While sales of new equipment might be in the doldrums, spare parts specialist Kramp reports that the UK market outperformed all other European states last year.

“It seems that increasing numbers of British farmers and contractors are taking the view that it’s more cost effective to maintain and repair machinery rather than swapping it out,” says Kramp CEO Eddie Perdok.

“By offering our customers the choice of original branded parts or more cost effective non-genuine options with guaranteed next day delivery we’re growing our business year-on-year. In 2024 both our share of the UK market and the total volume of sales increased by over 10%.”

While a good chunk of this success is probably down to farming businesses opting to retain – rather than replace – equipment, Mr Perdok believes the real key for Kramp is in having a competent, well-informed technical team on hand to provide advice to customers.

“While the world might be heading towards online-only retail, we strongly believe we have to have boots on the ground. Yes, we need be continually growing our offering with innovative new products but alongside that we have to offer decent technical back-up.

“Aside from the logistics infrastructure required to ensure rapid deliveries, we’re committed to investing heavily in having a knowledgeable, well-trained technical team that can be on hand to answer customers’ queries.

“We’re also firmly committed to working with dealers – in our business personal relationships are key. We will always work alongside retail outlets which already have that close connection with the end user.”

He emphasises that this applies to all 25 countries where the firm operates and says continued growth needs to occur both organically as well as through acquisitions. To that end, in 2023 Kramp purchased Irish agricultural parts wholesaler Genfitt, expanding the business’ product offering while gaining access to its technical team and customer base.

Kramp apparently has over 300,000 different parts listed on its stock inventory held in 11 warehouses across Europe. From those distribution hubs it supplies over 60,000 customers in 25 countries.

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