My copy of the latest Service Dealer landed on the doormat on May Day - and made me purr with pleasure and pride. That’s no small feat these days. As ever, it was packed with stories that speak directly to the people in its two-word title, and it set me thinking about how far both the publication and the industry have travelled in nearly four decades.
I’d spent 25 years with a farm and grass machinery dealership before finding myself 'left on the shelf' after a buyout. I still wanted to stay connected to this unsung but endlessly fascinating industry - and I’d always fancied myself as a journalist. So I embraced the old line: ‘those who can, do; those who can’t, write about it’.
In 1988, with Maggie Thatcher in No.10, the economy booming, the average house costing £60,000, I launched Lawn & Garden Equipment, the magazine that would become Service Dealer. From the start, I had three guiding principles: focus on people over products; bring the industry together through events (our first conference was in 1990 with the founder of Kwik-Fit, Sir Tom Farmer as keynote speaker); and ensure that each issue was a little better than the last.
It was the pre-internet age, when research meant a trip to the library and early issues were produced on a Xerox desktop publishing system using floppy disks. There were no mobile phones, fax had only just replaced telex. There was no shortage of material: the famous mower war was in full swing with Flymo v Qualcast (‘it’s a lot less bovver than a hover’) and the rise of DIY superstores was reshaping retail with low prices, seven day trading and vast car parks. Dealers who once owned the market suddenly had to rethink their place in it. Battery power and robotics were still curiosities, but the winds of change were blowing.
As dealers adapted, so did the magazine. Realising I could no longer be a one man band, I took on a young graduate with a degree in film studies who knocked on my door looking for a chance. More than 25 years later, Steve Gibbs has become a dependable editor with an easy style that suits the industry perfectly.
We later launched Turf Professional for the grounds care sector and Torque for farm machinery dealers, but it became clear that these weren’t separate worlds - just one industry with different specialisms. So, in 2013 we brought them together under a single banner: Service Dealer, with Turf Professional later moving online.
One day, a chance phone call introduced me to Duncan Murray-Clarke, which led to his acquisition of the magazines in 2015. He and his team at Wallingford provided the publishing and marketing expertise I could never have matched as I approached retirement. Under their stewardship, the magazine has grown in confidence and reach, recently adding a new supplement for the Plant Hire & Construction Machinery sector and truly earning its place as the Voice of the Industry.
Today, technology - including AI - has transformed everything. Yet Service Dealer remains a proper magazine: high quality, feel good, rooted in real people, and home to a Conference and Awards night that has become the highlight of the industry year.
Now retired and in my mid 80s, I remain fascinated by the industry’s constant evolution. And I look on with huge pride at what Service Dealer has become - a bright, confident mouthpiece for a sector that continues to punch above its weight.
Long may it continue.
Chris Biddle lives with his wife Trish in Southbourne near Bournemouth, a stone's throw from the sea and handy beach bar. They celebrated their Diamond Wedding last September.
