A Scottish farmer's son whose career has given him years' of experience in retail farm machinery sales is now finding out what life on the other side of the fence is like as the new area sales manager in Scotland for tractor distributor AgriArgo UK.
Robert Bain joined the Landini and McCormick tractor distributor for Great Britain from his previous post as manager at Agricar's Doune branch near Stirling. Before that he worked in sales at Reekie Group.
"I’ve always wanted to work for a manufacturer and having been on the retail side myself for many years I have an understanding and appreciation of the dealer’s position in our business," said Bain.
"I hope that will stand me in good stead as I help our Landini and McCormick dealers in Scotland meet the expectations of their customers."
Robert Bain applied for the post after sounding out a few contacts in the industry and getting a positive reaction: "There’s a lot of respect for the team at AgriArgo; they have a great deal of experience of the tractor business between them and it’s a small, very close-knit team,” he says.
"Despite representing one of the World’s leading tractor manufacturers, there’s a real ‘family firm’ feel about the business."
Living near Stirling with his wife of 25 years and their son and daughter, Bob is ideally located to work with AgriArgo’s network of dealers across Scotland, helping to specify the right tractor for different farm circumstances.
"We have everything from a 22hp compact tractor that's ideal for horticultural, stable yard and dairy house applications to 200hp-plus tractors for contractors and big grassland and arable farms,” he points out.
"It’s my job to help dealers put together the right specification for individual customers and then co-ordinate the tractor’s delivery to the dealership."
