John Dixon Plant Hire Ltd marked 45 years in business by winning the prestigious ‘Best Agri Supplier of the Year’ accolade at the 2025 Midlands 103 Customer Service Awards.
It’s wonderful recognition for the Killucan, Co. Westmeath-based family-run business which has grown into one of the leading road rail, plant hire and agriculture suppliers in Ireland. The Customer Service Awards recognise outstanding service across counties Laois, Offaly and Westmeath, and 500 guests gathered at the Tullamore Court Hotel in June to applaud the individuals and companies who go above and beyond for their customers every day.
This year’s awards followed weeks of on-air and online promotion, and more than 12,000 listener votes were posted in the 60+ categories. Winners were selected by an independent judging panel, led by renowned architect Hugh Wallace of ‘Home of the Year’ and ‘The Great House Revival’ TV fame.
“It’s great for business,” company founder and managing director John Dixon enthuses.
“We’re delighted with the award, and to win it in the same year that we celebrate 45 years in business makes it even more special. It’s a good morale-booster and reflects well on our amazing team.
“With hard work and long hours dedicated, the business continues to expand. After starting out working on land reclamation and site clearance along with agriculture hire, we have evolved into providing top-quality road rail, plant hire and agri contracting services.
“Our goal is to deliver the best possible service to our clients. Through our commitment, we are continually challenging ourselves to reach the next level of achievement. We pride ourselves on being skilled and experienced in all aspects of agriculture work, and this is instilled in our workforce. We are also devoted to our employees’ health & safety, job security and welfare.”
John continues: “Our company does the utmost for the environment by recycling materials such as oil, batteries and paper. We also strive to reduce dust and noise levels, electricity and water usage at all times.”
John Dixon Plant Hire understands the importance of meeting clients’ needs to achieve their business goals. The firm is committed to completing every project on time and to the highest quality, while being friendly to the environment.
“We are focused on providing high-quality service and complete customer satisfaction,” John says.
“We provide a wide variety of agriculture services using top-quality machinery to carry out our clients’ work quickly and efficiently. We have the ability to carry out any job successfully and on time. We have a wide variety of machinery to give our customers more choice. Each job requires special tools and our work is no different.
“We are continuously investing in machinery and equipment to ensure work is delivered to the best of our ability. Continual development is important to any business, and it is vitally important to the long-term viability of the operation. We are constantly looking for ways to provide the complete service. This led us to our present position with a range of machines and attachments for every agriculture-related job.”
Joined in the business by his sons Wayne, Aaron, Clinton and Shane, daughter Aisling, wife Sheila and up to 30 employees. John runs a 30-strong fleet of tractors, including New Holland, Fendt, Ford, Deutz-Fahr, Fastrac and Ford. The main agri contracting services offered are pit and baled silage, trailing shoe low-emission slurry spreading, reseeding, crop spraying, drainage, land maintenance and hedge cutting. Grass equipment includes a CLAAS 890 harvester and a Krone Big M mower.
All machines are maintained and serviced regularly to ensure there is no such thing as downtime. The company strives to be as self-sufficient as possible. To this end, it carries out all maintenance inhouse, has its own plasma cutter and makes its own hose pipes.
“It’s hard to find anyone who does that type of work, so we do it ourselves. It means we’re not relying on anyone else and everything is within our control,” company administrator Aisling Dixon says.
“The agri contracting and road rail work complement each other in many ways. We have all the equipment for putting down and replacing rail tracks, and for weed spraying, muck digging, hedge cutting etc. We work nationwide for Irish Rail. For example, we worked around the clock from December 26 to January 3/4 last on the Connolly to Pearse Station line in Dublin, while most people were on their Christmas holidays.
“Being located in the centre of the country is a huge advantage when it comes to rail work. It’s the busier of the two businesses because it’s all-year round. Agri contracting is more seasonal. Clinton, Aaron and Shane manage the rail side of things, with John and Wayne overseeing the agri contracting. Aaron restores old tractors as a hobby and has even restored a DeLorean car!”
Inflation brings considerable challenges for the industry. Rising prices impact materials, labour hiring rates, machinery costs, machinery parts and more. The rising cost of fuel has a particularly strong impact on the industry. John Dixon Plant Hire has a strong work ethic and reputation for reliability. The award-winning company’s goal is to continue delivering excellent customer service.
John Dixon Plant Hire contributes generously to the local community. It proudly sponsors local GAA clubs and has raised over €30,000 for Temple Street Children’s Hospital with Tractor Runs in 2014 and ’17.
Among the steps the company has taken to reduce carbon footprint was transferring its machines fuel from diesel to HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil). HVO is made by reacting vegetable, or other oils with hydrogen at high temperatures and pressure. This, therefore, classes it as a second-generation biodiesel that will replace red and white diesel throughout the construction industry.
John Dixon Plant Hire also encourages the adoption of similar principles by its suppliers. To offset the hiring of fossil fuels, the Westmeath operation has planted trees (silver birch and elder trees) in its grassland that encourages biodiversity. The company also has bogland where its natural state peatlands act as long-term sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide.
John Dixon Plant Hire’s commitment to the environment is further underlined by the fact that its offices and workshops are powered by solar panels that result in energy-savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants, and preservation of biodiversity.
Here’s to the next 45 years and many more awards!
John Dixon Plant Hire Ltd
Sarsfieldstown,
Killucan,
Co. Westmeath.
Telephone: 0449374692
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.johndixonplanthire.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 13 No 2, Autumn 2025
Featured, John Dixon Plant Hire
