willow farm machinery

willowfarm-machinery.co.uk

Tel.01529 460 332Sean Stanfield.07789 683 625

Willow Farm Machinery, Little Hale Fen, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 9BG

email: [email protected] NATIONAL FARMERNATIONAL FARMER email: [email protected]

Owner of the business, farmer David Nickol has alwayshad an interest in agricultural machinery and had a part-time business sourcing, importing and selling on a

variety of products. “It was more of a hobby really, and we hada small stand at Lamma, ran a few small adverts and handledfour or five pieces of equipment a year, mainly from SMS andRozmital,” he said. “The business ran well along-side our 1,200acre family farm on which we produce cereals, sugar beet andonions, but it was clear there was the potential there for asuccessful stand-alone business if the time and resources couldbe put into it.”

In June 2010 agriculturalmachinery salesrepresentative SeanStanfield was taken on torun the business. Asuccessful area salesmanager for a largeagricultural dealer sellingtractors and implements tolocal farmers, he knew andunderstood the market well.“I had known the Nickolsfamily for many years andknew about their machinery

sales business. I was used to selling large machinery to farmersin Lincolnshire and understood what was required of a dealerto satisfy farmers’ needs. Although there had been the part-time business running, trading as DE Nickosls, I knew it wouldbe a case of starting from scratch and having the systems inplace and the resources to get the business up and running.The brands with which David had been dealing offeredexcellent products, but we would need additional ranges too,and during my time as an agricultural sales representative I hadmade contacts and seen machinery at shows that I felt wouldbe useful to us. We started trading as Willow Farm Machinery,set up an informative website, and booked to attend majorshows and working demonstrations, as well as advertising theproducts we offer.”

Willow FarmMachineryIn the short period since it started tradingsome 19 months ago, Willow FarmMachinery has become a recognised andrespected name, having grown from apart-time machinery import business to asignificant supplier offering quality brands.Based on a farm in north Lincolnshire thebusiness is the official importer for brandsincluding Carre, Rozmital, SMS and Ino,offering a specialised range of equipmentfrom mowers to tedders, and drills toprecision-guided vegetable hoes.

NationalFarmerCompanyProfile

One of Sean’s first triumphs was securing the Carrebrand. The company hadn’t exported previously and therewere several products to appeal to specialist vegetable

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growers as well as the range of drills.“The self-steering hoe using a Claascamera guidance system is excellent, andI knew it would be popular withspecialist growers,” said Sean. “Some 60percent of the company’s equipment isfor mainstream agricultural use,including traditional harrows and lightcultivation equipment, and the productsare especially popular with organic growers in France.”

Scallop levellingThe harrow has two rows of slitting tines, which will workdown to 8-11cm if needed, followed by a scallop levellingboard, then there are two rows of finger harrows. A mountedseeder unit can be fitted delivering seed behind the slittingtines. Shaun said that although the harrow was launched afterthe traditional spring drilling time, it has been immediatelypopular and has sold well. “It’s a three-in-one single passmachine for grassland farmers. In recent years grassland hasbecome more valuable and farmers now look after the crop asarable farmers look after theirs.

NATIONAL FARMER email: [email protected] FARMER email: [email protected]

BORDER PLANT SALES is long established and asa 'family' business we pride ourselves on ourprofessionalism and experience. We specialise inbuying/selling new and used plant & equipment, andoffering commercial sales for import/export, dependingon local needs and legislation on a global basis.

Website: www.borderplantsales.comTelephone: 01477 500305


PopularThe Carre Precicam guidance system is another popular tool inthe range. It is basically a toolbar onto which the hoe, or otherdevice, to be steered is mounted and which uses a Claas LaserPilot camera, or mechanical sensors, to follow a line or row,and combined with the automatic row-alignment systemprovides very accurate inter-row hoeing. Shaun said this notonly ensures extreme accuracy but also saves operator fatigue,particularly when large areas have to be worked each day.

Rozmital products have been sold by David for many years,but since the investment in shows and the extra marketingduring the past year, sales have increased massively. “We tookthe products to Lamma, the Welsh machinery show, Grassland,Beef Expo and the Royal Highland as well as attending one-dayspecialist shows, and farmers have been impressed with theproducts and have placed orders. The rakes and tedders as wellas the new disc mower on static display at Grassland have beenespecially popular in Wales and Somerset and the range hasfeatures and a price that appeals to smaller farmers. We workwell with Rozmital, it’s an excellent relationship.

First timeIno products were displayed by Willow Farm Machinery atLamma and it was the first time many of them had beendisplayed in the UK. Sean said the company’s range of flailmowers is ideally suited to the needs of fruit growers and salesin Kent have been excellent. Until recently the offset mowershave been available only in right-hand format, which hasmeant their use for roadside maintenance has beencompromised, but Sean has persuaded the company toproduce a left-hand version which he believes will greatlyincrease sales. “They are all sold with a two-year warranty, it’san excellent quality product, the ones in use perform very welland users like them, and now with the left-hand offset, manymore users will be able to take advantage of the excellentfeatures.” New products coming from the manufacturer, andfor which Sean believes there will be a ready market, includefertiliser and salt spreaders and, due to be announced atLamma, a new maize and sugar beet drill. Having displayed theIno equipment at Lamma, Sean was keen to promote thebenefits to his dealers, and after seeing the quality ofengineering for himself, wanted his dealers to see the care thatgoes in to the manufacture.

EstablishedSMS is a manufacturer predominantly of cultivation equipmentand as well as its established subsoiler range there are newCambridge rolls being launched at Agritechnica, which Sean

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email: [email protected] NATIONAL FARMERNATIONAL FARMER email: [email protected]

Berry Farm Services

Chris Boyd Area Sales ManagerTelephone: 01256 384 208

Mobile: 07961 461 340

Cultivators & Drills • Cultivators & Subsoiler’s• Mowers & Rakes • Spreaders & Slurry Tankers

• Spreaders & Trailers • Diet Feeders• Flail Mowers • Sprayers

believes will be well suited to the UK market. Sales of thecompany’s products are growing and he says that expandingthe range on offer will increase its appeal.

Willow Farm Machinery’s growth has been so rapid thatalready extra staff are being taken on. David Nicholls and sonPeter both help out at shows and during busy periods, and aproduct specialist, Andrew Warriner, joined the company inAugust. A full-time apprentice, David Smith, helps assemblingmachines and is also available to assist at workingdemonstrations, and helps out on the farm too when needed.

Sean was always confident that the new business would bea success, but even he has been astonished at the responsefrom dealers and customers. “We were just too busy to cope atLamma. As well as assistance from the manufacturers webrought in as many extra people as we could to help, but wejust didn’t stop for the two days. Grassland was very successfultoo, and that was when we gained a lot of additional dealerenquiries. We don’t demand huge stock orders, but will helpby providing consignment machinery and accepting low-valuestocking orders to help the dealers become established.”

Something for mostSean says the good mix of machinery offered as well as thespecialist products means there is something for most types offarm, arable, livestock, grassland, fruit, vegetable and organictoo, as well as products for amenity maintenance. “We aregetting talked about more now and our name is familiar and

trusted by farmers. The dealers like representing us as weconduct ourselves well, and provide them a professionalservice. The good website is a help as dealers can refercustomers to it for product information. It’s a whole package,we are a serious business. I am very lucky the Nickols family hasbacked me and trusted me to build the business. I am verypassionate about everything we do, and delighted that theresponse from dealers and customers has been so positive soquickly.”

Sean Stanfield says he is very lucky to have been allowed toget on and build up the company in the way that he wantedto. Having started off doing all the administration himself, thesales workload has grown rapidly, and now he is assisted withaccounts by Caroline Nickols.

The future for WILLOW FARM MACHINERY looks to be thatof growing the business further by not only supplying moremachines but also by possibly adding staff in the future andpossibly another brand with a product line up that willcomplement the currents products.

Sean also tells us that he is very keen also to inform us thatat this years grassland event they hope to launch a uk builtproduct that has been designed in conjunction with a smallmanufacture soley for WILLOW FARM MACHINEY.


willow farm machinery

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