L-R: Andrew Melville (Commercial Director, GGM), Maarten Ponne (Sales Area Manager, Roberine), Ian Burden (Group Vice President Vegetation Control Alamo Group Inc), Chris Gibson (Managing Director, GGM).

Partner Article

GGM Riding On Into Commercial Mowers with Roberine

GGM Groundscare are delighted to announce a new partnership with Roberine, the world class Dutch manufacturer of self-propelling mowing machines. GGM has a rich heritage in the ride on commercial mower sector and as the business prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary at its headquarters in Colne, Lancashire, the move sees it return to its roots. Managing Director Chris Gibson explains more: “When the business was relocated to Colne back in 2000, we were suppliers of Kubota and Hayter Professional, which was subsequently bought out by Toro. We described the brands as the right and left legs of the business – the absolute cornerstones of everything we did. Over time, we’ve explored and been extremely successful in other sectors. Now, through Roberine, we have found the perfect partner, at the forefront of the development of commercial mowing machines for local authorities and commercial landscapers”. GGM takes on the franchise from the 1st May and becomes the supplier across the North West region as well as South and West Yorkshire for these high-quality products. The range includes the NEW High-performance ride on flail mowers in 3 and 5 unit configuration in addition to the traditional cylinder options. Roberine were recently purchased by the multi-billion-dollar Alamo Group, world leaders in the design, manufacture, distribution and service of high-quality equipment for infrastructure and maintenance. Their business empire includes McConnel, Bomford and Spearhead among other big names in the UK. This new partnership will complement and enhance our existing franchises of Kubota, Amazone, Major and Baroness and ensures the company can offer customers a greater choice of commercial equipment, supported by awarding winning after sales and service.

Managing Director Chris Gibson explains more: “We are extremely excited about adding the Roberine franchise to our portfolio, offering our customers the new generation of ride on commercial flail mowers. It is the perfect addition as we continue to grow in the commercial sectors”. The new partnership comes after initial discussions at last year’s Saltex, when GGM learnt of Roberines’ desire to develop its UK commercial business which would ultimately prove to be mutually beneficial. The GGM team explained their business ethos and strategy and they were confident they could substantially grow the business across the North West of England and West and South Yorkshire, thanks to their experience in the commercial mowing sector. As part of this agreement GGM will take over the responsibility for the continued service and warranty of all machines supplied by the former dealers. GGM have already added the Roberine F3 triple flail to its ever-expanding hire fleet and have several units already working in the marketplace with two local authorities, and have recently taken delivery of new F3 triple and F5 high output 5-unit flail demonstration machines. Chris Gibson continues: “We believe the machines offer a superior quality of cut and performance advantages over other machines on the market and we’ve already been investing in training our after-sales team and parts inventory to ensure all Roberine customers both old and new receive the award winning service GGM customers have become used to.” “Roberine is a long-established brand and it’s history of success mirrors that of GGM Groundscare as we celebrate our 20th year at our head office in Colne. We are both committed to delivering outstanding customer service, fixed price service contracts, extended warranty packages and looking forward to demonstrating this to all our local authority and commercial customers across the region Maarten Ponne at Roberine said, “We are delighted to have GGM Groundscare on board to represent the Roberine brand. Changing dealership representation is never an easy decision but we believe that, in GGM, we have a partner with a clear shared vision of how best to support our brand throughout the region. They have a proven track record for working closely with commercial customers and are keen to continue to invest and develop their business even in these challenging times. The appointment of GGM follows that of Lister Wilder in the South and both appointments demonstrate our commitment to grow a professional dealer network with a proven track record for customer service and support. For now, it’s important we all stay safe, but we will continue to work in the background to develop our dealer network and work with all our partners to ensure we are ready to grow our business in the UK as soon as we are able to do so. Our products have been engineered with optimum performance in every respect, and our manufacturing method is world class.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alison Mulrooney .

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