Devon businesses join BAGMA Henton & Chattell takes

HENTON & CHATTELL has become a Kubota dealer for agricultural and groundcare machinery, covering the East Midlands area.

Kubota UK says the appointment is a strategic move for its longterm business ambition of growing its groundcare and agricultural machinery sales.

Henry Bredin, general manager of Kubota UK’s tractor business unit, said: “The appointment of Henton & Chattell will help Kubota to further strengthen its position in these important market sectors, by serving a wider cross-section of customers.”

Established in 1931, Henton & Chattell is one of the largest garden machinery distributors in the UK and is currently located in Nottingham. A family-owned business, it has a wealth of experience supplying a broad range of customers from its logistics operation, which boasts a workforce of 85 and over 11,000sq m of warehouse space.

Peter Chaloner, managing director of Henton & Chattell, commented: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to move our business forward with Kubota. We like to be successful in every market we’re in, which means it’s all about our team, its knowledge, and the ability to deliver first-class customer service.

“We already have a strong groundcare team. The opportunity to develop an agricultural machinery business to provide sales, service and support to the industry through a partnership with a dynamic and forward-thinking tractor manufacturer is the next logical stage of our business development.”

Epic journey raises awareness of suicide

A team of four drivers has successfully driven a combine harvester from John O’Groats to Land’s End.

It took farmers Olly Harrison, John Branson, James Baldini and Martin Williams five days to cover the 875-mile journey in a Claas Lexion 8700 – using Certas Energy HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) to minimise their environmental impact.

All of them have lost close friends through suicide and wanted to raise awareness and funds for two charities: Mind and Children with Cancer UK (Claas’s chosen charity this year).

TWO DEVON

Businesses

– Tivertonbased Mid-Devon Lawnmowers and Pancrasweek-based Jim Robinson Farm & Garden Machinery – are the latest businesses to join BAGMA.

“We decided to join BAGMA earlier this year because of the wide range of benefits it can offer, in all aspects of our business. They also support many independent dealers,” said Matt Vaughan, who took over Mid-Devon Lawnmowers with Kate Vaughan in 2021.

“On the occasions we have called BAGMA they have always answered calls ready to help and have responded to emails promptly. I think over time we as a business will use BAGMA more and more, mainly because of the personal touch.”

Mid-Devon Lawnmowers, which has been servicing and repairing machines around Tiverton for more than 30 years, also supplies new and used equipment from John Deere, Stihl, EGO, Billy Goat and Cobra Machines. Jim Robinson Farm & Garden Machinery, which has a showroom and workshop in Pancrasweek, near Holsworthy, has been trading for 20 years this year.

BAGMA’s business development manager, Richard Jenkins, recently visited Jim and Adam Robinson at the family business. Jim told him:

“As a family-run business we pride ourselves upon stocking farm and gardening machinery from industry trusted brands. This ensures that we offer value for money and reliable products to all of our customers across Devon and North Cornwall. Our business is built upon our reputation which is why we are main agents for trusted brands such as Countax, Echo, Karcher, and Mitox.”

BAGMA believes member services such as insurance, card processing, training and legal help can provide rates unavailable to individual dealers.

Azur signs up

AZUR SERVICES, BASED in Hailsham, East Sussex, has joined BAGMA. On a recent visit there, BAGMA’s general manager, Nick Darking, caught up with well-known industry figure Steve Vogels who has been immersed in this industry for more than 36 years and has seen many changes, although he believes the fundamentals have not changed. In setting up Azur, the goal was to supply good quality used equipment at affordable prices to greenkeepers and groundsman facing a sharp rise in capital costs. Steve told Nick: “Not only do we supply good quality used equipment, but we also offer expert advice in equipment, finance, valuations, and anything machinery related. We also are more than happy to purchase and underwrite equipment that customers are looking to sell/release from their machinery shed.”

Kubota president visits dealer

Family-fun HRN Tractors used “local talent” when it came to feeding and entertaining a team from Kubota, including the company president Yuichi Kitao. They dropped in on HRN’s Stirling depot. The event was an excellent opportunity for HRN, which has seven depots in Scotland, to meet the Kubota team and give them a taste of Scotland. HRN Tractors Ltd, established in 1980, has recently become a member of BAGMA. Its range includes Kubota Agriculture, Kubota construction, Hyundai, Kverneland, Vicon, Bailey, and Bunning.

Rea Valley Tractors to acquire