Machinery dealer plans a Royal celebration
Parks & Grounds Machinery of Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire will be marking its fifth year as a machinery exhibitor at the Royal Show by also celebrating its 20th year as a John Deere commercial & consumer equipment dealer.
To highlight their double anniversary, Parks & Grounds directors David Tullett and Andrew Perkins will be showing a restored model 332 lawn tractor at this year's Show - the very first John Deere machine they ever sold, within a couple of weeks of starting their new business in 1989.
Originally sold to a customer in the Kidderminster area, the 332 has had three owners, all grass cutting contractors, and was in full time use until last year, with 3264 hours on the clock. The machine was recently acquired from its last owner, Redditch based contractor Gary Prior, who like his predecessors traded in the 332 for a new John Deere lawn tractor from the dealership.
"The 332 still has its original Yanmar three-cylinder 16hp diesel engine, but is on its second seat and mower deck, which was originally a 46in unit before a replacement 48in deck was fitted," says David Tullett. "We'll be restoring the 332 to as near showroom condition as possible, and visitors to the Royal Show will be able to see it alongside our full range of John Deere groundscare equipment, which has proved to be a very popular draw at the show over the last five years."
Parks & Grounds Machinery was one of John Deere's earliest groundscare dealers when it was originally signed up in 1989, operating out of a garden centre near Bromsgrove. The business then moved to Redditch in 1993, and finally to Bidford in 2000. The dealership has a full time staff of 14, selling and servicing Europe's biggest single brand range of groundscare equipment.
This includes pedestrian and ride-on cylinder and rotary mowers, lawn and garden tractors, domestic and commercial lawnmowers and scarifiers, compact tractors and loaders, turf aerators, sprayers & spreaders, bunker rakes, materials collection systems, Gator utility vehicles and golf irrigation products.
"I'm pleased to say we are still looking after many people who first came to us 20 years ago, because of our reputation for selling a quality product backed by efficient and reliable parts and service support," says David Tullett. "We've moved a lot of machines over the last 20 years and feel very proud to be associated with John Deere for this length of time."
Website: www.johndeere.co.uk
The photograph shows Parks & Grounds Machinery directors David Tullett (right, on a new John Deere X748 lawn tractor) and Andrew Perkins (left, on the unrestored 332), in front of the Royal Pavilion on the Stoneleigh Park Showground.
The Royal Show (7th to 10th July 2009) is organised and presented by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. Held over four days and welcoming over 100,000 visitors, the Show celebrates and showcases all aspects of food, farming and rural life. Visit www.royalshow.org.uk for further information.