For almost two decades, Peake Dairy Services Ltd. has been providing exceptional sales, installation and 24/7 servicing / repairs solutions to customers across the midlands. We dropped into their Mountmellick base and met up with founder / managing director Oliver Peake to find out more about this superb family-run operation.
Peake Dairy Services Ltd. offers its customers a comprehensive range of products and services, including GEA (Westfalia) and BouMatic (Gascoigne-Melotte) milking systems and dairy farm equipment (milking parlours, herd management systems, milk cooling systems, dairy hygiene chemicals, udder healthcare products, hoof care products, spare parts etc.).
They also stock and supply feed systems, meal bins, scraper systems, water heaters and boilers, wash down pumps and power washers as well as a full range of chemicals. Furthermore, under the Peake Water Pumps banner, they also provide shallow, deep well and submersible pumps, water softeners, iron filters and UV units for bacterial control. In a nutshell, anything a dairy farmer could possibly need, Peake Dairy Services will supply in a prompt, professional and cost-effective manner with the guarantee of an exceptional back-up service, which affords customers the peace of mind of knowing that their equipment will continue to work and perform at optimal levels around the clock.
Having operated as a sole trader from 1997, Oliver Peake incorporated Peake Dairy Services Ltd. as a limited company in 2009. Reflecting on his earliest days working in the dairy sector, he notes: “I grew up on a farm and then went to work for Stradbally Farm Services in 1989/90, selling and supporting Senior milking machines. I worked for them up until ’97, at which point I decided to set up on my own as a dealer.
“I started off initially with Senior and I still continue to service them today. I secured the Gascoigne agency soon after starting up and I started selling and servicing their equipment as well, which I still do today. Around 2010, I added the Westfalia agency and we now offer both Westfalia and Gascoigne sales, installations, servicing and 24/7 call-outs. The business is going well and at present generates employment for four full-time workers alongside my wife, Cathy, who’s here full-time, plus a couple of part-time workers, when required.”
The superb back-up service offered cannot be overstated and it is for this which Oliver and his team are renowned. “Installations have been very busy since the quotas went and we’ve been very busy with both new parlours and extensions to existing ones. But we don’t really make our money in installations; service is of paramount importance and we treat it as an absolute priority.
“We have been flat-out fitting for all of 2015 and we haven’t had a break at all, which isn’t a bad complaint. And we already have a good bit of work on the cards going into 2016 so it looks like this will be the way going forward into next year too.
“We have installed new plants for up to twelve new customers this year so far, but a lot of the work we are doing is extensions – ten units up to 20 or 20 up to 30… Expansion is happening wherever people have the scope to expand.”
Peake Dairy Services’ catchment area covers a large swathe of the midlands. Located seven miles from Portlaoise, they cover a region within a 50-mile radius.
An ideal solution can be found to cater for the needs of any customer. “We can start from four-unit up to 30-unit,” says Oliver. “You don’t get too many going above that. Mostly, people seem to be going with the 16s, 20s, 24s. People who are starting out will generally go for a 10- or 14-unit, with the equipment to enable them to expand after that if needs be.”
As the industry has evolved, Oliver has had to move with the times to offer his customers the best-possible value-added products. “New equipment is always coming on stream. Things were a lot more basic 25 years ago when I first started working with milking machines. You now have milk meters, milk yield indicators, automatic cluster removers etc. and farmers can avail of systems that do a lot more for them.
“These new systems seem to be the way forward. Modern equipment is very, very good and the electronics that have been added are actually the last thing to give trouble. Obviously, there will be a bigger service bill but the benefits by far outweigh that.”
As well as Gascoigne, Westfalia and Senior, Oliver also services all machinery, including every brand of milking equipment right across the board. So far, he has resisted the urge to go into robotic milking systems. “I haven’t got involved in robotic parlours yet”, he confirms, “but I may be forced to do so. I’ll sit tight for the time being and see. We are very busy with the conventional system and will stick with that for the foreseeable future, unless the demand is there. Two or three of my customers have had them installed and we have had enquiries but so far there’s not enough interest to justify us going down that road. It’s something I’ll be keeping my eye on but you’d have to be guaranteed a lot of sales first and so far that prospect hasn’t materialised.
“We have a full range of chemicals here – acids, alkalines, teat dips as well as filter socks, liner tubing, vacuum pump oils, and anything else that might be needed as a spare. We carry all the spares in our mobile service vans and they can also be bought straight out of the yard. Anything a dairy farmer could possibly need, we strive to have it here ready for immediate use.”
Peake Dairy Services is very much a family business, offering a personal touch, and Oliver’s vision is that the next generation will one day assume the reins. “Cathy is here with me looking after accounts and all the computer work, while our son, Oliver, is a qualified milking machine technician and is in his second year in Limerick IT. He does a lot of the breakdown servicing and maintenance etc. and will join us full-time after he finishes college.”
Sounds like this impressive family enterprise could be serving dairy farmers in the midlands for decades more to come!
Peake Dairy Services,
Drinagh,
Mountmellick,
County Laois.
Tel: 057 8644100
Mobile: 087 2604026
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 10, November 2015
