The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2016 - Issue 44 | Page 20

RFS Open Day 2016

Buzzing
start to
2016 at
RFS open
day
»»THE NEW YEAR KICKED OFF WITH A BUZZ
on 6 & 7 January with the Ripon Farm Services
Annual Open Day. Ian Wilkinson braved the
weather to join the crowds.
It was clear that, despite a tough 2015 for
many farmers, most of them went into 2016
determined to take a positive view.
This was also born out by the numbers
attending on the first day with a heightened
buzz of activity in both the big machinery
hall and Hall 1 where the smaller machinery
and vehicles were, along with the temporary
site for The Yorkshire Cafe. Although Hall
1 is a temporary space during the major
refurbishment, in the main hall it was light,
bright and worked extremely well. Many of
the dealers I spoke to reported strong interest
which was encouraging.
Ripon Farm Services started way back
in 1982 by its charismatic and hugely
hardworking founder and chairman, Geoff
Brown who really strives to deliver the
absolute best in service to its customers.
The open day really demonstrates this as
it takes a huge logistical effort by the whole
dedicated RFS team to bring the vast array of
machinery and vehicles to the showground
and have everything on hand. Visitors
can count on plenty of friendly staff, well
supported by suppliers and manufacturers,
a busy tractor demonstration area and other
live demos. It’s no surprise that Ripon Farm
Services was voted Service dealer of the year
in 2015.
Geoff is the figurehead and driving force
behind RFS and I was lucky to catch up
with him for a brief chat before he was off,
personally welcoming as many people as
possible as always with his trademark smile
and handshake. He even kept this up while
enjoying a well-earned roast beef sandwich
and chips.

20 Feb/Mar 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk