One of the most important aspects of investment into new machinery for Tom Rimell, is ‘whole life value.’ Tom and his wife Linda, own and run SmartCut Ltd, consisting of a group of specialist grounds maintenance businesses.
The company’s head office is based just outside Pershore, Worcestershire and the group are responsible for general maintenance, grass-cutting, grass management, landscaping and recycling - with the ‘group’s’ customers based from the north of Birmingham, way down to the extremes of Devon and Cornwall. They employ over 100 staff year-round. It’s a multi-million pound business, founded in 1994 and one of their first contracts, which was with Wychavon District Council is still being managed by SmartCut. Their client base includes local authorities, blue-chip house builders, housing associations, sports clubs, large garden estates and a whole host more. Their reputation is one of outstanding service, performance and reliability.
Up until a couple of years ago, SmartCut had never tried John Deere products, but today, following the acquisition of their first compact tractor - a John Deere 4066R, it looks like the marque has made a solid impression.
“Whole life values,” commented Tom, “is very important in how we run a successful and efficient business. We’ve had some reliability problems with the previous brand over the years and Colin McIntyre at TAG Evesham - our local John Deere dealer had been working hard to gain some of our business. We tried the 4066R and it has performed very well and been very reliable. Even though the John Deere product is slightly more expensive than what we were used to, the reliability, extra performance, less downtime and excellent trade-in value, make it a much more costeffective option.”
SmartCut also purchased a new Trimax Snake mowers, which replaced their ageing batwing mowers and behind the John Deere 4066R, has performed very well. Added Tom, “the Trimax Snake powered by the 4066R has given us an excellent job on the sports fields and large grass areas. So much so that we have been able to reduce the use of cylinder mowers, which is a much better cost-option for our customers, yet the quality finish is just as good. We also purchased in May 2020, two John Deere 1580 terrain cut front rotary mowers, which have performed exceptionally well and with no reliability issues. We’ve been so pleased with these that we have ordered two more for delivery in the Spring of 2021.” SmartCut has their own workshop and maintenance facilities and rely on TAG for back-up support where necessary. “TAG’s after-sales support is second-tonone.” enthused Tom, “Colin and his team have been very supportive - although we haven’t needed to call them out for breakdowns, but they are always there when we ask about technical issues, installation and fine-tuning when we need it. Wearing parts have always been in stock and we’ve never had to wait for anything.
‘We normally change our machinery after four years, with around two thousand hours on the clock and with the buy-back guarantee that TAG has given us, this new machinery investment makes absolute sense. It proves to us that investing in the best equipment is not only a cost-effective advantage, but it also means that our customers will always receive a high-quality and reliable service experience.”
