It is disappointing to see the Countax company name disappear from the front of the Great Haseley HQ, but quite understandable that Ariens need to establish their identity.

It is after all, five years since the Wisconsin-based company bought Countax, so you could hardly call it a knee-jerk move.

We are rightly proud of our home-grown brands, and possibly no more so in recent years than Harry Handkammer’s Countax who, from a standing-start, went on to claim market leadership in the garden tractor market in three years. It was a survivors story, a British-bulldog story, an audacious story and a David against Goliath story of a company faced with oblivion when the main customer walks away.

It gained Harry and Countax considerably kudos and coverage in the national press, and has become a text-book case study for our industry.

But it was a story of the moment - and perhaps it was always unrealistic that the small company could maintain the momentum required to become a leading brand, worldwide.

That is perhaps the advantage, and the disadvantage of the British mower market. We are rightly proud of our fine turf, and our engineering ingenuity - but it sometimes doesn’t travel well.

Flymo, not a British invention I know, ruled the roost in the UK market for years, but remained a virtual unknown outside these shores, and the same with Countax except in isolated markets.

Ariens is not a household name in the UK, but in a way that doesn’t matter. It is the strength and vision of a holding company to develop and gain traction from the strength and public awareness of its brands to suit different markets.

In many ways, this move should help the Countax brand, as well as the other brands in the UK which could have become neutered and stifled by being associated with the Countax name.

Ariens will see this as a way of unshackling their potential, along with the advantages of using the Oxfordshire manufacturing resource for producing British products in different livery for their overseas markets.

So shed only a little tear. The prospects for Countax could have been dire in other hands. Family-owned Ariens have tradition and loads of manufacturing ‘nous’ on their side - and this simple change could have far-reaching benefits.