BAGMA Cover: Brian Robinson Machinery

We recently visited the team at Brian Robinson Machinery, located in East Cowton, North Yorkshire. Now in its 40th year of business and currently the longest standing Valtra Dealer in the UK, we interviewed Brian Robinson and Hannah Robinson, speaking with them about how the business has evolved and what the plans are for the future.

1.    Firstly, congratulations on your 40th year in business this year! You were established in 1982, tell me more about the beginnings of the business and how it all started?

(Brian) “After completing an apprenticeship in 1981, I decided to embark on a summer in the USA, travelling up the wheat belt from Texas to the Canadian Border, driving a combine for a contractor. The experience was fantastic and once I had returned to North Yorkshire, I decided that I didn’t want to return to where I did my apprenticeship and so set up on my o

wn, fixing machinery out and about in my Ford Escort van.”

The business quickly grew and within four years, Brian had employed his first full time employee, who still works in the business today!

(Brian) “We were approached in 1989 about the prospect of selling a tractor which was little known in the UK, Valmet. We sold the first Valmet tractor in 1990, fast forward and in 2018 we had sold our 400th New Valtra tractor. We are now classed as the longest-serving Valtra dealer in the UK, a title we are very proud of!” Brian.

(Hannah) “This is our 40th year in business but 2022 also marks some other significant milestones.  This year we are also 32 years Valtra dealers, 25 years Joskin, 25-years Polaris and 10 years Merlo. So, a big celebration for the business! We did hold an event in May where we invited customers and their families to celebrate with us.  We had lots of products here, bouncy castles, tractor and trailer assault course, laser clay shooting, food, a bar and we raised £1600 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance as well. I really wanted something for everybody, we ended up having over650 people visit throughout the day. The best bit has been the incredible feedback that we have had, for a company of our size, we aren’t huge, we aren’t multi-depot, but it is nice how far and wide we attracted people from and how much it has been spoken about.”

2.    Talk me through the product range you offer and what is the split between Agriculture, forestry and ground care?

(Hannah) “Our main brands are Valtra, Merlo, Amazone, Krone, HE-VA, Joskin, Lucas G, Kongskilde, Polaris, Storth and Triolet. We are predominantly an agricultural dealership; we do have a forestry division and have just recently become a sub-dealers for Chandlers to sell Kesla Forestry products in the Northern area of the UK. But our predominant focus is on the agricultural side of things.”

3.    When did you, Hannah, come into the business?

“My background is in beauty therapy. I worked for 3 years on cruise ships where I would be away for 9-10 months at a time. In September 2016 I had come home from one of my contracts and just felt so overworked so decided not to continue with that career path. I had no idea what I wanted to do but due to work load within the business i knew it required an additional pair of hands for a while, I came into the accounts department to offer an extra pair of hands. I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, or even if I wanted to be in the business, I just saw it as a job for right now. Then in July 2019, our Service Manager handed in his notice which isn’t ideal at the best of times, but not in harvest time. We decided that taking on someone new at that time of year was going to present issues because we were so busy and didn’t have proper time to spend with them. So, I spoke with my dad and at this point I had been in the business a couple of years, I knew everyone, I knew the systems, I just didn’t know the role in depth. To tie us over the busy period, I offered to take on the Service Manager role and I communicated with the service team the importance of working with me and as a team we would get through it.”

“In my time in the role, I discovered a lot of different things, one being work that hadn’t been properly invoiced and so I managed to sort a lot of the loose ends out, what I achieved clearly impressed my dad, so much so, I ended up in the role for 2.5 years! It was so busy because I kept doing the activities I had been doing before as well, so the marketing, HR, warranty work and other smaller bits too. In December 2021, it did get to a point where I was doing too much. The Service manager role is a huge role, and something had to give. So, we recruited for someone to take on the role and one of our current employees stepped forward for the role, so we Internally recruited, and we created a new role for myself, so I am now Operations and Marketing manager. I have learnt so much over the last few years about the business, the products, the team, and it has really been beneficial for me moving forward in the company. I also feel like I have earnt a lot of respect for fact I did get stuck in with the Service Manager role. I ultimately do not want to be known for being the boss’s daughter, I want to earn my place here and get the job done!”

4.    Hannah, what is your favourite area within the business? Your favourite activities?

(Hannah) “In general, in the business, I will always have a soft spot for the Service side with working so closely with the team. I always want to ensure they are supported and happy, I get on well with all sectors in the business but sometimes it can be the case that service can feel sales get all the glory. So, I try and make sure they get involved as much as possible, I recently took one of our technicians to a manufacturer awards dinner with our salesman, it’s nice to give everyone the opportunity to do these things.”

“When it comes to activities, I love organising things! All our shows and events come under my remit, and I enjoy it so much. The whole customer experience is important to me and building that relationship through our events. With my background being in beauty, I do think I have a different viewpoint on things and that has been of benefit in my work.”

5.    How has the business changed over the last 40 years?

(Brian) “Wow, that is a big question. Well, when you think I started off as a man in a van and then look at what the business has evolved into today, it has changed and adapted a lot. In the beginning I had small goals that I wanted to achieve and then the goals got bigger as the business built, but there was never a plan from day 1 to be where we are now, I always had an aspiration to be successful though!

“Our smallholding, which is the site of where we are now has been in the family since 1962, but it was never going to be big enough to be a farm. So as my business grew, the location presented itself well to be our hub, the beauty of owning the site is that our growth isn’t stunted like some others in industrial units. When you look back to when it was a completely green field site, it really brings it home how much we have achieved over the years in many ways.”

“We are still only a one depot dealer, but we are happy with that, our location has the benefit of great road links, so this allows us to reach customers within a 50-mile radius of the depot quickly. If the right opportunity presented itself in the future, we might consider an additional depot but at this time, that isn’t what our focus is on.”

6.    How many staff do you currently have?

(Hannah) “We currently have 23 members of staff across all departments (excluding myself & Brian), we have 10 service technicians with 8 out on the road and 2 apprentices on site. Apprenticeships are something we have consistently done over the years, as dad began with one, we really see the value in getting young people into the industry, there is usually at least one apprentice here at any time.  We have 3 sales staff plus my dad who are out and about on the road. We have 4 In our Parts department, which have a very extensive knowledge of our products and we have 3 part-time ladies In our Accounts, Finance & Admin depart. We have an exceptionally loyal team at BRM who I am very proud to be apart of.”

7.    What would you say is your proudest achievement within the business?

(Brian) “I will start with saying how proud I am of the staff, we have a member of staff that has been here over 30 years and 6 people that have done over 25 years, we find most of our guys come from the age of 16 and stay. Of course like any business, we have had people leave but we have a lot of loyal staff and I am proud that is something I have managed to achieve. The loyalty continues with our customers, some have been dealing with us for 40 years!”

“I suppose I don’t look at the business like others might. Hannah does have to keep reminding me, we do have an impressive premises and it is a big achievement. Now and again, I do step back and think, yes this is great! We have never had the luxury of a big overhaul and spending lots and lots of money, we have done things as and when we are in the financial position to do so. So, taking a step back sometimes to take it all in is needed.”

“What I want to emphasise is that WE have achieved all this, it isn’t all about me, this is a team effort and that again comes back to how proud I am of our strong team.”

“And finally, of course I am chuffed to bits that Hannah is now involved in the business full-time. She has gone off and done her own things which I very much encouraged; we could have had a very different relationship if she had come straight into the business. But she’s here and she is making improvements, engaging with the staff, and helping build the business for the future.”

8.    Hannah, how does it feel being a woman in machinery?

“Being a woman in the Agricultural industry can be few and far between but even more so, being a woman Service Manager, it is a rarity. I have had instances where a customer refused to speak to me because I was a woman and that was his only reason. I am grateful that the whole team support me in situations like that, because it isn’t nice, but it also shouldn’t be allowed to happen, women shouldn’t be undermined for the industry they work in.”

“In general, it can be difficult, but it can also be rewarding. I have done a couple of different courses including the AGCO Dealer Development Management programme, these have helped improve my confidence and knowledge which has been beneficial. Now with shows and events starting up again, I want to be more customer facing so I can keep building relationships with our customer base. I am very conscious that I do not want to ever use my position as Brain’s daughter as leverage, I want them to respect me for my skills and me as a person.”

9.    Do you feel like the industry is becoming more accepting of women?

(Hannah) “Definitely! Our manufacturers are so supportive of my role within the business, if they can see that you want to work hard and work together!  I recently featured on Merlo’s social media campaign to promote women in agriculture. It is important to do these activities to show young women that this is an industry for everyone. I also took part in a panel talk at the 2019 Service Dealer Awards, where I spoke about my experience of being a Service Manager and generally a woman in the industry. It was a great platform to be able to share my experience with the other dealers in the room.”

“Farmers are slowly becoming more accepting, now that the younger generation is coming into the farm I think things are getting better.”

10. How have you found business over the last 3 years with the challenges of the pandemic?

(Hannah) “One thing we didn’t want to do when COVID hit was furlough anyone. We did close the doors; no customers were allowed in the buildings which was difficult for our customers, but they accepted that we did what we had to. Our main priority was that our staff members were safe.”

“A great activity that did come from COVID was the success of our online shop. We have had an online shop for a few years now but when we couldn’t have people in our stores, our parts manager really ramped it up online. We now sell parts across the UK, Europe and the world. It worked really well, and it actually bridged the financial gap that we lost with front counter sales.”

11. How have you found the last few years for business? Availability of products?

(Brian) “We had good years in 2019 and 2020, despite COVID. We found that our customers quickly adapted to the situation and worked with us. I believe that with a lot of shows being cancelled, customers found that they had lost that shop window of being able to view lots of different machines in one go. They were forced to then rely on products they trusted and a dealer they knew they could rely on.”

“The beginning of 2020 remained good for stock availability, dealers, manufacturers, and factories all had stock but that very quickly started to become strained, and we began looking at longer lead times. Our different franchises were in different positions with stock and really it was up to us as the dealer to understand the situation and make provisions in advance. The 2020 stock strains had a knock-on effect to 2021 and availability got even worse, and we were required to forward order a lot of products with no retail price against the machine. We took the decision to keep ordering smaller amounts, more frequently to keep up ticking over. We did come across some dealers that hadn’t done any forward ordering for several reasons and they really suffered with some having 7-month gaps between deliveries. I like to think that I just pressed on, and I wasn’t afraid of putting my neck on the line to ensure we had things to sell. The strategy was not to order too many basic models or on the other end of the spectrum, obscure and high specification models, this ensured we would have something to suit most people.”

“We have found parts availability has varied with different manufacturers, there has certainly been an issue with electrical components which I cannot see being resolved for a couple of years. For a business of our size, we do ensure that we keep a good stock of parts. We can have a great team of mechanics but without parts, what’s the point?! So, our inventory is larger than most other single depot dealers.”

12. How have you found getting staff?

(Hannah) “It is difficult to get decent people and that is an industry-wide issue. We have always been very open as a company about giving everyone a chance, they don’t have to come from an agricultural background, we are more about the person, their attitude, and their character. However, when it comes to the service side, we have slowly learnt that it is a unique role, and it is beneficial to have someone that understands the agricultural side of things. In the past we have employed people from the train industry, construction, the army but they do find the ag side difficult because it’s a different way of working.”

“A great new initiative with AGCO is their work with Forces Farming, who support the transition and resettlement of service personnel and veterans into agricultural, engineering, and other areas of the farming industry. We have been very supportive of this, and we invited the Forces Farming team to our open day in May as well, that was good for the farmers that attended as well, they could see the value in the programme and opportunity for workers.”

“As we mentioned, we are lucky to have a lot of loyal and long-standing staff members which we hope is a testament to how we run the business.”

13. What is your vision for the future of the business? Succession Planning.

(Brian) “Succession planning is very important for any dealership with a major tractor franchise. AGCO very much want to know what the future is for our business and what plans we have in place; we do have a succession plan in place as we stand."

“I like to give responsibility; I cannot do it all on my own. I do leave a lot of the decision making up to the department heads because I trust them, and we must work as a team in order to grow and survive. I believe that as a single depot dealer, the business cannot revolve around me, otherwise it wont grow. The business must work if I was gone tomorrow and so over the last 10 years, we have implemented management structures and managed to relinquish a lot of my responsibility.”

“The franchises we hold will also ensure our longevity as a business, we are proud of the loyalty we can show them as a dealer and their support to us as a single depot dealership.”

14. What benefits have you experienced being a BAGMA member?

(Brian) “BAGMA allows us to have a voice in the wider community which goes right through to government level. They very much have the interest of the dealers at heart and the people within the team totally understand our industry. The communication and the reassurance is great, they are always there if we need any advice and they fly the flag for us as an industry very well. We have always utilised the BAGMA training programmes, I think we were the fourth company that they trained for Loler & Puwer testing over 20 years ago.”

“Now that they have joined up with the AEA I hope this will be positive going forward. That link to the manufacturers will hopefully be of benefit to us as a network.”

“We did have regional meetings in the past that have slowed up over the last fe

w years, I would love to see them reinstated to twice a year. This will give us all an opportunity to communicate the experiences we are all having.”