Following RW Crawford’s appointment as Fendt and Valtra dealer for Sussex and Hampshire, and the subsequent opening in 2019 of its Billingshurst depot in West Sussex, Agco has announces that the company will be opening a new branch at Ropley, Hampshire, in summer 2021.
The site is located on the A31 between Arlesford and Alton in East Hampshire, and was previously occupied by agricultural dealer William Wheatley Ltd.
The managing director of Crawfords, Wes Crawford, said the area of responsibility covering Sussex and Hampshire awarded to Crawfords in 2019 by Fendt and Valtra was geographically very large.
“Consequently, travel times between our customers in Hampshire and our Billingshurst branch are significant,” he added. “As part of our strategic plan, once we had established our Billingshurst operation, it’s been our ambition to offer a greater level of local support to our Hampshire customers by opening a local outlet. The new site will work with our Billingshurst operation ensuring we can fully support the whole area, delivering our high levels of customer service and support.”
Crawfords will represent Fendt’s full product line, from large tractors and combines to the specialist 200 series tractors serving the fruit and vineyard markets, alongside Valtra’s full complement of tractors and Manitou’s full Agricultural and compact range. Väderstad and Amazone, as well as other Crawford product ranges will also be on offer.
Crawfords has also announced the appointment of James Freemantle, who takes on a business development role for Hampshire. This new role follows Greg Delaney’s appontment as area sales manager for North Hampshire in April 2021.
“A small number of our Billingshurst team will also be relocating to Ropley,” Mr Crawford said. “They include the area sales manager for South Hampshire, Michael Bridges, and parts sales adviser Luke Smallbone. However, we’ll be recruiting new team members, specifically technical support staff.”
