As the only manufacturer of tractor front loaders in the country, Rossmore Engineering Limited are asking farmers to buy Irish. And you won’t regret it because Rossmore’s products are renowned for their reliability and quality while the interest of the customer always comes first.
In existence over 30 years, Rossmore Engineering Limited is a family owned business whose name is synonymous with quality and innovation in the design of agricultural machinery.
Set up in 1980 by William J. Carroll, the Clonoulty, Cashel, Co Tipperary-based company manufactures a wide range of products – loaders, implements, tankers, agitators, conditioners, hoists and feeders – which it sells to the domestic and international market.
Prior to setting up the company, Willie Joe was in the sales and services of farm machinery through the retail company William J. Carroll Ltd. which is still in existence and based alongside Rossmore Engineering.
It was based on experience and observation of farming trends that Rossmore Engineering was established. Since then it has become second nature to them to help their customers improve efficiency and, in the process, reduce their costs.
The Carroll family are very much hands on in the current operation. Willie Joe, the founder remains in close contact with all aspects of the business and the addition of his sons, Jerry, Denis and Joseph, has added new, young and fresh ideas in helping drive on the business.
And, as the only Irish manufacturer of front loaders, the company has established an excellent reputation for product reliability and quality which is second to none.
“All our products are guaranteed Irish,” Jerry Carroll points out.
“Front Loaders are our core business and all the various attachments that comes with them. We’re competing against imported machines but we’re well known throughout Ireland.
“We’ve a good name for robustness, all our products are well built while simplicity and reliability would be the key words when it comes to describing our products.”
The company’s extensive product range also includes slurry tankers which come in all different shapes, sizes and capacities.
“Two distinctive features of our tankers are that we galvanise all our tankers and there is a large rear opening at the back door of each tanker,” Jerry added.
“The tanker market is extremely competitive with up to 20 different manufacturers between the north and south of the country but we like to think that we stay ahead of our competitors.”
This is achieved through working closely with the farming community and continuously developing and upgrading their projects to make farming easy and more economical for its customers.
The company’s premises is located in the heart of the Golden Vale and consists of 6,600 square metres, fully equipped with modern automated tooling plant and material handling equipment.
The Carroll-run operation, which provides employment to 35, produces a wide range of products which it sells to the domestic and international market via a dealership network of approximately 150.
“We’re fortunate to have a very loyal customer base and a strong dealer network but there are hallenges. Running costs is one of the biggest, keeping overheads under control while trying to be as competitive as possible is a delicate balancing act.
“Surviving the down turn since 2008 was the biggest challenge. Everyone’s output diminished but we’re trying to get back to where we were. Our future plans would include expansion of our premises and updating our machinery but we have to try to build our turnover up again.”
‘Learn from the past and look to the future’ is the company’s motto and Jerry has witnessed encouraging green shoots of recovery in recent times.
“Business has bounced back somewhat. We saw a little bit of growth in 2013 and, hopefully, we will see a little more in this coming year.”
As regards the family’s other business, WJ Carroll Machinery & Sales Service is now a recognised dealer for a number of machinery and engineering companies.
That arm of the business commenced trading on a small scale in 1974. It was the servicing skills of Willie Joe hat provided the basis for the creation of a successful retail farm machinery service.
When the level of part time work that Willie Joe was doing started to interfere with his regular job, both he and his wife Sarah knew it was decision time. They took the strong and confident decision to go it alone and the business of WJ Carroll’s Ltd. was established.
And they have had no reason to look back since as they are currently main agents for Rossmore Engineering, Landini tractors, Morra Mowers, Rauch Fertilizer spreaders, Ossella and Uni-Green Sprayers, NC Trailers and Cashel Engineering.
WJ Carroll Machinery & Service Sales also source and supply any other machinery required (both new and second hand) by their customers to which they back up their machinery trade with a fully qualified trained staff.
Rossmore Engineering
Clonoulty
Cashel
Co. Tipperary
Tel: +353 (0) 50 44 2230
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 2 No 2, June/July 2014
