As you may have already read, there are a number of corporate activity stories in today's news, with various manufacturers striking deals and making moves planning for the future.

The STIHL and Briggs & Stratton partnership in the States is an interesting one. Their team-up means that STIHL in America will now be able to offer a zero-turn mower as part of their lineup for the first time. However, STIHL GB does tell us that there are no plans to see these products in the UK.

Traditionally zero-turns have indeed been classified as more of U.S-centric tool. However, we have seen evidence of other manufacturers in recent times pushing the technology over here, presumably believing there is potential for worldwide growth in this burgeoning commercial sector. The question arises then, if certain brands begin to see significant success outside of the U.S, will others want to enter the market?

There are also stories today of companies expanding their manufacturing facilities (Claas and TYM) and of corporate acquisitions facilitating increased product offerings (New Holland).

If we're popping our glass-half-full hats on then, these developments could be taken as fairly positive indicators that these huge corporations are forecasting demand for their machinery will at least maintain its current high levels - with clear ambitions to increase customer activity and their profits even further. 

Whether the thought of this can put a spring in our dealer readers' steps today though, I'm not so sure?

Thinking about potentially bumper times to come is hard when each morning there's problems to solve. It is completely understandable how it's difficult to devote time to taking a step back and looking at the business, to plan ahead, when there's fires to fight and hurdles to overcome every single day.

From conversations we're having at the moment it appears that many are too preoccupied with the here and now to think too far forward. With the stocking crisis, the cost of living crisis, the recruitment crisis . . . well, it's all a bit crisis-y isn't it?!

Staffing

It's this latter crisis we're interested to hear about from our dealer readers today please. We'd appreciate your input on our survey asking how you are finding recruitment into the dealership currently.

We ran a questionnaire looking at the subject this time last year, when we were told that whilst for many there was a genuine desire to increase the workforce, it was a frustrating experience. Also what seemed clear was this was a perennial issue for the industry, not something that had been influenced in the short-term by the pandemic.

Asking for your feedback on this today, ties in with our 2022 Service Dealer Conference theme that was launched last week. Whilst not solely concentrating on recruitment, the Conference's Sustaining Dealerships topic will most certainly focus keenly on the area. So hearing what as many of our readers as possible are going through is invaluable. It will be of great help to shape the event's content and indeed give our expert speakers a steer as to what concerns the network is feeling most acutely. 

So please do find a moment to fill in our brief survey today. There's a few quick questions and space for you to leave your thoughts and accounts of your recent experiences when attempting to employ.

Responses as ever are anonymous, with the results and a selection of comments to be published in the upcoming issue of Service Dealer magazine.

Thanks again for your help. The magazine benefits greatly from as many contributions from our fantastic readers as possible.

TAKE THE SURVEY