John Deere dealers achieved outstanding success at this year’s 2011 Industry Awards for land-based machinery dealers, organised by the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) and trade magazine Service Dealer.
The awards, expanded this year to include two new categories, recognise sales and service excellence among dealers in the land-based equipment market, comprising farm machinery, garden machinery, professional turfcare and ATVs/quads. The winning companies and individuals are nominated by manufacturers and suppliers across the industry, and the final shortlists are then assessed by an independent panel.
A total of five awards went to John Deere dealerships and their staff, including a double success for The Double A Trading Company of Cupar, Fife, for Professional Turfcare Dealer of the Year and Apprentice of the Year for service technician Christopher Mason; Davinder (Dave) Sharma of Henton & Chattell Ltd, Nottingham won Salesperson of the Year and Daniel Massey of J E Buckle Ltd, Stevenage was Technician of the Year; and Farol Ltd of Hinckley was awarded the Best Showroom title.
Chris Biddle, editor of Service Dealer, commented: “Once again, the winners represent the highest standard of professionalism and unrivalled customer service that exists throughout the UK dealer network.”
In selecting The Double A Trading Company as overall winner of the turfcare dealer award, the independent judging panel said: “The company is a highly professional operation with excellent management and total commitment to after-sales support,” while Christopher Mason won the apprentice award for the progress he has made since joining the company from school in 2007.
“According to his employer, Christopher has demonstrated a positive attitude and maturity beyond his years from the outset. At college he won the best student award in his first and second years, and he is a shining example of the career opportunities provided in the land-based engineering sector.”
Regarding Daniel Massey’s technician of the year award, the panel also said: “Since he joined J E Buckle Ltd from school, Daniel has made impressive progress and today is one of a select band of land-based technicians to hold the highest level of Landbased Technician Accreditation (LTA4 Master Technician). He has also recently been invited to join the Council of the industry’s professional body, the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE).”
About Farol’s showroom award, the judging panel added: “Farol’s new branch showroom atHinckleysuccessfully tackles the difficult job of appealing to a range of customers – the farming community buying parts and accessories for their businesses, as well as families wishing to buy a diverse range of goods such as gardening equipment, toys and casual clothing. The showroom has to combine displays of tractor tyres with toys, and Farol has used the space creatively to ensure that it is always customer friendly.”
John Deere www.johndeere.com