50 years of excellence: Irish Farm & Garden Machinery (IFGM) celebrates 50 years of business this year. The company, one of Europe’s leading independent distributors of outdoor power equipment, remains family owned and run, now managed by second generation Paul Butterly (Managing Director), and brother Kieran (Technical Director). Although retired, Mum (and co-founder) Eileen, continues to pop into the Dublin office around three days a week – just to ensure that the business continues to operate smoothly.
“We’re thrilled to have reached this milestone” says Paul. “This is a tough industry and the fact that we’re here in 2024, bigger and stronger than ever, is simply amazing”.
50 years of excellence
Asked how IFGM has successfully navigated multiple recessions, turbulent trading conditions and technologically driven changes in consumer demand over the past 50 years, Paul says: “We’ve always focused on keeping the company very nimble and this gives us a lot of flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions. We’ve been careful in the rate of our expansion, gradually building the business over time, only working with the very best brands in the industry. No matter what is happening in the economy, people will always buy quality product that offers the best value-for-money.”
In 2006, the business purchased U.K distributor Claymore Grass Machinery, now known as FGM Claymore, an acquisition that greatly extended the reach of the company. In 2022, the business was awarded U.K distribution rights for ECHO which, following the appointment in Ireland a few years earlier, made IFGM the third largest ECHO distributor in Europe.
The team at IFGM celebrated the anniversary during a special event held on the 28 February in Athlone. Dealers from all over the country, alongside special guests from Briggs & Stratton and Yamabiko, joined the Butterly family to celebrate this important anniversary.
Paul gave a special presentation that covered the history of the company, sharing anecdotes alongside the major milestones that made up the IFGM story. There were congratulatory video messages from garden machinery suppliers in New Zealand, Japan, and Italy, alongside special in-person presentations from Briggs & Stratton and Yamabiko.
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