Range Servant, the world leader in driving range and ball management technology, Duchell, Europe’s largest distributor of golf course and driving range equipment, and Par Aide of the USA have reached an historic agreement whereby Pareto Golf Ltd., the new company owned 50/50 by Duchell and Par Aide, will be handling all of Range Servant’s sales and distribution in the UK. Those involved believe this will be a real ‘win win’ for the customers as well as the suppliers, writes Charles de Haan.
Duchell has been distributing Range Servant equipment throughout European markets for over 20 years, and with a large UK facility for stocking equipment allied to the resources for delivering a support service to match, Duchell and Par Aide are ideally placed to ensure that the new venture, Pareto Golf Ltd., provides the same standards of sales, service and back up to Range Servant’s UK customers.
Duchell teamed up with Par Aide earlier this year to create the new Pareto Golf Ltd. in order to market, sell and distribute not only Pareto’s driving range equipment but also Par Aide’s and Pattisson’s course accessories. With the inclusion of Range Servant in the UK brand portfolio as well, Duchell’s MD and owner Duco van Oosterhout is very positive about the benefits for Range Servant’s UK customers: “Range Servant’s UK-based team of Jo Smith, Mike Ciano and Corinne Mitchell has developed great relationships with customers throughout the UK. As part of our brand portfolio, they are now part of a new and larger team that has significantly more muscle. Our UK-based facility will stock Range Servant equipment, and that means low to no downtime for range operators. Combining this advantage with great back up means we can now deliver an even better service for Range Servant’s UK customers.”
“The management teams of Range Servant, Duchell and Par Aide share similar beliefs about quality, technology, and looking after our customers. As the UK comes out of recession, there will be more opportunities for owners and operators of driving ranges, and with Range Servant on board, our new UK company Pareto Golf now has the ideal portfolio to offer any UK range customer what they want, so that they can develop their businesses the way they want to.”
A comprehensive offering, with well positioned brands
Dave Murphy, the new Sales Director for the Pareto, Par Aide, Pattisson and now the Range Servant brands in the UK, is confident that the distribution agreement is good news for Range Servant and its customers: “This move makes what was already a good team into one that can genuinely walk the talk, from sales and administration to support, spares, servicing and back up.”
Positioning of the different brands is paramount, as Dave Murphy explains: “Range Servant is clearly the Mercedes of the range equipment brand names, especially with the new developments in touch screen and online technology. Range Servant’s quality and reliability holds enormous appeal to many UK customers and end users.”
“By comparison, Pareto is ideally placed to become a new value brand for customers who want reliability in a more cost-effective package and for whom high technology is less attractive. Pareto also has a good name for the accessories and perepherals such as balls, mats, and so on, and these are sectors where the Range Servant brand has less value. This combination of brands gives us a much wider offer with which to satisfy the needs of range owners and operators, and for golf course and club managers.”
“The Range servant brand is well positioned in the UK, and we will build on its potential. Pareto by comparison is a well known name, but we will now be working hard to turn it into a popular value brand that is trusted and respected by customers.”
Range Servant: focusing on what the company does best
Range Servant’s CEO Elvis Knez, and Sales & Marketing Director Hakan Kjellqvist, are delighted with the deal. Hakan Kjellqvist: “Our focus is as a manufacturer, and on the development of ball management and range equipment. This new agreement will enable our brand to maintain and strengthen relationships with UK customers, and to add value to their needs via the Par Aide and Pareto brands for items such as accessories.
“It also lets us as a company focus on what we do best: developing and exploiting the opportunities that are being created by the new technologies, especially online and customer-focused technologies, across products such as our Select Touch payment systems for ball dispensers and teeing systems. It’s an exciting combination with potentially, some great outcomes in the future.”
Range Servant CEO Elvis Knez is optimistic about the deal because he feels strongly about customers, and the trends and changes he and Duco van Oosterhout are seeing in the markets for golf around the world: “We have worked very successfully with Duchell for a long time throughout the European markets, and they have proven their ability both as a partner, and as a team that can add real value to our brand. I’m delighted that we have found a way through the new Pareto Golf enterprise to place our UK customers and the development of the UK market in such capable hands.”
“I believe this new agreement will certainly strengthen our customers’ own positions, by delivering even higher standards of service, sales, support and back up, and by providing for all their different needs in terms of equipment and perepherals.”
“More significantly, golf is changing and in the UK we are very pleased to see the growing interest in golf as a form of family entertainment that offers fun and ease of access, as well as a sport for the more dedicated individuals. Ranges are at the centre of this growing trend towards a wider market and different sort of customer, and the new agreement with Pareto Golf Ltd. will help Range Servant to reach more owners and operators with all sorts of new ideas and features for both existing and newer kinds of range users.”
“All this will be good for Range Servant, Duchell and Par Aide, and will in time help to build and transform our UK customers’ own businesses.”