Firstly today, a couple of shameless plugs from us here at Service Dealer Towers.

As you hopefully are fully aware, next Thursday our annual Conference and all-important Dealer of the Year Awards take place in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Tremendous efforts have been made, and are on-going, behind the scenes by the incredible organising team at TAP to get everything in place. All of this hard work and dedication is geared toward making our dealer delegates' experience as valuable and enjoyable as humanly possible.

Looking at the day's agenda, many potential highlights immediately jump out at me. For example, I have a strong feeling that our keynote speaker of business guru Ellis Watson will be a fascinating listen and will go over really well with our audience of dealers. I had an opportunity to meet Ellis for the first time recently, and in our brief chat over Zoom he immediately struck me as an engaging, affable, funny chap, who clearly knew his subject inside out and upside down. He will draw parallels between his business life - which has taken him from md of Mirror Group Newspapers to CEO of Simon Cowell’s Syco Corporation - to the experiences of our delegates. I think he'll be both relatable and super enjoyable.

Also of great interest to me are the Customer Insight sessions that will see three top-level professionals in their respective fields speak both about their own roles, but crucially about how they all rely on local dealerships to keep them going. I suspect they will cover exactly what it is they want from their dealers, where this relationship has really benefited them in the past, and perhaps even highlight where mistakes can be made in the hope of avoiding such instances in the future. I know these talks will be genuinely enlightening.

And this is all before we get to the ever-popular breakout seminars, which this year are looking at two bang-up-to-date aspects of running a modern dealership - how to protect yourselves from cyber-crime and how the use of A.I could offer practical benefits to the business. These sessions are always great as they allow superb interaction between the expert presenters and the dealers in the room.

This will be followed in the evening with the revelations of who has won our prestigious Dealer of the Year Awards - plus, of course, the chance to have a well-deserved drink with friends, deep into the night. We are all looking forward to seeing as many of you there as possible next week.

Also today, you may have already seen that our Digital Special Report on last month's Equip trade show that took place in Louisville, Kentucky, is now live for you peruse and enjoy. Packed full of videos, it is designed to give UK dealers a real flavour of what a visit to the show could offer should you choose to do so in subsequent years. Do keep checking back to the Report over the next few weeks, as we are serialising an in-depth roundtable discussion between Duncan, Jo, Bob and Sara, that covers a range of topics, all of great interest to dealers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Warranty claims

Finally today, we are running a brief survey to gauge where our dealer readers' opinions currently stand regarding warranty claims. We've asked you about this subject at this time of year for the past couple of seasons, so it'll be interesting to see if the needle has shifted at all over the past 12 months (either for the better or worse).

As an observer, it feels to me that this is an emotive subject for our readers and is one that is never far from discussion when two or more dealers meet up. I recall that first time that we asked for your thoughts on the situation, it came about following a conversation I'd had at the Conference with a dealer. I remember they had voiced some serious concerns they held regarding certain supplying manufacturers and their rates of pay, plus the hoops they made dealers jump though for warranties.

The subject has raised its head again at various points during the industry news cycle of this year too, so hearing from as many of our dealer readers as possible today would be much appreciated.

To remind you, last year when we asked for your thoughts on the subject, most who responded voiced real frustrations. Some illustrative quotes included:

• "Warranty labour payment rates are never going to be enough unless the manufacturers pay our retail rate and pay a fair time for repairs."
• "We have noticed a drop in the ability of manufacturers to help with technical issues, coupled with an increase in reducing or refusing totally claims for repairs on their machines."
• "The payment rate is far too low and an insult; the systems and time taken to claim is awful; and the time they take to pay the claim is disgraceful."

Some strong words there. There were certain manufacturers who were singled out for praise, but on the whole the readers who responded were not happy.

So please, if you were able to take a couple of moments today to answer a few, brief questions and to leave your thoughts on the current warranty situation, either positive or negative, we would be most grateful. All feedback is entirely anonymous, so please feel able to speak freely.

As ever we'll publish the results and as many of your comments as we can in the next issue of Service Dealer magazine. Many thanks in advance for your help.

TAKE THE SURVEY

The Service Dealer Conference & Awards takes place next Thursday, November 28th, once again at the larger venue of the Crowne Plaza, Stratford-upon-Avon.

This years’ event will embrace the theme Driving Success with organisers promising it will deliver inspiration and strategies to aid dealership management and growth. Through a series of workshops, guest speakers and audience interaction, it's our intention that delegates will leave with the tools to help dealerships thrive. 

Service Dealer owner Duncan Murray-Clarke said, “I think that this year has seen some extremely tough conditions and even tougher decisions. I know everyone who runs an event says ‘bigger and better’, but we do just keep growing with everyone’s support and positive attitudes. We promise to keep doing our best to deliver a strong, informative platform for our delegates and sponsors.”

Highlights of the day will include a keynote presentation by Ellis Watson, a business leader, whose impressive career has taken him on a journey, leading businesses through change and disruption. Ellis’ experience, makes him well equipped to share his insights into how to deal with complex challenges and not to see them as a threat, but to view them as a springboard for positive change. 

Also on the agenda will be the ever popular breakout seminar sessions. These will include AI in Action: From Research to Results, presented by Neil Wilkins, marketing consultant and senior tutor at Cambridge Marketing College. Neil will be delivering a practical and engaging workshop exploring AI applications, demonstrating the tools and techniques that deliver measurable business value.

The second breakout is entitled How Criminals Are Hacking Your Business and will be presented by Warwickshire Police Cyber Crime, in company with the Regional Cyber Crime Unit. This workshop promises to give delegates an insight into how cyber criminals use team members to gain sensitive information from your business. The session will explore techniques criminals might use and will demonstrate with case studies how this could happen.

Also a key part of the day will be a series of Customer Insight presentations. Joining us on stage to share their experience and provide valuable look at what top professional in their field require from their local dealerships will be: Jim Buttar, head groundsman at the RFU (Twickenham), Andrew Ward MBE, farmer; and Karl McDermott, head groundsman, Lord’s.

And in the evening following on from the day's events, will be our gala Dealer Of The Year Awards ceremony. Presented once again by comedian Charlie Baker, with entertainment from top stand-up Rob Rouse, the winners of our prestigious awards will be revealed.

Duncan Murray-Clarke added, "We look forward to seeing all our amazing dealer delegates and fantastic sponsors next week. We can't wait for everyone to enjoy what we have in store this year."

Service Dealer & TurfPro's exclusive Digital Special Report, packed full of video coverage of last month's Equip show that took place in Louisville, Kentucky, went live on Wednesday this week.

The event is the world's largest outdoor power machinery industry exhibition, which owner of our titles Duncan Murray-Clarke attended with the magazine’s diarist of the season for 2024, dealer Jo Balmer of Balmers GM, plus our video expert David Comiskey.

The team gathered and produced tons of content Around The Show, the through-line for much, is following Jo as a first-time UK dealer visitor to this incredible expo. Her experience of the OPEI's event, illustrates just what a trip to Louisville could offer to other UK dealers. The scale of the show is genuinely something to behold. There's so much to see, interact with and enjoy, it's a lot to take in. With Jo's help, we hope the Report offers a flavour of what other UK dealers could expect should they decide to make a trip in subsequent years.

The Digital Special Report also includes an In-Depth section featuring an interview with the President and CEO, of the show's organisers the OPEI, Kris Kiser - plus we serialise a five-part roundtable discussion between Duncan & Jo with Bob Clements of BCI alongside our American columnist Sara Hey, that covers U.S and UK market comparisons; Dealer stocking commitments; Product evolution and routes to market; Rate of industry change; and Equip show developments and battery recycling.

You can also watch Duncan and Jo Roundup their views on this event and hear why they believe a visit is well worth a UK dealer's time.

WATCH ALL OF THE DIGITAL SPECIAL REPORT'S CONTENT HERE.

Starting today we are serialising a roundtable discussion between Service Dealer's Duncan Murray-Clarke and dealer Jo Balmer of Balmers GM, with Bob Clements and Sarah Hey of U.S dealer training experts Bob Clements International.

In part one they consider the current differences between the UK and US OPE markets.

They look at how the dealer experience on both sides of the Atlantic compares and contrasts – covering areas including inflation, fuel prices and the rise (or otherwise) of robotic mowing solutions.

Further parts of their far-reaching discussion will follow in subsequent weeks.

Watch now as part of Service Dealer's Equip Digital Special Report.

The Midlands Machinery Show, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday this week, will adopt a new one-day format from 2025 the Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society (NNAS) has announced.  

After a decade as a two-day event at the Newark Showground each November, the NNAS say they have consulted exhibitors and examined feedback from show-goers to ensure it continues to deliver what attendees want.  

Events and development manager, Elizabeth Halsall, said, “The agricultural industry has changed significantly over the years and it’s important that we remain in-tune with what people want from a well-established, regional show.  

“We recognise that visitors have less time to be away from their businesses, and that exhibitors want to make show attendance as efficient as possible. This new one-day format will help in both those regards.”  

Gavin Pell, managing director at dealership Chandlers Farm Equipment, agrees, saying, "The show has enjoyed huge success in its original format which was set out ten years ago. We have to acknowledge that the industry has changed and it's right for the agricultural society to review how the event runs.  

“We feel a one-day show will be really positive, meaning it is more cost-effective for us to attend, visitor footfall will be concentrated to one day, and there will be less time away from the farm for those who want to attend."  

 
The show organising committee says it is excited about the potential of bringing two days’ footfall into a single day.  “This should create an even greater buzz for our valued exhibitors,” Elizabeth said.  

“We believe this positive move will further enhance what is already a hugely valued and well-supported regional show.”

 
The NNAS have announces that the 2025 Midlands Machinery Show will take place on Wednesday 19 November at Newark Showground.  

Wayne Nash, head of operations at Cardiff City Football Club, has been announced as the winner of the SALTEX 2024 registration giveaway, courtesy of Ryobi.

L-R: Cardiff City FC's Wayne Nash and Ryobi'sThomas Leather

 
Wayne took home a range of Ryobi tools valued at over £1,700 including a lawnmower, hedge trimmer, chainsaw and more.

Reflecting on his experience, Wayne said, “I get our grounds staff together regularly for a trip, so we got in the minibus and had a fantastic day at SALTEX. 

“It was great to visit our suppliers, see new equipment and learn about the latest innovations. I never really win anything, so when I got the phone call, I was blown away. Funny enough, I had actually been thinking about buying a Ryob hedge cutter to replace my hand shears, so this fits quite nicely!” 

Thomas Leather, head of marketing at Ryobi said: “SALTEX was a great chance for us to connect with so many people. We had a great time showcasing our latest innovations and seeing the positive reception from visitors. Congratulations to Wayne on his win - we hope these tools will serve as valuable assets to his work.” 

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