Showrooms perhaps might be closed in many cases, but parts supply and workshops required to keep farmers farming, are in the main ongoing - of course observing the strict social distancing requirements which are mandatory for all.

Where there appeared to be less positive news is with dealers of domestic garden machinery and, in particular, commercial grasscare machinery. The figure which was mentioned anecdotally a couple of times, was that certain manufacturers believed that around 70% of their dealers of these types had taken the decision to close their doors completely.

It was thought that domestic machinery dealers with a robust online sales offering were managing to serve customers - meeting at the gates of premises, dropping things off at a safe distance etc. There still appears to be a demand amongst customers stuck at home to maintain their gardens.

However, where there has been more of a grinding to a complete halt, is with commercial grasscare. This is of course due to the professional end-users simply are not working - or at least not working on grass cutting duties at the moment. The golf course sector in particular was cited as an area of great concern, with unfortunately a very tough time predicted to be ahead of it.

Where dealers are scaling back their operations currently, the advice would be to familiarise yourselves with the government's guidelines regarding furloughing staff. There are some useful links in today's Update here.

The advice is that if workers are furloughed, then they are unable to perform any paid-for work for the duration. What they are able to do however, is volunteer work.

Regarding this, there was lots of talk on Service Dealer's call this week that many dealership workers would posses skills which could be very much desired locally. Those in rural areas, who know how to drive tractors or operate machinery, could very well be in a position to assist farmers who are crying out for help right now. Or perhaps dealership vans which aren't in constant use currently, might be able to be put to good use?  It was felt that our sector was in a good position to offer genuinely useful help to the community.

Above all the loudest message was once again, continue to monitor and to obey the government guidelines. Things might change if lockdown restrictions become tougher, but right now the official advice still remains, if you can't do you job from home, you can go into work - being sure to observe the known safety requirements. With the wording on the retail outlets closure exemptions list, dealers are still able to interpret for themselves whether they choose to open or not.

As always we want to hear from readers. Please feel free to comment under this or any article. Our intention is as ever, to keep you updated on your industry.

Stay safe.