I'd firstly today like to pass on huge thanks from us here at Service Dealer, to Anthony Deacon who spoke to us this week about the closure of his dealership.

We really appreciate Ant being so frank in giving us his side of what will clearly have been a traumatic experience.

He tells us how in the final weeks MKM experienced a turbulent trading period. He says, "Despite best efforts to close and remain solvent I received professional advice and instructed an Insolvency Practitioner to enter the company into voluntary liquidation."

I'm sure all our dealer readers hearing this today will appreciate just how tough this must have been. Ant goes on to explain how he feels now he is towards the other side of it, saying, "For me I now feel free, relieved and no longer under the pressure I have not been able to escape for a very long time."

Again I'm sure readers will sympathise with those emotions that Ant must have been going through whilst in the midst of everything. Those feelings of being overwhelmed by circumstances are alarming. It's in those moments we need family, friends and colleagues to be there for support.

Ant has promised to write something further for our magazine in due course, as he clearly will have plenty in common with many business owners in our sector. "Hopefully I can offer some help and support," he says. We look forward to bringing that to our readership, as we firmly believe personal accounts such as this could prove to be invaluable to dealerships facing similar issues.

Tough out there

We are fully aware from your feedback, that trading conditions are tough for many of our readers at the moment. Pressures are being felt across various facets of the business.

No spoilers ahead of the publication of the next mag, but those of you who responded to our winter servicing survey last week highlighted several factors that are causing headaches so far in 2025. There are those areas that we've come to expect to hear mentioned when we quiz you on matters such as these, like the difficulties in finding enough staff to populate roles within the workshop. But we're also being told, for example, of the struggles to manage customer expectations when the service department is rushed off its feet. As well as these we're also hearing rumblings of sticking points cropping up between some dealerships and their supplying manufacturers.

It's fair to say that the number of plates that dealers must keep spinning in order to keep their business not only afloat, but in profit, is formidable.

We've recently spent a couple of weeks discussing how both the ag and professional turfcare machinery markets have enjoyed successful trade shows in terms of punters through their doors. Whilst encouraging signs for the season ahead, events like these will be just one piece of the puzzle. It won't be as simple an equation as to presume there'll be a bumper sales season due to all those interested professionals pouring over shiny new machines. 

Every dealer reading this today will know they have their work cut out - as they do each and every season. The landscape is clearly changing though, and the issues being faced are not the same as they were ten, or even five, years ago. With the changes in technologies, in routes to market and in customer habits, dealers are facing shifting sands.

So where Service Dealer is able to facilitate our community of dealer readers to come together to share their real-world insights, practical solutions, and a sense of togetherness, that's exactly what we intend to do. And not just for the tough stuff. We are delighted today for example, to bring you news of Jason's successful first marathon (of twelve!!).

We promise to continue to act as an independent space for dealer-to-dealer interaction through our pages, our digital content and our conference.