If you don’t work in farming or agriculture, you may not have heard of Burden Bros Agri before; but the thriving business has growing significantly in the heart of Swale for over a decade now. The 68-strong company are main dealers of John Deere machinery – providing customers with a one-stop shop, including tractors, combine harvesters, agricultural implements, precision mowers, ground care equipment and garden machinery – along with full aftercare and support solutions.
Marketing Executive Katie Belsom-Glover discussed how the business was flourishing from their Swale location: “We work with all sorts of customers, from public sector organisations to private businesses to individuals that purchase, hire, lease and operate machinery for working, shaping and manicuring the land. This includes farming businesses, agricultural contractors, local authorities, golf courses, facilities management companies, rural estates and landowners with gardens, fields and woodlands. These customers are under pressure to deliver from their land either high productivity, high quality produce, beautiful scenery, high quality sports surfaces, or efficient land management or a combination of these. To help ensure we meet our customers’ needs, we strive to only employ people that bring a unique perspective and experience to our customers. We will have specialists in every aspect of our business that are relevant to the needs of our customers.”
As Katie mentions, bringing in the right people is crucial, and in order to help ensure they get the right staff Burden Bros Agri have embraced the John Deere apprenticeship programme. This means that they recruit three apprentices per year from local colleges. All members of staff are enrolled with the John Deere University, which provides an extensive range of training and development courses for all functions within the business. Burden Bros Agri has also established its own staff development programme that has been running for two years, which focuses on rising talent within the business. The company also invests in external coaching for staff across the business to help with their personal and professional development.
When asked why she felt that Burden Bros Agri deserved to be recognised at the Swale Business Awards, Katie replied: “Burden Bros Agri is a business with rural roots that has expanded significantly over 10 years from the one site in Stockbury to opening two other dealer locations. It provides 34 jobs within Swale and an additional 34 jobs throughout Kent and Sussex. Team development is at the heart of the business, with over 300 training days completed each year. In 2015 John Deere announced that we were to be part of their ‘dealer of tomorrow’ strategy, due to the strategic growth plans Burden Bros Agri has in place for the next five years.”
Burden Bros Agri Ltd
Church Farm
Church Lane
Stockbury
Kent
ME9 7RD
01795 843 250
www.burdenbrosagri.co.uk