GREENKEEPING
NEW DEPOT FOR ABA GROUNDCARE
BA Groundcare based in the
A South West of England have expanded once again with another new depot opened recently on Woodward Road , Tiverton .
Following the closure of MST , former Devon Agricultural dealership , in 2022 due to cash flow issues , Jamie Hutchings , the owner of ABA Groundcare seized the opportunity to expand his business and opened up a branch in Tiverton .
Jamie Hutchings said : “ We established the business in 2014 in Dorchester . We built up in that region and then looked to expand . I got to know Scott Struthers from MST and dealt and traded with him regularly . I offered him a job many times , but he always said no . Then we heard what was happening with MST and stepped in and offered five former members of the staff including Scott , a job at our new premises in Tiverton , totalling over 200 years experience .”
He said that employing skilled staff was an issue in every trade , and he was thankful that he could find five skilled new members willing to carry on working together .
“ It was an easy decision to make ,” he said . “ They wanted to stay together working and very quickly decided they were happy to join my company .”
The Tiverton branch offers servicing and parts , supply garden machinery , agricultural vehicles , and quad bikes from the likes of Stihl , Yamaha , Husqvarna and Stiga to name a few , alongside the specialist ISEKI ground care unit .
“ We are continuing to offer a service which customers of MST now miss here in Tiverton ,” Jamie said . “ It ’ s also a great central location as you can get anywhere reasonably quickly in Devon from here .
“ It ’ s a service-led business , but we sell as well ,” Jamie explained . “ We are here to look out for our customers ; any sales are a bonus . Scott Struthers , previous sales rep for MST , has built up excellent relationships with customers in the area , it is great to have him on board to continue offering the same service .”
“ I come from an engineer ’ s background , so every product we sell has been chosen because it ’ s a good quality product , easy to work on and reliable . It ’ s not just about selling product ; it ’ s about selling decent products , and that ’ s why we partnered with ISEKI because there ’ s nothing better .”
On running the business during the pandemic and cost of living crisis , he added : “ The ground care business hasn ’ t been too badly affected , other than the supply of goods .
“ People still need the machinery ; they still want to be in their gardens , so other than the cost of everything going up , we ’ re in a fairly strong place .
58 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | March / April 2023