SHERRIFF ACQUIRES GREENLAY

John Deere agricultural and turf dealer Thomas Sherriff & Co Ltd, whose headquarters are based at Haddington in East Lothian, has bought the professional turf business of Greenlay Ltd in Cramlington, south Northumberland.

This development extends the dealership’s trading area and takes to seven the total number of Sherriff outlets serving customers from the River Forth in Scotland, down through the Borders to Durham in north-east England and reaching out west to the Cumbrian border.

Sherriff’s head office site at Backburn in Haddington, which replaced the previous facility in Dunbar at the beginning of 2017, brought both the dealership’s agricultural and turf divisions under the same roof for the first time. The other Sherriff outlets are based at Alnwick, Coldstream, Hexham, Jedburgh and Stow.

All 17 Greenlay employees have transferred to the renamed Sherriff Cramlington business, with outlet manager Eric Pattinson continuing to lead the dealership’s experienced sales, service and parts team.

“Originally founded by David Lowes and his wife Judith in 1972 before becoming John Deere Limited’s first professional groundscare dealer in 1986, Greenlay is а well-established, successful family business,” said John Deere Limited division sales manager Chris Meacock. “We would like to thank the Lowes family and especially Geoff Lowes for their commitment to John Deere over the past 33 years - it’s great to see this positive outcome for his team.”

Sherriff managing director Colin Weatherhead added: “This is а key addition to our business and а great fit for our organisation. Following the development of our head office at Haddington as part of our overall expansion and restructuring plans, this latest acquisition represents another considerable investment in our business, allowing us to expand our geographical presence in the north-east of England and the Durham area.

“Most importantly, this means that we will now bе serving our total John Deere area of responsibility with both agricultural and turf equipment, from the Forth to Teesside and out to the Cumbrian border. It ensures that we can maintain the highest level of support to our customers in both the important business sectors of agricultural and professional turf equipment sales and service.”