Twenty Years On
Parks & Grounds Machinery have achieved another milestone in its history as they reach 20 years of trading.
David Tullett, a keen gundog and a game shooting enthusiast, and Andrew Perkins, a keen motor cyclist, are the owners/Directors of the company.
They started their careers working for Turners International in Kings Coughton near Studley, Warwickshire. Turners were renowned for there long reach flail mower, distributing them to all corners of the globe.
Tullett, a service engineer, and Perkins, a territory manager covering the East and South East of England, became friends as they worked together at Turners.
Whilst out on the road Perkins soon got to hear about the new John Deere range of compact tractors that were getting a good reputation for reliability and build qualities from several local authorities. After some investigations he found out that John Deere were looking for dealers to sell equiptment in the Worcestershire area
On discovering this Perkins spoke to Tullett, both thought it would be an exciting new opportunity for them. Numerous meetings took place between them and a few sleepless nights trying to prepare a business plan, which had to be put forward to John Deere. After several meetings with John Deere a dealership was offered to them and Parks & Grounds Machinery Ltd was born.
In their first year of trading (1989) they were trying to sell mowing equipment in the summer of a severe drought, and they had little capital to hold it all together.
They were operating out of a small shed in Tullett's mother's garden in Studley, but with sheer determination, long hours and a fantastic product they not only managed, but survived to the present day.
Within their 20 years they have moved twice, firstly from the garden shed to an ex-builders yard in Redditch then to their present day location in Waterloo Road Industrial Estate, Bidford-on-Avon where they have been for 10 years.
Tullett commented, "We just kept growing and we needed more room, standing still was not option; we all strive to meet out customers expectations. We are still looking after many customers from 20 years ago, which just shows the quality of service we provide."
They started with just the two of them, now they employ 10 staff, Dave, Andy, Will and Alex in sales, Gill and Steph in admin, Steve in parts, Graham,Chris, Jim, Alastair and Mike in the service department. The sales team cover an area from South Birmingham to the borders of Wiltshire.
The majority of their custom (75% ) is in the commercial/professional industries i.e. golf, football, rugby, cricket, bowls, local authorities, schools, colleges and large country estates. Tullett said, "We have some of the world's most innovative products, the range is all backed by our dynamic staff who are all committed to providing excellent service and support to all our customers." 
The other 25% of the business is home owners, and they recognise this is a hard and very important part of the business; their excellent show room is full of new machinery ready and waiting for customers to view and demonstrate.
Parks & Grounds demonstrate at many country shows in and around the county, i.e. Three Counties Show, Town & Country Show, Malvern Show, Kenilworth Show, Forest of Arden Ploughing Show and the Royal Show in Stoneleigh, which was to be their last this year. One of the ways they celebrated was by having on display the first ever ride on mower they sold about 20 years ago. Tullett bought the John Deere 332 back, and two of their staff rebuilt it after having it re-sprayed. It was on display at the Royal Show and attracted a lot of attention from the media.
They are still immensely proud of the products they sell and the back up they recieve from John Deere which, in turn, retains and stimulates thier customers.
David Tullett is also a Lantra trainer, this enables him to offer on the job training for the professional operator who wants to keep up to date with today's Health & Safety legalisation, and to work within the current PUWER regulations (The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998).
Dave and Andy would like to take this opportunity to thank all the customers who have supported them over the last twenty years.
Parks & Grounds Machinery Ltd
Unit 8B, Waterloo Industrial Estate,
Waterloo Road, Bidford-on-Avon
Warwickshire, B50 4JH
Tel 01789 491 485 / 491 486
Fax 01789 778012
Web www.parksandgrounds.co.uk Or Visit www.johndeere.co.uk