As I mused last week, this September is certainly proving to be a busy one for the outdoor powered machinery industry.

Glee at the NEC, Tillage Live at Monks Kirby and APF at the Ragley Estate all took place this week. As well as events run by Makita, Ransomes and Rochfords (that I know about). This is following on from Cub Cadet and FGM Claymore last week - and GGP next week!

I myself managed to get to Glee and APF, but trains and WiFi have conspired against me which means that in order to get this Newsletter out to you all today, I've had to miss going to down to Somerset this morning to catch Rochford's final event of the week - sorry Mark and Stewart!

However much running about it involves though, weeks like this prove that old adage to be so true. You can't fax a handshake. Well, not fax anymore obviously - you can't Tweet a handshake.

The value in catching up with colleagues and contemporaries, discussing the issues of the day, really can't be underestimated. And of course the opportunity to see what products are new and coming up is always fascinating.

At Glee I caught up with Simon Belcher, md of Handy Distribution, whose impressive stand was flying the flag for machinery at the NEC. Glee is still an important show for Handy, but not so much for meeting dealers. They get great value out of it from seeing their garden centre and DIY store customers.

Their stand included Flymo, McCulloch, Gardena, Karcher, Webb and GreenWorks. A lot of effort was clearly put into to the eye-catching displays which as well as several new products also included some new point of sale displays which dealers could be seeing in their stores soon.

APF, which despite the tragic death of a worker in the set-up of the show on Tuesday, started as planned yesterday. It was a first time for myself attending and I was immediately struck by the vastness of the site, which still managed to feel busy. Obviously as a professional forestry show the majority of what was on display was not the most relevant to our sector, but with companies such as Husqvarna, Stihl, Makita, Ariens, Kubota, and GreenMech amongst others all with significant presences, a visit was certainly worthwhile.

I spoke to Husqvarna's UK sales and marketing director Ken Brewster who told me how important the show was to the company. With such a targeted audience of forestry professionals attending, it was an ideal opportunity for the company to show off their battery powered range of tools - alongside their traditional petrol machines. The Husqvarna Arena which hosted pole climbing competitions, carving demonstrations, and product showcases, was certainly attracting the crowds.

I'll give a more detailed account of what was on show at these two events in the next edition of Service Dealer. Which will also include a preview of the upcoming SALTEX exhibition at the NEC. 

Not to mention the Service Dealer Conference and Awards which is almost upon us now (17th November at the Oxford Belfry if you haven't booked your place yet!).

And then we won't be far off BTME and LAMMA . . .