Major Owen, the distributor of construction and groundcare equipment in North Wales, is celebrating its 30th anniversary as an official Kubota dealer this year.

The dealership’s 30-year milestone, hot on the heels of being accredited with the Kubota Gold Service Excellence Award for its fifth consecutive year, means that the partnership with Kubota is the longest commercial relationship Major Owen has had in the history of the business.


Staff at Major Owen celebrate

Formed by Major Raymond Owen in 1977, Major Owen initially operated from Major’s own garden shed in the village of Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd. The initial product focus was on the two-stroke machinery that was prominent at the time, particularly chainsaws and brush cutters, with Major ably supported by his daughter Deborah.

With the irrepressible rise of larger outdoor power products and petrol run machinery in the early eighties, Major Owen successfully capitalised on this market trend and this lead to the business moving to its first lease-hold professional facility in 1984. The family theme also continued, with Major recruiting his son-in-law David Burnham and son-in-law to be, Andy Jones (now Managing Director) into the fold.

It was around this period that conversations started with Kubota, and Major Owen was awarded the main Kubota dealership for groundcare equipment the North Wales region in 1986. After successive years of considerable financial growth, in 1990 the firm moved to its first fully owned two acre facility at Parc Road in Penrhyndeudraeth, where after further expansion Major Owen began dealing Kubota’s portfolio of construction equipment in 1994.

Fast-forward to today and Major Owen employs 26 people, including 14 service staff, and operates out of the same premises in Parc Road which now stands at 18,500 square foot, boasting a state of the art showroom and workshop with dedicated parts, maintenance and administration areas. The long-standing relationship with Kubota has become a bedrock of the business and the partnership continues to deliver strong business results for both parties.

Andy Jones, Major Owen’s Managing Director, commented on the strength of the relationship: “There’s no doubt that our partnership with Kubota is a real business success story and this year’s 30 year celebration is testament to the solidity of this working affiliation.

“Kubota machines are extremely popular with our customer base and Major Owen has grown significantly with the success of the products on both the construction and groundcare side.

“The fact that we deal in both sectors is a significant benefit to Major Owen customers in North Wales, as a large proportion of our customers require both construction and groundcare equipment, be that councils, golf clubs, caravan parks, housing estates or plant hire firms. This means that we are a one-stop shop machinery dealer to many businesses, guaranteeing the same quality of Kubota product and after sales support whatever the application or business need.

“The high performance and reliability of the Kubota machinery is complemented by the relationship we have with Kubota’s dealer managers; Tom Dunlop for groundcare and Richard Sayers for construction. Both gentlemen have a vast knowledge of the industry and give second to none support to our growing business."

Andy closed by stating: “We look forward to developing our business with Kubota as we move forward, hopefully for the next 30 years and beyond. If we continue our good working relationship I’m confident that there will be exciting prospects for both Major Own and Kubota long into the future.”