Far be for me to stick up for the ‘enemy’ - but sometimes you should feel sorry for those affected by extraordinary ineptitude

Back in the day, when Service Dealer (or Garden Machinery Retailer as it was then) first crept onto the scene, all the talk was of the ‘sheds’. Through the 1960s and 70s, garden machinery dealers had things pretty well all to themselves. Then in 1969, Mr Block and Mr Quayle met, converted a furniture warehouse in Southampton and started selling houseware, hardware and garden stuff, trading under their surname initials.

By 1980, they had twenty stores and attracted the attention of F W Woolworth who bought them out in 1982. At the same time, Sainsburys together with a Belgian retailer opened the first Homebase store in Croydon. The sheds were in business. Names like Payless, Do-It-All, Texas, Focus soon joined them in bringing mass retailing to the DIY and garden market. Opening 7 days with massive sales floors, large car parks and even larger advertising budgets, specialists were soon under the cosh in those pre-internet days. The sheds were Public Enemy No1 to most dealers.

And when the going got tough for the sheds, they embarked on eye-catching promotions. The most memorable (and far-reaching) came in 1992 when B&Q marketed a petrol walk-behind mower at £99, virtually cutting in half the perceived value of such a machine. Yes, it was a side-discharge machine more suited to the US, and of questionable quality, but heck . . it cost under £100. And of course, when the early season went sour weather-wise, the sheds slashed prices to clear the decks for BBQs and garden furniture, again distorting the market.

But as we got deeper into the Noughties, the internet began to become influential. Dealers found a tool whereby they could compete for customers attention without having massive advertising budgets. The sheds themselves had to evolve, some disappeared, and the likes of B&Q and Homebase altered their strategy. B&Q went more ‘blokey’, attracting the pros and semi-pros, Homebase softened its image, brought in concessions like Laura Ashley and Habitat to attract the family audience.

That is until Australian meg-retailer Wesfarmers (owners of the Bunnings DIY chain) came on the scene – and decided they knew the British public best. Bunnings enjoy cult status Down Under, primarily due to its ‘sausage-sizzle’ barbecue events and aggressive pricing. Out went the UK management, out went the concessions. In came ‘every-day pricing’, pile-it-high displays and amateurish hand-written price signs. The stores soon looked like a giant jumble sale.

Wesfarmers had paid £340m for Homebase in 2016, made a loss of £54m in the first year and soon discovered that their strategy at home didn’t fit the UK. This summer they sold the chain to company restructuring outfit Hilco for £1. Hilco immediately announced that over 40 stores were to close.

Now I’m not crying in my beer over the decimation of this once powerful competitor to the specialist network, but the people, the staff, the suppliers are those that suffer. Our Homebase in Salisbury is on the closure list, the staff are distraught.

Of course, retail is undergoing a massive wake-up call, stores in all manner of sectors are closing. But that is mainly down to changing market conditions. A slimmed down Homebase may have a second-wind but it has been brought to its knees because of woeful management, poor execution of a strategy and a sheer lack of ‘knowing the market’ which would be inexcusable if undertaken by any retailer, large or small.

So if you are looking for new showroom down this way, can put up with the occasional rogue Russian, you know where to look.

Cornish Kubota Dealership Vincent Tractors & Plant is expanding into Devon and opening two new branches in Holsworthy and Smithaleigh.

The two new branches will focus on the full range of Kubota equipment - agriculture, groundcare and construction. The Head Office for the expanded company will remain at Fraddon, with both of the new sites having a sales, parts and service departments offering customers local support.

Paul Vincent, Managing Director of Vincent Tractors & Plant said “This is an incredibly exciting time in the company’s history. Two of my sons, Nick and Alec have joined the company to help implement this expansion. Nick being responsible for construction sales in Devon and Cornwall initially and Alec as our Financial Manager”.

“Over the past 52 years we have dealt predominantly with customers in Cornwall. The opening of the two new branches will allow us to offer our award-winning level of expertise and customer service to customers in Devon. Richard Felton will cover the new area for agricultural sales, while John Scott and Trevor Readwin will cover groundcare in the south and north respectively”.

Rob Edwards, Kubota’ Business Development Manager for Agriculture, said “We are very pleased to be working with Vincent Tractors & Plant on their expansion. Paul and his team have a great reputation in Cornwall as a dealership that provides quality equipment and service to their customers. We aim to help them bring this to Devon through the utilisation of our latest machinery and excellent aftersales support”

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The opening of the new depots will enable Vincent Tractors & Plant to supply and service Kubota’s complete range of high quality and innovative agricultural equipment to Devon’s farmers. This includes the recently launched flagship M7 range up to 170hp, as well as the extensive range of agricultural implements.

Kubota’s groundcare range includes walk behind, ride-on, out-front and zero turn mowers, as well as its industry leading compact tractors and its durable and rugged RTV utility vehicles. Kubota’s range of BX Series, B1 Series and B2 Series sub-compact tractors are perfect for the Devon market as they are leaders in innovation, reliability and value for money.

Kubota’s excavator range, from the micro K008-3 (800kg) to the KX080-4 (8 tonne), continue to dominate the construction market with quality, performance and reliability. This is a very important market to Kubota and Vincent Tractors & Plant welcomes customers both old and new to our Devon depots.

Vincent Tractors & Plant commenced trading in Devon as from 1st September 2018. The official opening of the two new branches will be later in the year.

2018 marks 17 years in business for RT Machinery and their annual September Show near Aylesbury was an extra special event to celebrate the granting of a Royal Warrant for the “Supply and Service of Ground Care Equipment by Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen” on 1st April this year.

Their biggest event yet, 200 guests enjoyed the amazing views while looking at lawncare and groundcare machines from over 30 different suppliers.

Guests had the opportunity to take part in ride and drive trials, see live demonstrations and get advice from both manufacturers and the RTM team. They also tucked into a traditional pig roast, and enjoyed some amazing home-made cakes!

The Royal Warrant which was being celebrated is a mark of recognition to companies or individuals who have supplied goods or services to the Royal Household for at least five years. that is The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh or The Prince of Wales.

RT Machinery welcomed The Town Mayor of Aylesbury, Councillor Mark Willis, and the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher for an official unveiling of the Royal Arms.

Sir Henry was able to shed more light on the history of Royal Warrants. He said, “The granting of a Royal Charter, the mediaeval version of the current warrant, goes back to 1155 when Henry II granted the Weaver's Company a Royal Charter."

Since then monarchs have continued the tradition of recognising a huge range of trades over the centuries, with over 800 holding a Royal Warrant today. 

Receiving the recognition of Royal Warrant allows companies to display the official Royal Arms on their communications and premises, and is an official acknowledgement of the company’s services to the Royal Family.

Richard Taylor, md RT Machinery with the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher. Picture: The Bucks Herald Newspaper.

In the case of RT Machinery, Richard Taylor md, and his team have been supplying the Royal Household since the company started trading in 2001. That was when Richard worked from a summer house office at the bottom of his garden and Technical Director, Stephen Palmer headed up a fairly basic workshop.

Today the company is able to supply equipment across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey and London and the South East from substantial premises in rural Buckinghamshire, complete with a smart workshop, offices and parts department. The business also employs 24 members of staff now.

Richard Taylor said, “As a family business, we feel very privileged to have received this prestigious award: Serving the Royal Household has always been considered a privilege and a pleasure.

"The award really came as a surprise and it has certainly been a team effort: the expertise and commitment of our staff have been an integral part of our achievement and I’d like to take this opportunity to say thanks for all their hard work.”

Husqvarna has warned its third-quarter core operating profit would halve due to unfavourable weather, restructuring costs and rising trade tariffs.

The outdoor power tools manufacturer said in July that it would restructure its Consumer Brands division partly due to weak demand in the United States. “In addition to the restructuring, the third quarter has also been impacted by the extended warm and dry weather” the company has said

In the year-ago quarter, operating profit excluding one-off items was 433 million crowns ($48.7 million).

Husqvarna said the profit drop came mainly on the back of a “negative product- and regional mix for its core Husqvarna division as warm and dry weather in Europe hit demand”. It said both Husqvarna and Consumer Brands, including petrol lawnmowers and garden tractors, also had higher costs for raw materials and new tariffs.

“For 2019 the expectation is that these will be mitigated by price increases,” it added.

Husqvarna said that the restructuring it plans to carry out this year and next would cost an estimated total 1.2 billion crowns ($135 million) before tax, and predicted annual savings from the restructuring of around 250 million crowns with full effect from 2020.

Husqvarna is due to publish its full third-quarter report on Oct. 19

IN a ruling that will be noted in many other US States, an agreement has been signed by representatives of California farmers and equipment dealers which will make it easier for farmers to diagnose and repair equipment without accessing or downloading proprietary software or code.

Leaders of the Far West Equipment Dealers Assn. (FWEDA) and the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) signed the agreement at the Belkorp AG equipment dealership in Stockton, California

With the “right-to-repair” agreement, equipment dealers commit to providing access to service manuals, product guides, on-board diagnostics and other information that would help a farmer or rancher to identify or repair problems with the machinery. The agreement includes restrictions. Among them: Source code for proprietary software would not be accessible, and owners would not be able to change equipment in ways that would affect compliance with safety or emissions regulations.

“Reliable farm equipment is crucial to the success of any farming operation, and farmers have long depended on their ability to make repairs quickly in order to keep their equipment running during harvest and other key times,” CFBF President Jamie Johansson said. “This agreement gives farmers the information they need to do just that, even as equipment has become increasingly complex.”
“This agreement says a lot about the relationship between dealers and their customers,” FWEDA President and CEO Joani Woelfel added

Under the agreement, maintenance, diagnostic and repair information not already available will be made available for tractors and combines put into service beginning 2021.
Major corporations in the US, including John Deere, Apple and AT&T have been lobbying to prevent consumers gaining access to technical information citing safety, security and intellectual property concerns.

John Deere has gone as far as to claim that farmers don’t own the tractors they own but instead receive a “licence to operate the vehicle”. They lock users into license agreements that forbid them from even looking at the software running the tractor or the signals it generates

Read US trade magazine, Farm Equipment, editorial on Right to Repair ruling

Keith Smith from Birmingham has won the 2018 Creative Lawns competition organised by Allett Mowers. Keith, a member of the greenkeeping team at Edgbaston Golf Club has finished in the top 3 for the past two years running and has been working hard each year to win the competition.

273 hrs of hard work went into his winning design with Keith using two 1940’s push mowers to create the pattern and is meticulously mowed to a height of 5mm for two hours every day in summer. Keith is so protective of his lawn he does not let any of his family members on it.

Despite the hot, dry summer in the UK, there was a strong number of entries including from as far away as the US, Poland and Holland Entries are judged on creativity and must be cut with a lawn mower. All entries received were put to a panel of Allett experts who judged the most creative designs.

Keith wins an Allett Liberty 43 battery powered cylinder mower with a complete set of cartridges and two cartridge stands.

Rolawn, the UK's leading turf grower and Britain's leading high quality topsoil supplier forecast that turf prices in the UK are set to increase over the coming months. The impact of challenging growing conditions starting with the cold wet winter, followed by the ‘Beast from the East' in spring, moving on to a record breaking hot dry summer has increased production costs in an unprecedented manner.

As widely reported many crops have been under tremendous pressure with yields sharply reduced combined with significantly higher costs, which can only result in significant upward pressure on price. Added to this, increases in fuel prices compared to last year means that the cost of turf production, harvesting and delivery have increased significantly.

As a result, a double-digit percentage increase in the price of turf is predicted. 

Paul Dawson, Rolawn's Managing Director says "At Rolawn our customers understand that we invest heavily in being able to continuously supply high quality turf, year-round. The more extreme nature of weather patterns we have experienced in the UK, particularly over the last 8 months, reaffirms our approach in developing an evolved Medallion turf, harvested younger and thinner, put through our patented Profresh® system to extend shelf life, creating a highly adaptable rapid rooting product that results in a healthier lawn.

However, like many growers of outdoor crops, we have been hit with major cost increases across the business, and these need to be reflected in the market"

Toro has announced the recent appointment of Orange Plant as an authorised dealer.

Orange Plant provide specialist plant hire machinery to customers across the UK. With an extended knowledge and expertise in the tree care industry, Toro say they saw a great opportunity to join forces.

Dingo

The company is now an official dealer for all Toro Siteworks Systems equipment, and is currently stocking machines such as Toro STX Stump Grinders and the Toro Dingo® TX 1000 with arborist attachments.

EMEA Sales Manager for Toro, Federico Fernandez-Ayala, commented, “As a trusted provider in the industry, Toro strives to work with dealers who are committed to delivering a high-level of service to customers that matches our brand ethos. Orange Plant are a fine example of this and with the largest selection of arboricultural hire machinery in the UK, we saw great potential in the partnership.

"As masters of their trade, we see Orange Plant one of our routes to the tree care industry in the UK. And as our relationship develops, we will look to stock a wider range of the SWS equipment through Orange Plant, to suit an extended customer base.”

Orange Plant currently offer the Toro SWS products from six locations including: Glasgow, Newcastle, Wetherby, Bromborough, Cannock and Peterborough.

Tong Engineering has boosted its sales team with the appointment of a new Sales Manager who will help drive sales throughout the UK and overseas

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Richard Knighton has joined the company with over 30 years experience in root crop industry, originally starting his career in 1988 when he joined Key Agricultural. With roles in various departments across the business, Richard expanded his engineering experience and qualifications before moving to Standen Engineering. Richard has since held sales roles at Thurlow Nunn Standen, his own company Knighton Farm Machinery, and latterly Grimme UK.

Richard will be using this wealth of experience in his new role at Tong, dealing with new and existing customers to expand the business’s customer base in all areas of post-harvest handling, from crop loading, cleaning and grading, to turnkey washing and processing solutions.

Based at Tong Engineering’s office in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, Richard will spend much of his time visiting customers to discuss and develop their equipment needs.

Edward Tong, Managing Director at Tong Engineering said: “Richard is a valuable addition to our sales team and will help us reach our sales targets for 2018 and beyond. Our range of handling equipment is advancing all the time, with more new product developments in the pipeline to further increase the efficiency of the potato and vegetable handling process. With this in mind, we want to ensure we maintain close communication with new and existing customers to keep them up to date with the equipment advances and efficiencies that Tong has to offer. Bringing Richard into the sales force will help us to continue to achieve this.”

Polaris Britain has joined forces with pioneering farming scheme, The Horned Beef Company, supplying one of the brand’s Ranger EV 4X4 vehicles to assist the project that has seen support both at local and national level.

Established by Cumbrian husband and wife, David and Bekka Corrie Close, The Horned Beef Company is a unique scheme set-up with the support of their local community in a bid to create a sustainable approach to cattle farming, grazing on land in areas where no crops will grow.

David and Bekka Corrie Close of The Horned Beef Company

Supported by the National Trust, the Prince’s Countryside Fund, the RSPCA and Cumbrian Wildife Trust, the aim was to create an innovative business approach to sustainable, ecologically sound farming, land management and nature conservation, moving from local land scattered here and there, to a National Trust tenancy of a hundred and fifty acres near Kendal. On top of this, the duo have a number of other sites in five locations where cattle are grazed periodically through the year. In all, they are caring for around 1000 acres of National Trust land.

“We have a mixed bag of cattle,” commented David. “From the Longhorn, probably the most majestic, to Highland, Shetland and Dexters. The native breeds are quite rare and we have to travel far to acquire them and now we have a colourful herd of very calm, naturally well-behaved animals.”

The Polaris Ranger EV, launched as the world’s first true 4X4 electric vehicle fits perfectly with the Horned Beef Company’s aims and ethos. The advantages of electric power coupled with its off-road abilities make it a suitable vehicle for managing the areas around David and Bekka’s base, moving feed and generally tending the cattle. It’s an ecological blend with the countryside, non-polluting, silent, and requiring the absolute minimum servicing.

“It’s an wonderful vehicle,” added David. “Covering the exposed and rough terrain without putting a foot wrong and it seems appropriate to be moving around the landscape without noise. It lives at the farm and for day-to-day work it’s far better than a tractor or big 4X4. We want to explore solar power next for charging the Ranger EV, we already use solar well pumps and we’re keen to expand it as a power source.”

Before the arrival of the Ranger EV the couple were moving hay bales on foot, it being the only way they could get the food across the hilly terrain.

Polaris Britain National Sales Manager, Ben Murray, commented: “We were truly inspired with what David and Bekka are doing at the Horned Beef Company. It’s great to see such a unique approach to farming and in many ways the Ranger EV shares a similar approach. We’re confident that Ranger EV is the most suitable and ecologically sound choice for their farm.”

Next Friday (5th October) is World Smile Day.

With all the negativity kicking around at the moment, we thought it would be great if we celebrated happiness for a change!

What makes your customers smile when they are in your dealership?

Please send us a quick smiley selfie (or a customer smiling if you can persuade them) and 1 sentence on what makes your customers smile and you could appear next week when we will run the results in the Weekly Update.

Email your picture and sentence to steve@servicedealer.co.uk before next Friday and let’s do our bit to help cheer up the world!

Here's the Service Dealer team at TAP getting into the spirit!

Autumn is coming so #GetGrizzly and be prepared!

Grizzly have a range of purpose-made products perfect for keeping the leaves at bay and preparing your garden for the winter. Whilst the trees are not yet changing colour and the warmth of summer has barely receded, autumn will be here in its blustery glory any day now. It’s the perfect time to stock up on the products that will help to keep gardens in check for the next six months.

Grizzly’s winter-proof offering is designed to suit the largest of jobs and smallest of needs. The kit includes an inline motor 2400W electric chainsaw and versatile petrol pole saw, robust 2800W shredder, alongside the top selling 3000W electric leaf blower. There is also a fantastic selection of autumn and winter products available in the Grizzly 40V Battery range.

With such a diverse range Grizzly aims to cover both ends of the spectrum with its products, from heavy duty maintenance and lopping at great heights to clearing the leaves from your driveway; stay ahead of the gardening game throughout autumn and winter to minimise the work for when the sunshine (and garden growth!) returns.

Sample these tools and other products from Grizzly’s brilliant range for yourself, enjoy the exceptional quality and effective marketing by becoming a Grizzly dealer today: get Grizzly and see the difference!
To see the full range of Grizzly garden tools or for more information visit www.grizzlytools.co.uk

Grizzly Tools manufacture quality power tools for every gardener; sold across Europe for 20 years, the brand is well established and trusted by tradesmen and home gardeners alike. If you’d like to speak to Grizzly Tools about their range of products, please give us a call on 0845 683 2670 or email sales@grizzlytools.co.uk.

SALTEX event organisers have revealed exciting details about this year’s all-encompassing education programme – Learning LIVE. The CPD-accredited seminars are free to attend and registration is now open for all sessions that are due to take place in four purpose-built seminar theatres on the SALTEX show floor in Halls 6, 7 and 8 at The NEC, Birmingham on 31 October – 01 November.

Last year’s Learning LIVE programme was the biggest one yet and featured more than 100 industry experts who took to the stage to address a variety of topical issues and highlight best practice case studies within the turf care industry – and feedback gathered from seminar delegates has helped organisers to create an even better line up of speakers and learning opportunities to suit the needs of all SALTEX visitors at this year’s event.

Day one will feature an interesting panel debate featuring Professor Colin Fleming (Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute), Neil Stubley (AELTC), Tony Bell (Middlesbrough FC) and Andy Gray (Southampton FC), who will discuss a chemical-free alternative to clean up your soil. Adam Witchell (Forest Green Rovers FC) and Roy Rigby (Manchester City FC) will be among those highlighting emerging trends in groundsmanship and a panel of professional groundsmen including Anthony Facey (Colchester Utd FC), Dave Mitchell (Carlisle Utd FC) and Stuart Vause (Castleford Tigers) will be discussing groundsmanship on a budget and sharing valuable money-saving tips.

Elsewhere on day one HR consultant Frank Newberry and Scott Tingley (Watford FC) will be on hand to provide career development tips and reveal how to secure the top jobs, while delegates will get the chance to ask questions to a panel of pest and disease experts in a session run by the Amenity Forum. There will also be plenty of technical advice on offer within Dr Ruth Mann’s (STRI) presentation on how technological advances are helping to improve turf grass quality on playing surfaces.

On day two, Phil Garrod (Advance Grass Solutions) will be sharing new ideas that have had successful outcomes in preparing pristine turf for multi sports on a single site and Ted Mitchell and Corin Palmer from the RFU will explain how the RFU and Premiership Rugby are raising the standards of groundsmanship. Andy McKay (Sussex CCC), Gary Barwell (Warwickshire CCC) and Chris Wood (ECB) will also explain how to prepare a cricket wicket to world-class standards.

In addition, phosphite for cool-season turf grass management; sports pitch renovations; the benefits of topdressing and education in the sports turf industry will be addressed by expert speakers including Andy Spetch (British Sugar Topsoil) and Dr Stewart Brown (University Centre Myerscough).

To book the seminars you wish to attend please visit https://www.iogsaltex.com/learning-live/
Go to www.iogsaltex.com to register for FREE

Follow SALTEX on Twitter @IOG_SALTEX and Facebook – www.facebook.com/IOGSALTEX

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