Just over two years into its appointment as a Valtra dealership in the north-east of Scotland, Alan Mackay Machinery has already made an encouraging impact on the region’s farming community. So much so, that the company has already opened a second branch – in Aberdeenshire – to run alongside its long-standing Forfar base.
A=Alan Mackay Machinery Ltd.
Serving the farming sector for 25 years now, initially as a sole trader dealing in second-hand machinery, proprietor Alan has seen the business grow to the extent that, last year, he took on additional trading area by acquiring a site at Rothienorman, so giving farmers access to Valtra tractors across Tayside, Kincardineshire and Aberdeenshire.
“The area that we cover from Forfar is predominantly arable – wheat, barley, oats, rape and potatoes – while the Aberdeen territory is home to much more of a mixed regime by and large,” he explains.
“So far, we’ve sold a fair spread of the individual models, though more of the T Series, with the N Series coming in now. In particular, the A Series is likely to be popular in the area served by the Rothienorman depot. In addition, widening the service intervals from 500 to 600 hours has also been well received.
“We’ve now got Valtra-trained engineers at each location, out of a total staff line-up of 16, five of them based at Rothienorman,” states Alan, who is one of three directors of the business, along with his wife, Irene, and Service Manager Ross Anderson.
Mackay staff: Alan Mackay, Irene Mackay and Ross Anderson.
Excellent service and winning features
The Mackay team is pleased by the proportion of customers deciding to invest in a Valtra tractor for the first time.“There’s a number of features that have boosted the appeal for sure, reflected in the high percentage of those who are new to the brand,” Alan observes.
“These will include the level of comfort provided in the cab, the GPS options and the introduction of SmartTouch, which has been requested on a high percentage of tractors ordered since it became available and is appealing to to the younger generation of farmers especially. The new high-speed (57 kph) specification option is also pulling people in,” he adds.
The Mackays have also been impressed by the Valtra dealer back-up.
“The Area Sales support from Martyn Atkinson has been very good, as is the relationship with AGCO generally,” according to Alan.
Martyn points out that in the two years since winning the Valtra franchise, Mackays have sold almost 100 tractors, representing a market share in the region of around 16 per cent.
“They provide excellent service back-up that’s helped in turn to build sales,” he adds.