Tag Archive for: Milestones

Toro involved in many key milestones

Toro involved in many key milestones: Toro dealer Cheshire Turf Machinery, based in Stockport near Manchester, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Toro, and its UK distributor, have been involved with Cheshire Turf Machinery for at least the last quarter of a century and some time before that, as managing director, Steve Halley explains: “Initially set up as Cheshire Light Tractors in 1956 selling garden machinery and turf equipment, the company was bought by Flymo in 1980, before we took the business back into private ownership in 1996. At that point, Toro was already a staple part of the business and Lely supported us, particularly with demo equipment when we took over. We changed the name to better suit the ethos of the business in the supply and servicing of professional turf equipment and set our focus on a mainly sports based portfolio of customers.

Toro involved in many key milestones

Toro involved in many key milestones

“The company has been through many changes, but one thing that has remained the same is our relationship with Toro and its UK distributor Lely, then Reesink.”

Toro excels at creating enduring relationships, built on reliability, productivity and quality; many of its relationships with customers are 25 years and counting – and the same relationship longevity applies to its dealers too.

Steve says: “Toro has been involved in so many milestones over the last quarter of a century. Toro was our first machine sold and our 1,000th, and when we decided to branch out into the market sector of councils and landscape contractors in 2013, becoming agents for the Toro Groundscare range enabled us to do that.”

In addition, Toro has also helped in the company’s expansion and as a result of continued sales growth Toro awarded Cheshire Turf Machinery with extra sales and service territory for its commercial golf mowers and equipment, primarily to cover South Yorkshire, culminating in the formation its sales division, Yorkshire Turf Machinery.

Steve says: “We’re very lucky to have had and to continue to have Toro and Reesink on board, having their names associated to ours has benefitted us greatly in building up the business. There’s a very good reason why 70 percent of our product portfolio consists of Toro machinery and that’s because of its quality. I believe that if we do our job properly when we sell that first Toro, we’ll have a customer for life.”

And that leads nicely on to the other major contributing factor to the company’s success and that is the experienced team, says Steve. “Our staff are good at thinking on their feet, thinking laterally to solve our customer’s problems. It was really highlighted in 2020 just how much they care, and I can’t thank them enough for that as well as all their hard work over the years.”

Excellent staff retention means the company can call on over 200 years of industry experience. Special mention goes to company secretary, Bob Smithson. Steve says his wisdom and business acumen has helped guide the company from inception to present and his influence cannot be overstated: “Bob has been instrumental in the success of the business.”

Also key, has been the company’s ability to tailor flexible finance packages to specifically meet customer requirements.

While golf provides the company’s largest customer base, other company highlights include the successful relationships forged with football clubs such as Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool, as well as Preston, Blackburn, Blackpool, and Oldham.

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Milestones For Hunts Engineering

Milestones For Hunts Engineering: Hunts Engineering Ltd is celebrating a double milestone this year after reaching its 10th anniversary in business and also its first year working in partnership with Kubota UK.

To celebrate these key milestones, the Midlands-based tractor and groundcare dealer recently held a special two-day event at its premises in Shipton-on-Stour, welcoming over 250 customers through its doors.

Milestones For Hunts Engineering

Visitors to the open days had the opportunity to see Kubota’s complete range of market leading groundcare solutions, with machinery experts from Hunts Engineering and Kubota UK on-hand to help and answer any questions and queries. A number of live demonstrations also took place across the two-day event, giving visitors the chance to see the machines in action.

Kubota UK’s partnership with Hunts Engineering is going from strength to strength since the two joined forces in 2017. For Hunts Engineering, it has enabled the business to target a much wider customer base.

Hunt’s Engineering’s latest partnership with Kubota UK has helped it to further target the commercial arena, allowing Hunts Engineering to supply machinery to commercial landscapers, local authorities and grounds maintenance professionals across Shipston and spanning a 20-mile radius including Banbury, Chipping Norton and Stratford.

For the first time, Hunts Engineering now supplies UTVs, sub-compact tractors and ride-on mowers through Kubota’s diverse product portfolio. This includes Kubota’s rugged RTV400, RTV500, RTV-X900 and RTV-X1140 utility vehicles, its new BX231, B Series and L1361 sub-compact tractors, and its high performance ride-on mowers, such as the GR Series and ZD122R.

Peter Hunt, Managing Director at Hunts Engineering Ltd, said: “As a family-run business, we are delighted to be celebrating our ten-year anniversary, whilst also marking our one-year milestone as a Kubota dealer.

“Becoming a Kubota groundcare dealer has enabled us to take the business to a new level, securing a breadth of both residential and commercial clients. Whilst its product range is second to none, Kubota’s commitment to aftersales and service also reflects our own dedication to servicing and parts, which remains very much at the core of our success.”

Having been an agricultural engineer for a number of years before launching the business with his wife, Julie, Hunts Engineering boasts a first class workshop and team of Kubota trained engineers who hold over 80 years of servicing experience between them.

Adrian Langmead, Groundcare Business Development Manager, added: “Over the last year we have seen significant growth through our partnership with Hunts Engineering. Our dealer network is vital to our continued growth and success, so having such a dedicated and committed dealership representing our product range, whilst also providing excellent aftersales service, is a fantastic extension of our brand. We look forward to continued success for many years to come.”

For more information on Kubota and its service solutions for the groundcare sector visit www.kubota.co.uk or call 01844 268000.

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