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PODNEWS 18 May 2023
With 100 episodes of Inside Agri-Turf under my belt now, I’m taking a short break to review the stats and plan the appropriate way forward.
NEW FEATURE
I’ve added a new feature to the Inside-Agri-Turf web site which I hope you will find useful.
As well as pictures of all the guests who appeared in the first 100 episodes, they are all listed alphabetically in a grid with their name, company or organisation – and a clickable link taking you directly to the episode (or episodes) on which they were a guest.
COMING UP
My podcasting host, Captivate, has just introduced new features which I’ll be sharing with you shortly. Suffice to say that it will make Inside Agri-Turf even more accessible and provide extra features to enhance your listening enjoyment. More news on that soon.
Best wishes
Chris
LATEST EPISODE: NO 100
FULL CIRCLE with Keith Christian
For the 100th episode of Inside Agri-Turf podcast, I'm talking to special guest Keith Christian, the recently retired Director of BAGMA about his remarkable career which including heading both trade associations for manufacturers and dealers.
Keith started life working in banking, but soon ‘found’ the garden machinery industry. Working first with a dealership, Burlinghams, then a manufacturer Spear and Jackson who were UK Stiga distributor at the time.
He then moved to set up Claymore Grass Machinery to distribute a range of overseas brands including Bolens, Masport, Stiga, Simplicity, Solo, Yanmar, Roberine and others. In doing so, he organised the much coveted, but unofficial, Claymore Travel Club visiting exotic locations around the world with dealers.
During this time, Keith was elected President of the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) representing UK manufacturers, importers and suppliers of farm and garden machinery.
After Claymore was sold to Farm and Garden Machinery, Keith ‘crossed the floor’ and in 2007 was appointed to head the UK dealers representative body BAGMA (British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association).
At the time, BAGMA was part of BIRA (British Independent Retailers Association, formerly British Hardware Federation).
In many ways it was not an ideal fit, and in 2021 the AEA bought BAGMA. In so many ways it created a full circle for Keith, who officially retired a BAGMA Director in March 2023.
This is a cracking episode with Keith talking about the ebbs and flows of his career, his worldwide travels - and his love for the industry
Photo courtesy of BAGMA Bulletin
PREVIOUS EPISODE: NO 99
WHAT THREE WORDS?
with Ruth Bailey and Gareth Ford
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The Agri-Turf machinery industry has long wrestled with finding a readily understood definition of what it is, what it does - and what three words best sum up its attraction?
Officially categorised as Land-based Engineering, the challenge for those recruiting is to catch the eye and capture the interest of potential new employees in around 5 seconds according to the latest definition of attention span in this digital age.
In December 2022, the cross-industry Land-based Engineering, Training and Education Committee (LE-TEC) developed a new campaign, We Are Land-based Engineering, designed to utilise all the current social media platforms to explain and expand on all the opportunities it offers.
In this episode, Ruth Bailey, CEO of the Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA) and Gareth Ford, Digital Media and Marketing Specialist at the AEA discuss the concept of the campaign, the planning, content and early response from the industry itself, from colleges - and the general public.
Gareth has conducted many filmed interviews for the campaign with those currently working in Landbased Engineering, from apprentices to managers and business owners. They are asked what three words sum up the industry for them? The most common responses include 'rewarding', 'varied', 'long term', 'security' and 'innovative'
We Are Land-based Engineering website
Want to get involved or have a story to tell? info@wearelandbased.engineering