RIPON Farm Services is one of Yorkshires many business success stories and one of the most successful in the Agricultural sector . From small beginnings back in October 1982 Managing Director Geoff Brown along with his fellow directors began with one depot in Ripon and 19 employees along with John Deere and Land Rover franchises . Today RFS has an annual turnover more than 100 Million with 182 dedicated staff .

One of the secrets of a successful business is to never stand still . Geoff is never a man to stand still and continues to be the heart , soul and driver of the business .

I visited the two day show on the 10th January . The annual open day is both a thank you to Ripon ’ s many customers and a very open busy forum to secure those all important new year machinery deals .

As you would expect across the two days thousands of farmers attended the luxurious Pavilion at the Harrogate Showground . On a cold winter ’ s day , it is ideal to have everything under one WARM roof , so everyone can stand and talk without freezing and enjoy the copious amounts of complementary soup sandwiches and

The medal from North Yorkshire Police - Presented to Geoff Brown

beverages . Very quickly the halls and the café area filled up and a very healthy buzz was evident . Geoff was his usual busy self-trying to speak and meet with as many customers and contacts as possible . A good barometer of the show always tends to be the number of BAILEY trailers sold and this year was no exception with more of a dozen being bought .

2017 was a landmark expansion year with the acquisition of the KRAMER franchise back in June . This year ’ s show saw KRAMER taking up a large part of the main hall . Since acquiring the franchise and the first machines arriving RFS has been one of KRAMER ’ S outstanding success ’ s with more than 60 units delivered and over a 100 ordered .

2017 also saw the opening of the new depot in Pickering with

Launch of exclusive pink John Deere overalls

an emphasis on supporting the KRAMER brand .

There is always something different going on at RFS , they are always keen to support local communities and in April Geoff was presented with a medal from North Yorkshire Police for supplying 2016 Police Tractor to Rural

Crime Taskforce , low and behold in May the 2017 Tractor was ready to go !

Staff education and training is a key part of the team ’ s development and 2017 saw two factory trips to Ifor Williams and KRAM- ER . Geoff said to me “ This really helps the salesmen and technicians understand the products which is vital when both selling the correct machine for the job and then maintaining it ”

Ripon Farm pride themselves on delivering a great customer experience both at point of sale and after sales service . To enhance this process Ripon run demonstration days . In 2017 there was a KUHN and Kramer bedding and feeding day in October and back in June a baler and wrapping day .

September saw RFS win the Best trade stand at Penistone show .

November was a particularly eventful month with the Launch of the Pink John Deere overalls . RFS parts were awarded the John Deere Prism Pilot Project Trophy , for their involvement in the new JD finance app to pay your parts bill .

Then to top it all a call came in a call enquiring about a second-hand combine that was up for sale from all places the Paul McCartney estate ! On the Mull of Kintyre . Suffice to say the deal was done and the combine made its long way up north . A Fascinating challenge involving much measuring and re-measuring with the combine just negotiating the final bridge onto the estate with only centimetres to spare on either side !

Its no great surprise that Ripon Farm continues to flourish and develop , and we wish them a prosperous 2018 .