David Furber, who has extensive experience in the agricultural machinery sector, has been appointed sales manager for the UK and Ireland at Claydon Yield-o-Meter Limited, the manufacturer of the Claydon Drill.
With both parents from farming families and his father an agricultural contractor in Cheshire, it was no surprise that Mr Furber decided to make a career in the sector. In 1992 he joined Shropshire-based agricultural implement manufacturer Salopian Kenneth Hudson where he was involved in designing drills.
SKH was part of the Greenland Group and when that business merged with Ipswich-based Vicon Mr Furber became a service engineer for the company, supporting Vicon dealers and customers in East Anglia.
Appointed key account manager for Vicon in the Eastern Region in 1996, Mr Furber held that role for more than five years before being promoted to UK sales manager for Vicon in 2001 (three years after the business had been acquired by Kvernelend).
He became UK sales manager for Kverneland Group in December 2020, responsible for the Kverneland, Vicon and Kubota brands in the UK and Ireland, before leaving the business in December 2022.
“The Claydon team is delighted that David has joined us,” Spencer Claydon said. “His experience and expertise within the industry will be invaluable in further developing the market for Claydon Opti-Till products and providing the best support for our customers.”
Mr Furber said it was an extremely exciting time to join Claydon as it was a company that had been at the forefront of changing the way in which agricultural crops are established for more than two decades.
“Claydon products are highly regarded for their quality, performance, reliability and low ownership costs, so customers are very loyal to the brand,” he added. “As farming businesses become larger and more reliant on key equipment, it’s essential that they have a professional dealer locally to sell and support Claydon crop establishment machinery.
“A key part of my role will be to work with our existing dealers to ensure that customers are fully supported and further strengthen our distribution network in areas where currently we are under-represented, particularly Scotland and Northern Ireland. This will benefit existing owners by providing more local points of contact and ensure that potential customers are made aware of the cost, timeliness, agronomic and environmental benefits of Claydon Opti-Till.”
