AGRIFAC TO TAKE OVER HARDI'S BUSINESS

It has been announced that from March 1st 2019, Agrifac UK will take over the business of HARDI UK.

An official statement said, "With both brands being committed to the long term development of crop protection, as well as being subsidiaries of the EXEL Industries Group, the merge between the two companies is seen as an appropriate and positive step forward for the future production of crop spraying equipment."

Both brands will continue to work as separate entities under the EXEL Industries Group of whom they are owned by, with Agrifac providing local support for HARDI UK from their UK base. Support will consist of sales, marketing, service, parts, finance and administration activities, and will mean that the two companies will work in synergy with one another.

Spare part support and handling for HARDI UK customers will be taken care of by HARDI North until June 2019 to secure optimal deliveries and service to dealers and end-users. Parallel with this, spare part facilities will be available from the UK, and training of back-office will be carried out.

HARDI representatives from across the UK will remain the face of the brand to the market, with the takeover bounding no change on existing relationships with current and prospective customers of each of the separate brands. Improvements will be made to support HARDI UK to allow and prepare for future growth, as well as enable the brand to meet the demands and pressures of the market.

In addition, support will be provided across the HARDI UK dealer network by way of importing of machines. Agrifac UK will now import HARDI products, which will continue to be distributed through the HARDI UK dealer network.

After the success of Agrifac UK partnering with HOLMER Maschinenbau back in 2013, another subsidiary of the EXEL Industries Group, Agrifac UK and HARDI UK say they are keen at the prospect of mirroring this partnership and developing the brands similarly. It is hoped that the takeover will play a huge part in the longevity of crop protection within the industry, and over time, will enable new innovations to be produced along with a more forward thinking way of protecting and nourishing the land.

Andy Carse, managing director at Agrifac UK said, “We really believe that joining together with HARDI UK will help develop and support customer relations; something that is imperative for such a huge name within the industry. The in-house operations we can lend to HARDI UK will prove a tremendous help. With current support to the UK dealer network only available from overseas teams, consolidating this within the UK means we can help HARDI streamline their efforts, and target the UK market more efficiently and effectively.”

Peter Dahl, sales and marketing director for HARDI North added: “The demands for high service capability and parts supply will be much higher in the future. With joint forces between the two specialists, HARDI and Agrifac, we will continue the development solutions for end-users to offer the best plant protection within the marketplace.”