AGCO Life after

The last couple of years have seen huge changes for Lister Wilder, including uncoupling from AGCO during the Covid pandemic. Sales director Phill Hughes, service director Neil Davies and parts director Keith Baker discuss the changes, recruitment and the current supply situation…

THE BUSINESS, FOUNDED in 1947, began by selling the Massey Ferguson range of agricultural machinery from its base in Reading. Since then, it has grown and expanded and was renamed Lister Wilder in 2000, pulling upon the strength of the history of ownership with Walter Wilder and Lister Farm Sales. The company continued to grow to be over 250 people strong with a turnover of more than £120m.

With Kubota signalling its intent to become a major manufacturer of agricultural machinery, Lister Wilder realised that a decision needed to be made regarding its longterm future. The relationship with Kubota dates to 1995, when the groundcare division was formed. This was quickly followed by the addition of the construction range in 2001. In January 2021, the decision was made to uncouple from the AGCO franchise and take on the full line of Kubota agricultural equipment. Reaching an agreement with neighbouring dealership Chandlers Farm Equipment, who purchased the AGCO side of the business and turned over to them all the associated team members.

Today, Lister Wilder’s territory stretches across the South of England, from Bristol to Ashford, with five main branches and is the first full-line Kubota dealer in Europe. We chatted with sales director Phill Hughes, service director Neil Davies and parts director Keith Baker about the business today.

What have been the biggest achievements for Lister Wilder since the changes in 2021? Phill Hughes: “We have, of course, seen lots of changes since the announcement in 2021. Our most significant achievement would be the opening of both the Bibury and Bristol branches in 2022 and we have now established five Kubota centres strategically placed across the South of England.

“Another key achievement would be the growth that we’ve seen since the split. Since January 2022 we’ve been able to create an additional 47 roles within the business, and this number continues to grow, with more joining over the coming months.

“We really feel like we have been able to curate a great portfolio of equipment, particularly on the agricultural side of the business. With Kubota now our main agricultural franchise we added Merlo, Yamaha, Kockerling, Larrington Trailers and Bomford Turner, defining a core group of equipment to be able to offer the best to our customers. It can be easy to get carried away collecting franchises and we aren’t looking at doing that, we want to have a focus and all our team on the same page.”

Keith Baker: “From a parts perspective, having the core franchises does make the job a lot easier. We can streamline our stock and ensure that we can supply consistently to our customer base. I work closely with Neil and Phill to ensure that we are on the same page and know what stock we need to support each brand of machine.”

Were there any worries when it came to the uncoupling from AGCO?

PH: “Yes, lots! But fortunately, they were allayed!

“We had been Massey Ferguson dealers since 1947 so there were big concerns about how it would affect both our customers and the entire team, particularly those that were moving company. We could only have gone ahead in the knowledge that we were protecting everyone within the existing companies’ future, and that our long-established agricultural customers would be suitably looked after.

“As it turns out, it’s been the single biggest and best decision the company has made – bringing a renewed sense of focus, purpose and unity across the entire business… We simply couldn’t have wished for a better outcome.”

You are renowned for having a close-knit team, how would you say they have coped with the changes and how do you instil a good team ethos across the company?

PH: “There are many reasons why the team are so close. We’re a very open company with the senior leadership team and shareholders fully on-hand at all times. We also do a huge amount socially and for charity, which really helps the team to engage with each other. The whole place still feels very much like a family, which is rare in a company of this size.”

KB: “We did a bowling competition last year between branches which will be revived for 2023, we have had trips to the rugby, comedy clubs and lots of team members socialise outside of work-planned activities too. We also do things like Easter eggs for everyone and days off for your birthday. It all builds a team and goes a long way in their enjoyment of being part of the Lister Wilder business.

“As directors, we work closely to ensure that the decisions made will only ever positively impact the company and the team. This doesn’t mean we always agree, but we always discuss things together!”

PH: “Our fundraisers are always great at building team spirit. We usually do a big one every three years and then we consistently do smaller local events like our recent donating of over 175 Christmas gifts to the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. We always encourage members of the team to publicise any fundraisers that they are doing and we as a company will sponsor them. This last year, our big fundraiser also celebrated our 75th anni- versary, 55 team members cycled 55 miles by taking part in the London to Brighton Cycle Ride to raise money for Leukaemia & Myeloma Research UK. We raised £22,250!”

Congratulations on your recent Kubota Service Excellence awards, we all know how important aftersales is in machinery, how do you provide quality service and what processes do you have in place to ensure this?

Neil Davis: “Thank you, as achieving Gold and Gold Plus status was very much a team effort. Regarding how this translates into a quality service, I suppose much of this comes down to the motivation of the individual engineers and parts team. The fact they enjoy their roles and feel a valued part of the company translates directly into them wanting to do the best they possibly can for the customer. Our company slogan is #SalesWithService, this is something that we fully believe in as a management team, which hopefully installs the same ethos throughout the wider the team.

“We value the importance of good training as well. I am big on training; I believe that if you have a good foundation of knowledge to progress from you can support the equipment properly. Our engineers go to Kubota HQ at least once a year for training.

“In terms of our service support, a great addition to our portfolio has been Kubota engines. Not only does it hugely support our Kubota machines but also our Timberwolf and Baroness equipment, which both use Kubota engines. Before we would have had to go to an engine specialist if work needed to be done, but now we can work on it ourselves or supply complete new units. It means that we can be much more efficient for the customer.”

Your uncoupling from AGCO was happening during the Covid pandemic, how did you manage this with a team of over 250 people, across multiple branches?

PH: “We can’t deny that it was a huge undertaking, yet if there were any positives of Covid, it was the way it pulled us together around a single cause. We have never worked closer (or indeed harder) as a team than during this period and we were able to carry this forward during the uncoupling. It was a time that could have caused real distress, yet we emerged stronger and more excited about the future than ever before. Indeed, the only remaining regret is for the people that we couldn’t take with us on the Kubota journey… yet knowing they would be looked after by Chandlers softened this significantly.”

How are you finding recruitment across all departments and is there any particular activity that you think manufacturers should be doing to encourage recruitment?

PH: “Like most dealerships, finding good quality colleagues to join the team is always a challenge… and our growth since the uncoupling has made this an even bigger challenge. In the last two years, we have been fortunate to find 47 new members to join us on our journey and we continue to search for more!”

ND: “We are focussed on attracting younger people into the company through the Kubota Apprentice Scheme. We are conscious that we have an ageing workforce like many other dealerships, so we want young people to join us, and we are putting a focus on attending careers fairs and recruitment fairs to get ourselves in front of them. We have also now signed the Armed Forces Covenant which means we have made a promise to those who serve or have served, and their families, to assist in ensuring they are treated fairly and do not face disadvantages in recruitment. I come from a military background myself so swapping tanks for tractors is possible and we are delighted to be welcoming more people from this background.”

KB: “It’s the same from the parts side, we are taking a lot of people in from the automotive industry which is great. We also have an exemployee who comes in and trains members of the team on the machinery parts business so that they can learn and progress in their role.”

PH: “Regarding any help from the manufac- turers, I think a careers page on each of their websites would be a great start, where they could direct interested candidates to their nearest dealership. As an example, Kubota promote their highly acclaimed apprenticeship scheme on their site, this is a great way to showcase the training path on offer, and the interested parties via the dealer locator.”

How has the change to being full-line Kubota impacted the team and the customers?

ND: “As a team, we definitely feel more aligned. Things could get a bit muddy before, whereas now we have a more clear and direct vision, and everyone is aligned.

“We are still dealing with a similar customer base but there have been a few shifts. With the current available horsepower from Kubota tractors, we aren’t seeing as many arable customers on the agriculture side, but we are certainly doing a lot more with dairy farms, they love the Kubota M4 and M5. We are lucky to have a vast mix of customers across our operating area, in all our departments.”

Do you have any predictions for the machinery industry when it comes to machine and parts supply for 2023?

PH: “It would appear that supply from Japan hasn’t been quite as impacted as it has from America. Whilst there are still a number of challenges being presented on a daily basis, we seem to have ridden that wave quite well, particularly with Kubota, which might have something to do with their extensive product range and manufacture of their own engines. I don’t have access to the same information that the manufactures do, but if Q1 is an indicator to how the rest of the year will go, then I’m optimistic that the supply chain is now going through a recovery period.”

KB: “From the parts side, supply is definitely getting better, we have seen improvements since the opening of the new central Kubota hub in Europe. Hopefully things will continue to improve, and it won’t be long before we are back where we were a few years ago.”

Are there any exciting future plans you can share with us?

PH: “There’s always something exciting going on at Lister Wilder! My lips are sealed regarding future plans though. All I can say is watch this space.”

What do you find most important about being a BAGMA member?

PH: “We have been associated with BAGMA for a long time now, it feels good to be part of an industry organisation that supports the dealerships and represents our needs with both the manufacturers and on government issues. Over the years that we’ve been members we have looked to BAGMA for advice on numerous issues and have engaged with a number of their training courses. All of our sales, hire and delivery team members are accredited with the BAGMA Handover & Installation qualifications for example.”