Kubota to attend alternate shows
Kubota to attend BTME and SALTEX every other year
By Michael Bird
In common with a number of other major tractor and groundcare machinery manufacturers and suppliers, Kubota (U. K.) Limited has announced that it will be exhibiting at IoG SALTEX and the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) in alternate years with effect from 2006 onwards. This decision means that the specialist turf trade shows to be supported actively by Kubota in coming years will be BTME 2006, IoG SALTEX 2007, BTME 2008 and so on.
Announcing the company's decision, David Roberts (right), sales and marketing manager of Kubota UK's tractor and groundcare division, explained that the move would enable Kubota to invest more time and money into localised demonstrations and customer support. "Instead of expending major cost and effort on two national trade shows each and every year, we will be concentrating resources on giving more of our customers more of what they are asking for," he said. "In particular, we will be increasing the level of local product demonstrations arranged by Kubota dealers in association with our two full-time demonstrators, their purpose-built 23 tonne demonstration vehicles and more than £1 million-worth of Kubota demonstration equipment. The result means greater support for our dealer network around the UK and Ireland and more opportunities for our customers, past, present and future, to see and assess for themselves Kubota tractors and mowers at work."
While acknowledging the excellent work carried out for its members and the turf industry by the Institute of Groundsmanship and the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association, David Roberts said that Kubota could no longer justify attending two major turf-related exhibitions in the UK each year. "That said, we will continue to support both organisations regionally and nationally and will remain as a committed Golden Key member of BIGGA and an associate member of the IOG," he pointed out. "Turf professionals and others who want to see Kubota products laid out as a static display will still be able to do so at one major show every year. However, when making major purchasing decisions, our customers tell us that there is no substitute for a hands-on demonstration and evaluation. We will be able to respond faster and more effectively both to these customers' requirements and satisfy also those customers who are unable to attend either of the major annual turf machinery shows."