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TECHNICIANS OF THE YEAR Why the winners are ready to inspire the next generation
Why these technicians are ready
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LE-TEC, THE LANDBASED EngineeringTraining and Education Committee, has announced the winners of the Landbased Engineering Technician of the Year competition. The winners were selected by a panel of industry experts from the entrants’ submission videos.
James Hood from Manitou UK won first place in the competition. James started in the industry as an apprentice in 2003 at Robert Davies machinery in Shropshire and progressed to be a senior engineer at the same dealership. James joined Manitou in 2018 as a CSB Technician before changing to a different dealership to progress his career as the service manager and then returned to Manitou UK two years later as the area after-sales manager.
On receiving the news of winning the competition, James said: “Winning the LETEC competition has highlighted how much I would like to give back to the industry and promote agricultural engineering as a whole to the younger generation because the industry is struggling for young engineers. There’s not a lot coming through, and as the older engineers move away and retire, the knowledge isn’t getting passed down anymore and it needs a big injection of youth right now. For anyone who is considering it, I would definitely recommend it.”
Brad Smith, based at B&B Tractors’ head offices in Mansfield, was awarded second place. Brad has been at B&B Tractors for nearly seven years, starting as an apprentice in South Yorkshire in general agricultural engineering. After four years he went to New Zealand for eight months, and returned to be B&B Tractors’ harvest specialist engineer and is the only engineer at the Warsop depot to work on combine harvesters. When asked about the landscape of the landbased engineering industry at the moment, Brad replied: “This year, especially after Covid, a lot of people have left the industry, a lot of people are looking for new opportunities, at this moment in time the agricultural engineer industry is short on engineers, so there is plenty of opportunity.” Brad said it was a good achievement winning this award and it reflected the work that he put in: “It feels great to win this award because it shows that the hard work and good work ethic can really get you places in this agricultural industry.”
Third place was awarded to Craig Farmer from Bryson Tractors at Lanark. Craig told us what he enjoyed about working in the industry is that every day is different: you can be in the workshop, on site or on a farm, in all different
AS THE OLDER ENGINEERS MOVE AWAY AND RETIRE, THE KNOWLEDGE ISN’T GETTING PASSED DOWN ANYMORE 'SOME OF OUR SERVICE ENGINEERS HAVE BEEN WITH US FOR 25 YEARS'
Alan Snow celebrates three anniversaries
SOUTHWEST FARM MACHINERY dealer Alan Snow celebrates 40 years of trading this year, 30 years as an authorised Fendt dealer, and 25 years as a BAGMA member.
Alan, who started his business from the back of a van in 1982, is today the distributor for tractor brands Fendt (Devon and Cornwall), Massey Ferguson (Cornwall and West Devon) and Valtra (Cornwall and West & South Devon). The company, Alan Snow Agricultural Engineers Ltd, operates from premises in Holsworthy, Launceston and Truro and employs more than 40 staff.
Alan has been involved with agricultural machinery all his life. Coming from a farming family, at an early age he decided milking cows wasn’t for him. His real passion was tractors and, after leaving school, he took an apprenticeship with agricultural engineers Fulford Trumps. At the age of 25, he elected to go it alone and set up a small repair business from home in Thornbury. He quickly built up a reputation with farmers in the area and, as a result of customer recommendation, just three years later was appointed service agent for Fendt tractors.
In 1989, he moved with his family to a new home in Sutcombe, near Holsworthy, which had enough land to build a workshop. He was awarded the full Fendt distribution franchise in 1992 and the business grew steadily. In 2007, he opened a second depot, in Truro. This depot was outgrown, and purpose-built premises were opened in Tolvaddon, Camborne, in 2020.
With relentless effort and dedication, Alan, wife Di, daughter Becky and their team have moved onwards and upwards and have become one of the most knowledgeable, respected and longest serving Fendt dealers in the UK.
Alan says the dealership’s expansion over the years has been down to the hard work and commitment of his staff and it shows customers in these areas that the business is there to support them.
“We have a loyal and strong team,” Alan says. “Some of our service engineers have been with us for 25 years and our Fendt sales manager and parts manager for over 15. A lot of the wider team have been here for well over a decade, too.
“We really value this as a business. It is not only good for us, but it is great for our customers to see familiar faces turn up on their farm. It offers reassurance and guarantees them a level of service they have come to expect.
“We’ve recently employed extra salespeople to add strength to the team. I believe that to be a key part of the longevity and is one of the reasons why we have been able to work closely with Fendt for 30 years. It comes down to the service we offer and doing a good job on behalf of Fendt.”
