BAGMA Cover: Carrs Billington
Carrs Billington is one of the leading agricultural suppliers in the United Kingdom, providing a wide range of products and services to rural communities. The company has a rich history dating back to the 19th century with the Billington group being founded in 1858 by Edward Billington and Carr’s Group by Johnathan Carr in 1831. After initially joining forces in 1999 to run the operation and then full acquisition by Edward Billington & Son of the Carrs Group Plc interests in 2022, today, Carrs Billington is a thriving and ambitious business, focussed on strengthening its offering to the core customer. The business specialises in four key areas; Retail, Feed, Machinery and Fuel. We sat down with Tom Jobling (Machinery Director) Dale Shaw (Dealer Principle) and Ian Gate (Machinery Director – retiring) to chat more about the business, its rich history and some of the challenges they have faced.
Is Carrs Billington a family-owned business?
Ian: Under the Billington Group, we remain a family-owned business today and despite being a large company, there is very much a close-knit feeling among the team.
What are the core areas of Carrs Billington, and specifically what types of machinery or equipment do you specialise in?
Ian: Carrs Billington is all about supporting rural people whether that’s through our range of country stores, feed and fuel supply or the latest machinery to get the job done. Our machinery division dates back to the 1980s when we were part of John Deere dealer, Oliver and Snowden. In 1994 we took on Massey Ferguson and remain one of the largest Massey Ferguson-only dealers in the UK today. Our core brands alongside Massey Ferguson are Krone, Weidemann, BvL, Yamaha, Horsch, Corvus and Can-Am. We also hold the Ferris, Stihl and Segway brands for our groundcare customers.
In which areas of the country does Carrs Billington operate?
Dale: Our retail, fuel and feed areas of the business operate all over but specifically in machinery we have 11 depots across Northern England and the Scottish borders. We have one depot that is Groundcare only, another is ATV only and another is a non-Massey Ferguson franchise. The remaining eight are all Massey Ferguson depots with our complimentary brands supported from there as well.
With 11 machinery depots to manage, you must cover a large radius for machinery support and sales.
Dale: Our geographical area for machinery runs from Stranraer to Alnwick and down to Whitby and back across to the lake district coast.
Who are your primary customers for machinery ag and groundcare? (Commerical/Homeowner)
Ian: Our primary customer base consists of farmers and the agricultural community, but we also serve commercial clients such as local authorities and sports grounds for our groundcare equipment. While our retail stores carry popular brands like Stihl, we've noticed that most of these purchases are made by individuals within the rural community who are familiar with us as a trusted machinery dealer. They value our after-sales support, the fact we have a dedicated salesperson and the quality of the brands we carry. Although some stores attract a diverse customer base, we've found that homeowners often opt for more affordable option from retailers like B&Q due to their price-focused approach.
Machinery and Technology:
What are some of your most popular products?
Dale: The Massey Ferguson tractor range is always popular, it’s a great brand with a good heritage. But, in general, anything related to grass/silage is hugely popular, whether that’s implements or trailers, it’s a big area for us. Another key product line is ATVs, we currently sell around 450 new and used units a year.
What technologies have you implemented to help with the running of the machinery operations and provide good customer service at Carrs Billington?
Dale: We've recently introduced the IBCOS Gold app in select workshops to streamline job management. This app allows engineers to record all job-related information and track their working hours, minimising errors and improving efficiency. We plan to implement this app across all our sites. Additionally, we've developed a dedicated sales admin app to manage demonstration information, branch transfers, loans, and sales centrally.
Over the past five years, we've invested in a comprehensive CRM system, with the next phase scheduled for company-wide deployment by Christmas. This system has significantly improved quote management and remote management of sales representatives, especially in locations without dedicated machinery managers.
All of these changes are designed to enhance our overall efficiency and streamline processes for our team, we want them to be able to focus on their primary tasks and provide the best service to our customers. Our next step involves integrating our systems with manufacturer platforms to enhance reporting accuracy and provide our sales team with real-time machine pricing information.
Ian: This increased transparency will enable our sales representatives to confidently negotiate deals on-farm, reducing the need for management involvement. This empowers both our team and our customers.
3. What are some of the biggest challenges facing the machinery industry today, and how is Carrs Billington addressing these challenges?
Ian: Machinery imports, particularly from countries like China, are posing a significant challenge across the industry. While we feel we represent high-quality brands, the increasing focus on price over quality is making it difficult to compete. The influx of cheaper imports is saturating the market, we want to continue to grow and sell more but it has felt tough with these additional options for the consumer. However, I believe that this trend will eventually reach a tipping point, there must be a balance between cost and value, and there will always be a compromise somewhere.
Dale: Another big challenge that we all face is the cost of everything. Interest rates have been rising and with that we have to be mindful of the stock we carry. We have been actively trying to reduce our machinery stock levels to a manageable value.
Ian: Dealers and manufacturers need to work together on stock levels. The burden of carrying excessive inventory is unsustainable for dealers.
What are some of the key trends driving growth in the machinery industry, and how is Carrs Billington positioned to capitalise on these trends?
Tom: Technology is a huge one, we have to keep up with it. We need to stay on top of the latest advancements and offer customers a comprehensive package, including the machine and essential solutions like guidance systems. I don’t feel like anyone has really got the technology bit right yet and it’s moving so fast all the time so that makes it harder. We've recently created a dedicated role to manage our technology strategy, recognising its growing importance in the future.
5. Do you think the buying process in farming has changed?
Dale: As much as people are exploring more options based on price, I think there is still a great deal of brand loyalty out there. We find that we have a loyal customer base who love the products we sell but also trust us to provide quality customer service. We've been consistent through a lot of changes, and I think customers appreciate that. They want reliability and dependability at a time when there is a lot of change.
Tom: I would say that the loyalty to the dealership wins hands down every time and most of the time that is down to the people. Your service relationship with a customer is usually down to the whole Aftersales Team and we are really good at keeping up that relationship. We also have the added strength of customers dealing with us through our other divisions too and that makes the relationship strong as we can offer a complete package.
6. How important is aftersales to you as a business?
Ian: For a long time, our primary focus was to sell sell sell, and service tagged along behind us, but we have grown so much that we have had to put more of a focus on aftersales.
Tom: Our aftersales business has seen significant growth in recent years. By dedicating more resources, working closely with our teams, and expanding our depot network, we've doubled our aftersales revenue in just five years. We recognize the vital connection between sales and aftersales. Strong sales depend on excellent aftersales support, and vice versa. We aim to achieve a 70/30 split between sales and service revenue, where 70% comes from sales and 30% from Service/Parts. This balance is key to our long-term success.
How does Carrs Billington address sustainability within its operations?
Tom: Sustainability is a big deal for our whole company. We have a special team just for sustainability in the Billington Group. Since we make food and work with many of the big names in the food industry, sustainability is really important to us. Right now, we're testing HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) fuel in all our HGVs. It's great to see other manufacturers looking into similar things. Our retail stores are run on green energy as well as many of our offices. We want to be ahead of the curve when it comes to being as sustainable as possible, so this is a project that's always evolving within our company.
Dale: We find that our sustainability practices are becoming more of a topic of conversation with our dairy customers because it is part of their milk contract too.
Company Culture and Values:
1. How many staff do you have in total?
In total, the Billington Group employs over 1800 people across the country. Specifically in machinery, we have over 130 people with 30 in sales, 55 across our workshops then parts and management staff as well. We do run fairly lean but everyone works incredibly hard and it works for us.
2. How do you find recruitment within the industry?
Tom: It can be hard but we have some very loyal team members, our workshop manager in Carlise has just celebrated 30 years with us as Carrs Billington but worked 20 years previous to that in County Motors which was acquired by Carr’s Agriculture so he has just celebrated 50 years! The last three new Machinery branches we have built have been exciting to recruit for as it has offered people a chance to join the company and build the business with us. I would say at the moment we are pretty. We are huge believers in mindset when it comes to recruitment; we hear it all the time that people cannot find technicians and that is largely true, but we now try and look into other industries to recruit and we have a consistent stream of AGCO apprentices within the company, with seven in total this year. If we can find people with the right attitude and drive, we can teach them everything they need to know about a Tractor or a mower!
Ian: Progression within the company is also important, we want to retain that experience and knowledge and see members of the team progress further in the company. Take us three for example, we all worked our way up the business, I like to run with the motto; ‘Everyone has got the opportunity to be the boss.’
3. How do you find the apprentice schemes available to young people?
Tom: The AGCO apprenticeship scheme is fantastic, and we are very grateful we have access to this. It supports local colleges and is a massive success story when you look at the intake and how that’s built up.
Ian: With apprentices in general you have to really be with them the whole way through and ensure you are keeping them on board because naturally only half of the ones that begin will actually come back and continue once qualified. That is fairly generic across the country, but we invest a lot of time into them and it’s something we are passionate about continuing.
4. How do you instil a positive company culture at Carrs Billington, and how do you manage such a vast team?
Dale: Although we are a large company we don’t like to run with a big corporate culture, we like each depot to have their own individuality, it’s all about people working with people and those relationships they have with our customers.
Tom: The ethos for us is we want one of our customers to go into one of our branches and it feels like a single outlet dealer, with the same familiar faces and the friendly service that they are used to. We have customers who have dealt with us for 30-plus years, and we want them to feel like we are a big corporate company, we want the personal touch.
5. What’s important to you about being a BAGMA member?
Tom: BAGMA is a valuable asset for machinery dealers like us. Having a dedicated support network specifically for the machinery industry is crucial. We all face similar challenges and require specialised assistance, and BAGMA provides an excellent platform for addressing these needs. As a member of the BAGMA council, I appreciate the opportunity to get together with other dealers and bring forward issues that BAGMA can help resolve.
6. Have you utilised many BAGMA services?
Tom: We rely on BAGMA's handover and installation training across our depots. This training has been invaluable in ensuring our teams are equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively handle new machinery, from proper installation to efficient operation.