Winners

Agrimech is honoured to have been granted a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of its success both at home and abroad in the bagging and weighing technology and solutions market.

Founded in 2009 by Darren and Belinda Smith, over the past 13 years Agrimech has established its reputation as a market leader in specially designed machinery for the agricultural industry, with its award-winning equipment backed up by an after-sales support system that is second to none.

From its base on the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire border, at the heart of England’s agricultural sector, Agrimech has grown steadily whilst still retaining its family business core values.

Having established itself as a major player in agricultural machinery in the United Kingdom, in recent years Agrimech has made inroads into the lucrative North American market, enjoying encouraging success, and with plans in place for further expansion in the sector.

Record overseas sales
Since its first forays into North America, overseas sales have grown by more than 200 per cent, moving from 3.9 per cent of the company’s total sales to 13.4 per cent. And lessons learnt across the Atlantic are also proving useful closer to home, with Agrimech’s trademark now registered in 28 countries across Europe.

Company founders Darren and Belinda, who are still involved in the day-to-day running of the business, both had years of experience in the sector before launching their own enterprise. Darren spent more than two decades working as a service engineer, while Belinda was brought up in the family vegetable supply company.

All products supplied and maintained by Agrimech are also designed and manufactured by their own staff, on site, meaning no-one can know them and maintain them as well as the team at Agrimech.

Respect, trust and repeat business
Bespoke adaptations are available on request, and all equipment is made from stainless steel for maximum durability, with the company’s own field service engineers providing after-sales technical support when required.

“We’d rather take longer to get the job entirely right, than do it more quickly and fit more jobs in,” says Belinda. “That kind of dedication is the approach that earns you customer respect, trust and repeat business.”

Whether it be weighing, stitching, placing or palletizing, Agrimech has top-quality machinery for every step of the process, with the Titan Palletiser, Retribution stitcher, and Genesis bag placing system being some of the company’s top rated pieces.

But it is not just Agrimech’s hardware that has helped build the company’s reputation. For Agrimech, a customer buying a product is the start of the relationship, not the end, and with every piece of machinery designed in-house, to the highest technical standards, whenever a customer has any need of after-sales support, they know they are dealing with a staff member who understands every aspect of the machinery which is, wherever possible, built using local companies.

Next-level after-sales backup
Agrimech has two different levels of after-sales backup: the Agri Link system, allowing customers to book remote appointments at any time from any place in the world, or the in-person Agri Care package, which includes site visits for maintenance, an annual service, discounts on spare parts used, and other incentives. Personalised arrangements are available on request.

At the 2017 Manufacturing MX industry awards, acknowledging achievement in the UK manufacturing industry, Agrimech won the manufacturing services category, and the following year, at the same ceremony Agrimech won the most progressive SME, in addition to receiving the customer value award at the 2018 Processing and Packaging Machinery Association awards. In 2019, there was more success in the machinery category at the National Potato Industry awards.

As well as having a proud history, Agrimech has a glowing future, with four younger staff members, who have come up through the ranks, being given greater responsibility for the company’s development in the years to come.

Extremely safe hands
“I’ve seen so many people hang on until it’s too late to give the next generation the space and support required as they learn business rather than their trade,” said Darren. “Agrimech’s future is built on our four younger members, and customers should know they’re going to be in extremely safe hands.”

Apart from the machines themselves, Agrimech’s greatest adverts are its satisfied customers, such as Andrew Branton, who runs the 6000-acre Willowtree Farm in Spalding, Lincolnshire. “We’re a family business, and so are Agrimech, which made a big difference to my thinking,” he said. “The more we spoke to the team there, the better a feeling we got, and now we’re signed up with them, you get a great personal level of accountability and responsibility that you would never get with other bigger companies, who would happily wash their hands of you.

“Whenever we’ve needed to speak to someone, we’ve always got straight through to someone who knows exactly what they’re talking about. At other companies, you’d have to go through layers to find that person – but not here. These are the people who have built the machines, and worked them, so it’s never a problem to find an answer to your questions.”

Daniel Edwards, who has a Themis weigher, Retribution sack stitcher and Nemesis bag placer on his 300-acre farm in Huntingdon, is another satisfied customer. “As a company to work with, you really can’t fault them,” he said. “The build quality of the machines is excellent, the support is superb, and they help us run more efficiently. Money spent with Agrimech is most definitely money well spent.”