31/05/07
The partners and employees of agricultural machinery firm P&D
Engineering (Bredon) are looking forward to the new business opportunities
that will come from joining the retail dealer network of one of
Britain’s top four farm tractor makes.
McCormick south-west England area manager Steve Cann (left) welcomes Mike Pullin of P&D Engineering to the McCormick tractor retail dealer network.
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According to Mike Pullin, who runs the business in partnership
with his wife Penny, becoming an area dealer for McCormick Tractors
International Ltd, the Doncaster-based manufacturer, opens up new
possibilities.
“McCormick produces a range of tractors that will interest
our existing customers because they’re ideally suited to
the different types of farming and other rural businesses we have
in this area,” he says. “But we also hope to attract
owners of the large population of these and similar tractors in
the territory as new customers.”
P&D Engineering’s offices, parts stores and busy service
and repair workshop are located at Fleet Lane, Bredon near Tewkesbury,
Glos, which is at the heart of the McCormick territory stretching
from Droitwich and Redditch to the north, Stroud to the south and
between Ledbury in Herefordshire to the west and Stow-on-the-Wold,
Gloucestershire to the east.
“We’re right at the centre of this area and thanks
to good road connections our four service vans have no more than
a 45 minute drive to reach customers for on-farm servicing or repairs,” explains
Mr Pullin. “This is important to us because we put a great
emphasis on the standard of our service back-up.”
Steve Cann, south-west area manager at McCormick, confirms this
was a key factor in choosing P & D Engineering for the network: “Reliable
and quick-response service back-up is crucial to farmers, contractors
and other users of tractors and farm machinery because they rely
on them pretty much every day of the week,” he points out. “Mike
Pullin and his team have an excellent reputation as far as service
is concerned and will complement their neighbouring dealers Uphill & Son
at Radstock to the south, Collins Bros at Pontrilas to the west,
and Burgess to the north of the territory.”
Parts manager Jason Middlecote is assisted by Penny and Mike Pullin’s
daughter Vickie, who is gaining experience in all departments of
the business, while Heather Williams works alongside Penny in the
office.
Experienced technicians Steve Perrins and Nigel Barnard are supported
by apprentice Dan Morris who studies agricultural engineering at
Warwickshire College, Moreton Morrell. A fourth technician is being
recruited.
On the sales front, the new business partnership with McCormick
has got off to a flying start. Within four days of lining up a
selection of tractors on the forecourt, Mr Pullin had taken two
orders.
A 102hp CX105, which is McCormick’s best-selling tractor
in Britain, is destined for a local livestock farm while a 152hp
MTX150 – McCormick’s most popular six-cylinder model – will
be used at G H Hussell’s Ashbury Farm, Kemerton, near Tewkesbury
for farming and contract work.
“It will be our first McCormick and our biggest tractor;
my father Gordon and I are pleased to be supporting a local supplier,” says
Paul Hussell of Ashbury Farm. “We’ll be using the tractor
for silage baling, which we do on contract to local farms, and
for ploughing and power harrowing at home when we’re re-seeding
grass pastures for our beef and sheep enterprises.”
Mike Pullin says these two models are typical of the size and
power of tractor likely to be most popular with farmers in the
area, along with the high-spec mid-range MC models and the F Series
specialist tractors designed for fruit and commercial horticulture.
He also anticipates keen interest in McCormick’s high performance
XTX tractors, particularly the 145hp and 167hp additions to the
range due to be launched later this year.
“I’m very optimistic about our prospects as a McCormick
dealer,” he comments. “The response we’ve had
from our customers so far has been nothing but positive.”
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