{"id":466,"date":"2017-04-13T11:50:26","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T10:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/?p=466"},"modified":"2017-04-13T11:50:26","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T10:50:26","slug":"the-golden-age-taylor-braithwaite-celebrate-50-years-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/2017\/04\/the-golden-age-taylor-braithwaite-celebrate-50-years-of-business\/","title":{"rendered":"The Golden Age – Taylor & Braithwaite Celebrate 50-years of Business."},"content":{"rendered":"

Cumbria based construction equipment dealer, Taylor & Braithwaite<\/a> is celebrating 50-years of trading this year! The company was originally started by Harold Taylor in October 1967 \u2013 he was soon joined by Trevor Braithwaite – it was then that Taylor & Braithwaite was born!\u00a0\u00a0 Both Mr Taylor and Mr Braithwaite had previously worked for Johnson\u2019s in Kirkby Stephen where they were repairing Agricultural Machinery. Harold Taylor is still a director of Taylor & Braithwaite today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company\u2019s roots were firmly in the agricultural market<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in the day the company (T&B) was focused solely on agricultural machinery and Mr Taylor remembers the first ever machine sold, which was a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor which was sold to Beckwith\u2019s at New Hall in 1968, for the sum of \u00a3805.00! Farming company, W G L Soulsby & Sons, also based in Cumbria, was T&B\u2019s first big customer who started with the purchase of one machine and went on to buy all their fleet of machines and equipment from the company.<\/p>\n

Business expansion for Taylor and Braithwaite<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1971 Taylor & Braithwaite decided it was time to expand and so Harold Taylor purchased a farm at Flitholme Cumbria for \u00a35,100 which included 25 acres.\u00a0 A workshop was created and the company began carrying out repairs to 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0hand agricultural machines.<\/p>\n

In the early days, Mr Taylor and Mr Braithwaite were looking after both sales and service \u2013 but this had to be reviewed when they both sold the same machine to different customers on the same day \u2013 and they only had one machine to sell! So, to avoid any further sales calamities, in 1984 Mr Taylor took over the running of the office and stores and Mr Braithwaite looked after the sales side of the business.<\/p>\n

New brands and the arrival of John Deere<\/strong><\/p>\n

Early brands included agricultural machinery manufacturer Kuhn and Universal Tractors, who were manufacturers of 4-wheel drive tractors. In the 1980\u2019s T&B took on JF Forage Harvesters, Malgar – who manufacture slurry tankers and handling equipment – and PZ manufacturers of hay and silage machines. In 1992 talks began with agricultural machinery giant John Deere and in 1993 Taylor & Braithwaite signed the John Deere franchise deal.<\/p>\n

It was also in 1992 T&B expanded further and the company invested in new premises at Sandford to enable the business to work more efficiently in line with undertaking the new John Deere franchise.\u00a0 The land on this new site also enabled customers to demo new machinery before they committed to buy!<\/p>\n

When Britain declared itself free of foot-and-mouth in 2002 T&B began selling both new and used plant as more contractors began operating and the demand for machinery was high.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hyundai Construction Equipment joins the Taylor and Braithwaite fold<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company remained almost 100% focused on agricultural machinery until director, Ian Burton joined the company back in 2005 \u2013 Ian took over Mr. Braithwaite\u2019s role. Mr Burton looks after the sales side of the business and Paul Taylor, Harold Taylor\u2019s son, is responsible for aftersales although they work very much as a team.<\/p>\n

Today the company\u2019s business is more than 95% dedicated to construction machinery. Ian Burton contacted Hyundai in 2009, which was at the height of the economic recession.<\/p>\n

Mr Burton said \u201cNot many people were jumping up and down at this point to sell excavators, but I saw it as a great opportunity to enter into this industry whilst it was still quiet to build ourselves up for when the market recovered. From this point on the business grew.<\/p>\n

\"\"The reason we chose Hyundai as a brand was because they manufactured a comprehensive range of machinery which included both heavy-line machines alongside the midi and mini ranges. They didn\u2019t have any dealer representation in the area that we covered so it was a good move on behalf of both companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was in September 2009 Mr Burton met with the Hyundai team in Belgium to discuss taking on the Hyundai dealership. The company officially began trading in Hyundai in January 2010 with the -7A machines.<\/p>\n

Since then the company has gone from strength to strength and the company is the approved dealer for leading brands including Maximus Crushing & Screening, Wacker Neuson for small plant, ProDem, Stihl and Yamaha. Mr Burton said, \u201cWe really have kept Hyundai as our main franchise and that\u2019s where most our turnover is generated from. The addition of these newer franchises now enables us though to offer a depth of quality machinery and equipment to our customers that compliments the Hyundai range\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Burton added, \u201cWe forecast to sell 12 Hyundai\u2019s in the first year of trading and we managed to sell double that with 24 machines going out in 2010. The following year we sold 49 machines and then 60 \u2013 we in fact doubled what we set out to do! We thought selling 50 tractors and 50 excavators per year was a very nice and profitable little business \u2013 we well exceeded this. We are now selling around 100 Hyundai machines a year on average \u2013 we predict we will continue to in the treble figures each year. Last year we celebrated selling our 500th<\/sup> Hyundai machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giving up the John Deere franchise\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was in 2011 T&B let the John Deere franchise go \u2013 the company did not agree with the way John Deere was changing the way it wanted to work with its dealers. Mr Burton reported, \u201cIn 2011 the construction equipment side of the business really took off \u2013 we put all of our efforts into this side of the business. Giving up John Deere was not an easy decision to make \u2013 we had a lot of sleepless nights over it. We were in effect giving up a world-leading brand to concentrate our efforts on a lesser known construction brand – it was a real gamble. But I could not see the future in their dealer model for our area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hyundai brand up with its competitors<\/strong><\/p>\n

T& B director Paul Taylor said, \u201cSince the arrival of the -7A machines the Hyundai brand has improved massively! The machines were always very reliable – but they lacked finesse and were a tad old fashioned in comparison to competitors\u2019 brands. Hyundai needed to up their game to keep up with the other brands in the market. They have succeeded with this ten-fold – Hyundai It is now a well received and recognized brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Burton added, \u201cEvery time Hyundai bring out a new range they are another step forward with new technology that they incorporate into the machines \u2013 you could put Hyundai head to head with any of the competing brands and they would be up there with the best. The new AAVM viewing system is also a huge step forward and something that the other brands need to be introducing factory fitted and not retro-fitted. Brand snobbery is still an issue but we are addressing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biggest achievements for Taylor & Braithwaite<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Burton said, \u201cOur biggest achievement I believe is successfully changing from 100% agricultural machinery to over 95% construction machinery \u2013 completely changing industry. If we had not made the change the company (T&B) would not be here now and we would have been swallowed up in the John Deere corporate company \u2013 we would be a small cog in a big wheel.<\/p>\n

We have worked hard since the decision was made to change industries and are now able to offer a really strong and complimentary range of products and equipment that offers something for the smallest to the biggest customer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur original mission statement was to build and maintain a sound customer base and we stand by that today.\u201d Added Mr Taylor. \u201cWe like to have happy customers and offer them value for money. We also need to have 110% confidence in a product to be able to sell it. We always look to grow long term relationships and we are a company where the directors are always on the end of the phone \u2013 we make decisions quickly \u2013 and work directly with all our customers. A good sound back up service is also key and a sound investment.<\/p>\n

We are fortunate in that we have a team of staff who are extremely knowledgeable and take a lot of pride in the work that they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

We also have a loyal customer base that we have built up over the years. We spend time understanding their needs and make sure that the equipment that we supply is fit for purpose. This reputation has enabled us to grow and attract new customers, often through the recommendation of existing ones \u2013 so we must be doing something right\u201d<\/p>\n

50th<\/sup> Anniversary Charity Ball<\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of Taylor & Braithwaite\u2019s 50th<\/sup> anniversary celebrations the company is hosting a \u201850th Anniversary Charity Celebration Ball\u2019 which will take place on 6th<\/sup> October 2017 at the prestigious Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa located on Lake Windermere in the Lake District. The company is hoping to raise between 25 \u2013 30K for Cancer Research UK.<\/p>\n

240 guests have been invited from Taylor & Braithwaite\u2019s customer base and industry contacts. There are 24 tables available and already 21 have been snapped up by supporters. There will also be an Auction of Promises at the event to raise further funds for the Cancer charity.<\/p>\n

Mr Burton said, \u201cCancer Research UK is a very appropriate charity to choose as unfortunately we have all been affected by this disease either directly or indirectly so we delighted we are able to host a ball to raise funds at the same time as celebrating our 50th<\/sup> anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor & Braithwaite can be contacted on 017683 41400. Visit the website for more information on the company www.t-and-b.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cumbria based construction equipment dealer, Taylor & Braithwaite is celebrating 50-years of trading this year! The company was originally started <\/p>\nRead more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plant-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":471,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions\/471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}