Claydon Drills, which manufactures the most renowned direct strip till seeding system in Europe, has appointed a new Territory Manager to cover the West of England and Scotland.
Charlie Eaton will be well-known to many Claydon customers, having been the company’s UK sales manager for four years before returning to his native West Country in October 2015. During that period the business went through a period of tremendous growth and transitioned from direct sales to operating through a network of dealers. Charlie helped many farmers to benefit from the Claydon System, established the company’s presence in Ireland and helped to develop the product range to suit the needs of customers in all areas of the UK.
Raised on his family’s dairy farm in north Dorset, Charlie always loved machinery and completed several harvests on farms in the south of England to gain experience. After graduating from the University of Reading with a degree in agriculture, he joined one of the world’s largest recruitment agencies and while there learned the art of selling in a large corporate environment.
When Charlie joined Claydon Drills in October 2011 the majority of the company’s customers were in East Anglia and he helped it to expand its presence into new geographical areas in the south west of England, Scotland & Ireland, his first-ever sale being to Irish farmer Noel Furlong who is now the Claydon agent there.
Now that Charlie has returned to Claydon he is looking forward to renewing his acquaintance with existing customers, as well as converting farmers who are looking for a more efficient way to farm over to the Claydon System.
Based in Bristol, Charlie will be responsible for a territory which encompasses all areas west of the M1 motorway and the whole of Scotland, where he intends to spend more time as his partner, Laura, is Scottish. He adds: ”During the past 16 years, Claydon has played a significant role in leading the revolution for European farmers to adopt direct drilling techniques that are appropriate for European conditions. There are over 600 Claydon drills now operating across the UK, but it concerns me how many farmers are still unnecessarily over-cultivating soils.
“The question of ‘will it work on my farm?’ simply isn’t credible anymore because there are so many Claydon customers throughout the UK, from Orkney to Cornwall. They are successfully operating the Claydon System on all type of soil, in different climatic conditions and all types of crops. Perhaps the question farmers should be asking themselves therefore is: ‘Am I prepared to take myself out of my comfort zone and change my practices?’ Public interest in environmentally sustainable food production has never been higher, so it is essential that farmers evolve their crop establishment techniques and embrace new practices that will stop the degradation of our soils and ecosystems.
