The Farmers Mart Apr-May 2020 - Issue 68 | Page 21

RICKERBY OPEN EVENT 21 • APR/MAY 2020 Doug Rickerby had a long and success- ful life, seeing the business flourish and grow from the point he and his brother took up the reins; he was also fortunate in being able to fully witness and appre- ciate seeing his sons carry on his work. Doug passed away in 2018 at the ripe age of 97! Doug made a point of visiting every show and loved to drive around on his buggy! Today, the family are still active in the overall strategy of the Rickerby business; although Anthony and John are retired, but Paddy is the current chairman. Today’s day-to-day management team are an eclectic mix that work hugely well as a team. Colin Potts and Martyn Henderson are your front men, East and West area directors respectively. Martyn is approaching his triple twenty-year next year - including 20 years organ- ising Rickerby show and 30 years with Rickerby – 60 Years of age – watch out for next year’s write up! The back-room finances are handled by financial guru, Neil Platton, and the keystone of the Rickerby arch of success is MD, Ken Conley. I asked Martyn, apart from hard work and business acumen, what has kept that 140-year success story going. “Team Spirit”, he said. “Everyone here functions as a unit, anyone will help someone else from another depot or department, every job is key. You can really see this when the entire group converges from our 8 depots to support and drive the open days. I guess at Rickerby we all work hard, but above all we like to have fun whenever we can.” Rickerby now employs more than 130 staff across the 8 depots, many of whom are long-standing. One particular character is Ken Simpson, who at 81 still works in the parts department and regularly beats Martyn as first one in! Even though they have a lot of long-term employees, people do like to move on and try new things, so to continually bolster the team, Rickerby have a very strong and committed apprenticeship scheme. Continues on page 22 SLURRY MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS • Fully integrated chassis and tank for a longer working life • Weight Sensing Sprung Drawbar System for operator comfort • Collared Dish-ends for increased overall strength • Patented ‘Double Trap System’ for maximum pump protection • From 1300g to 6000g (Standard, Recess, Tandem and Tridem) The NEW Abbey versatile Multi Arm Find out more - Tel: [phone] Or email: [email protected] Abbey Machinery Ltd. Clonalea, Toomevara, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Telephone: [phone] | Fax: [phone] |[email protected] IN G MA R M M OVER IN G M A C H C www.abbeymachinery.com @AbbeyMachinery @AbbeyMachinery