Albert J Jones Agri Equipment & Dairy Supplies provide unrivalled sales, installation and call-out services across County Fermanagh and beyond. We travelled to their Ederney base and met Mark Jones to find out more about this exceptional family operation.
It’s a landmark year for Albert J Jones Agri Equipment & Dairy Supplies, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary. Specialising in new and used milking parlours, and agents for DeLaval milking equipment, including the superb DeLaval VMS robotic milking system, they also stock a large range of new and second-hand agricultural machinery.
Very much a family-run business, with the third generation now at the helm, Albert J Jones Agri Equipment & Dairy Supplies offers a 24/7 call-out service and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to aftersales, ensuring complete customer satisfaction at all time. The exceptional levels of customer service provided (covering installation, servicing and repairs) perfectly complement the high-quality range of equipment sold.
Reflecting on the genesis of the business, Mark notes: “My grandfather, Albert, started it up in 1966. He came from a modest farming background – as did his father before him. There was a grocery shop here first and then he started selling agri machinery and dairy supplies. We still do both today.”
Selling a full range of agricultural machinery, Albert J Jones Agri Equipment & Dairy Supplies are agents for Redrock Engineering machinery and Ifor Williams trailers. They also sell a wide range of milking parlours and milking equipment, including both robotic and conventional units.
Business remains brisk, despite the obvious challenges facing the dairy sector in particular. “We’re fairly busy and have plenty of work on, which is perhaps surprising seeing as milk prices have gone so low and dairy farmers are coming under so much financial pressure,” continues Mark, who has been steering the Albert J Jones Agri Equipment & Dairy Supplies ship for the past four years.
“We are in the process of building new premises at the minute, here on the old site. The existing shop will be demolished and a new one will be built, which we hope to open sometime around August / September.”
Demand is strong across the business as a whole. “We’ve been with DeLaval for 40 years and we’re doing a lot of milking parlours and robots. There’s a good bit of work on at the minute, so we’re happy with that.”
High levels of repeat business are testament to the excellent service provided, while positive word of mouth frequently culminates in new business. Installing a proven product such as DeLaval also helps. “They are the market leader in dairy equipment, with 60% of cows worldwide milked in DeLaval facilities. They have a good name and are a great, reliable product,” says Mark, who covers a catchment area comprising all of Fermanagh as well as parts of counties Tyrone and Armagh.”
Demand for robots is growing steadily and Mark expects this trend to continue as more and more dairy farmers recognise and embrace the many benefits of these labour-saving automatic milking systems. “We started selling robotic milking machines in 2012 and we have already installed close to 30, so we are up and running and it’s very steady.
“There are a lot of benefits. It’s something that works 24 hours a day and it’s very easy to maintain. The farmer is saving a lot of labour and cows will produce more milk with better feeding systems.”
Aftersales service on all machinery and milking systems is paramount. In this respect, Albert J Jones leaves absolutely nothing to chance and the mobile phone is always switched on. “We have three service vans on the road and there is always somebody on call, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year,” Mark confirms.
As a strong family business providing a friendly, personal touch to customers, Albert J Jones Agri Equipment & Dairy Supplies also generates gainful employment for a team of seven, including Mark, his wife Kathryn and father Bert.
Mark is confident that 2016 will be another busy year and, going forward, he predicts that robotic milking systems will become as popular as traditional milking parlours. “I think it will be 50/50 between robotic and conventional milking systems,” he states. “There are still a lot of customers for conventional milking machines and we will cater for those. We will look after all our customers fully and treat them as a priority. We are here to supply the customer with whatever he wants and we have the experience and knowhow to install whicever system he requires.”
Like the rest of us, Mark is hoping for an increase in milk prices sooner rather than later. “The low prices are putting a lot of pressure on dairy farmers and it’s not an easy job at the best of times,” he concludes. “They deserve better and hopefully they will get some respite in 2016. Those people are there on their farms working hard seven days a week to produce quality produce and, at the moment, they are getting no real return. It’s not right. I’d really like to see that changing.”
Albert J Jones Agri Equipment & Dairy Supplies
4 Market Street,
Ederney,
County Fermanagh.
Tel: 02868 631251
www.facebook.com/
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 3, March 2016
