Dealer moves strengthen McCormick service support

Dealership founder Albert Wiltshire and his daughter Laura Brown .
Dealership founder Albert Wiltshire and his daughter Laura Brown .

A Surrey-based farm machinery sales and service business is set for growth by swapping tractor franchises and taking on a significantly larger territory.

AF Wiltshire (Dunsfold) Ltd is based near Godalming and was appointed to the ARGO Tractors dealer network in 2008 to handle the Landini tractor range. Now, the company has switched to ARGO’s McCormick product line to trade across a larger area with a different mix of farming enterprises.

“The Landini range has some fantastic products that appeal to livestock farmers particularly,” points out managing partner Laura Brown of Wiltshires. “But we had limited scope to expand our business because we’re surrounded by other good Landini dealers.

”Covering a much larger territory and catering for arable as well as livestock farms with the McCormick range gives us a real opportunity to grow,” she adds.

Part of the Wiltshires team at a recent open day.
Part of the Wiltshires team at a recent open day.

Open territory for the McCormick range south of Wiltshire’s current area provided the solution and also met AgriArgo’s need for better dealer coverage across Hampshire and Surrey.

“The territory of one of our successful southern dealers, Dovey Ltd, based at Beaulieu, has been extended eastwards beyond Winchester,” explains Ray Spinks, AgriArgo UK sales director. “AF Wiltshire has been appointed to cover an area south of the M4 and M25 to the coast between Portsmouth and Brighton.”

This area is bordered to the east by Curtis & Shaw at Cowbeech near Horsham and to the north-west by PJS Agricultural Services, East Garston near Newbury.

David Renmant (left) and Ben Jimmison with the 54hp Valpadana 6660 specialist fruit and groundscare tractor.
David Renmant (left) and Ben Jimmison with the 54hp Valpadana 6660 specialist fruit and groundscare tractor.

“Between them, Dovey and Wiltshires will support an existing population of McCormick tractors in Hampshire and Surrey with good parts and service back-up,” Mr Spinks adds. “I believe they will also give farmers who don’t currently operate McCormick the confidence to see what the range has to offer.”

The Wiltshires team explained the new arrangements to customers at an open day at the company’s Dunsfold premises where a selection of McCormick tractors was on display for the first time. Visitors took a keen interest in the 100-130hp MC four-cylinder and 150-232hp X70 Series tractors, as well as the new 90-120hp X60 and simple-spec 80-100hp C-Max.

One of the 25-100hp Valpadana specialist fruit and groundscare tractors built by ARGO also featured at the event; Wiltshires supplied two of the compact but powerful machines to a major strawberry grower this year.

“We’re delighted to have been awarded the McCormick franchise and a territory that’s more than twice as big as our existing area for tractor sales,” says Laura Brown. “We invested in the business by opening a new parts, tools and accessories store a couple of years ago and now we’re committed to investing in new workshop and mobile service tools and training for the McCormick range.

“We look forward to welcoming new customers in our extended trading area, as well as existing customers who have done business with us over the years,” she adds.

One thing that will not be changing, emphasises Laura’s father, Albert Wiltshire, who started the business in 1970, is the daily delivery service that supplies just about everything needed by farmers, contractors, golf courses and other rural enterprises within a 25-mile radius of Dunsfold.

“Service is our priority,” he says. “The van runs on a regular route that already takes us into our new McCormick territory, delivering anything from parts and tools to service consumables and clothing.”