You've heard it all before: "We're back and better than ever" -
The classic cry of a struggling British manufacturer risen like a
phoenix from the flames.
Invariably, they fall unceremoniously back into the smouldering
embers alongside so many other floundering firms.
But for Devizes-based
Kidd Machinery things
could really be looking up thanks to the backing of a major
automotive player.
NEW KIDD ON THE
BLOCK
Once renowned for its "Double-chop" forage-harvesters, "Clipper"
mowers, straw-choppers and toppers, Kidd slipped into anonymity
when it was absorbed into the giant Kverneland group in 1993.
Before that it had been one of the best-known names to serve the
livestock sector since it was started in 1959 by Devizes-based
engineer Archie
Kidd.
He started out making heavy flat rolls and soon progressed from
pasture preparation kit into forage harvesting and feeding.
But times changed and Mr Kidd decided the days of trailed
foragers and other low-tech kit were numbered. He sold out to
Wolseley Hughes - the firm
that now encompasses Build Center and Plumb Center - which, at the
time, was buying up agricultural equipment makers including
Parmiter and McConnel.
Fifteen years later the agricultural arm of this giant
conglomerate was disbanded and Kidd caught the eye of progressive
Danish firm
Taarup.
The company saw Kidd's dedication to the drum mower concept and
liked the way the small-town British firm had managed to get such a
strong hold on the domestic dealer network.
The Danes recognised that the product range needed updating and
were prepared to bolster it with their own line-up, generating
extra sales for themselves while helping to maintain Kidd's
position in the market. Kidd machinery was soon rebranded as
Taarup-Kidd with its less distinctive red colour-scheme.
But just two years later Taarup was bought by
Kverneland and
soon the Devizes factory was building feeders and straw-choppers
for nearly every brand in the European giant's portfolio -
Vicon,Taarup, and Kverneland itself.
Then in 2003 the decision was taken to sell off the Wiltshire
plant and shift production to Denmark and Italy. A management
buy-out took place under the banner of KFM.
The plan was that the old product range would be resurrected and
those dealers that had once shifted so much Kidd tackle would once
more see hundreds of Devizes-built machines flooding out of their
gates.
 |
|---|
WIN A NEW KIDD PASTURE TOPPER To celebrate the launch of a new range of pasture toppers, the
Devizes-based firm is on the lookout for the oldest working Kidd
Barber topper. Have you got one that you still use? Send a picture of it, along
with its serial number and a few details of it's history to
sales@kiddmachinery.com
or call 01380 724 910 and you could win a 1.8m (6ft) rotary topper
worth £795. |
The reality was different. The market had moved on -
self-propelled, precision-chop foragers were now the norm and the
industry was going through turmoil with low prices and the BSE
crisis to contend with.
However, after suffering production quality problems overseas,
Kverneland soon reappointed Kidd to turn out its horizontal-auger
diet feeders under contract - as it still does.
But the volume just wasn't enough and in June 2006 the company
ceased trading.
Within a month, however, there was interest from a local buyer.
On an industrial estate just around the corner in Devizes,
Omitec - the firm that makes
Crypton tuning kits
and other automotive testing equipment - was looking for someone to
produce the steel cabinets that its diagnostic equipment is
packaged up in.
The laser-cutting machines and steel presses in the KFM plant
fitted the bill perfectly, so a deal was done that saw the old Kidd
factory join the Omitec fold.
The management were wise enough to see that the agricultural
products still had great potential and also bought the Kidd name
back from Kverneland.
Kidd managing director Mike Dickinson is keen to spread the
company's activities and sees four key areas where there is
potential.
"Our core business will be focused around our own straw-choppers
and toppers. We've got new products on the way.
"We will continue with our contracts manufacturing for external
customers."
These include building hoppers for a firm involved in dry-mortar
mixes for on-site concrete production, and the deal to make
Kverneland feeder wagons.
"In another break from the agricultural angle, we're looking at
adapting our diet-feeder designs to suit the smaller green-waste
processor and compost site.
"For the long-term Kidd's future will depend on capitalising on
new markets. The waste industry will be key to this.
"I believe there is a huge future in 'Power from Waste', whether
that is anaerobic in-vessel digestion, biomass plants or
whatever"
He believes that the high-tech electronic gadgetry from Omitec
diagnostic kit and Kidd's heavy-engineering expertise make the
perfect marriage.
"We're better equipped now than virtually any other UK company
to tackle the challenges of sophisticated waste processing.
"Farm machinery will stay at our core but we've got some
exciting developments ahead - Kidd is
back."
New Kidd on the block... Kidd machinery is back. For now the
company is concentrating its efforts on toppers and straw-choppers,
but plans are in place to widen the product range.
KIDD TIMELINE
- 1959 Archie Kidd starts out building flat
rolls in the village
of Seend, near Devizes, Wiltshire - 1967 Double-chop forager introduced
- 1974 Straw-chopper launched
- 1977 Kidd is acquired by the Wolseley group
along with
Parmiter and McConnel
Clipper drum-mower enters production - 1991 Kidd is sold to Danish firm - Taarup
- 1993 Kverneland acquires Taarup, including
Taarup-Kidd
- 2003 Management buy-out acquires Devizes
factory
from Kverneland, trading as KFM - 2006 Automotive testing specialist Omitec buys
KFM
and Devizes plant. Also acquires rights to
manufacture
Kidd machinery from Kverneland - 2007 Trading as Kidd Machinery the plant
produces straw-choppers
and toppers plus 200 diet-feeders under contract to
Kverneland