MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Shropshire supplier of industrial packaging materials and environmental management equipment to businesses throughout the world is celebrating after completing its 15th and most successful year of trading.
Oswestry based Agritel Ltd was established by MD John Duffus in 1997 following his experience in technical and commercial roles working for companies such as ICI and as a sales and marketing director for Irish Ropes. Initially providing farms, farm contractors and agricultural merchants with baler twine, net wrap and stretch wrap, Agritel soon diversified into industrial packaging, waste compaction equipment and machinery. These now account for 90 percent of the company’s turnover, which in 2012 was up nearly 10 percent on 2011. In 2004, Agritel attained quality management systems’ accreditation ISO 9001:2008. In 2006, it introduced office supplies to the product range and launched its online shop.
Reflecting on changes over the past 15 years and looking to the future, John Duffus said: "The foot and mouth epidemic of 2001 had a drastic effect on our sales and so, like other businesses connected to the agricultural sector at that time, we diversified to survive. As a result we now stock a wide range of packaging consumables and sell waste compaction balers, bin presses, bottle and drum crushers worldwide to a variety of customers, from one-person SMEs to multinational companies. However, the biggest change has been the advent of the internet and the effect it’s had both on our business operations and how we reach potential new customers. We are quicker, more efficient and environmentally friendly and are embracing Facebook and Twitter as positive marketing tools."
Even though there are other businesses providing the same products as us, we are sure that our forward thinking, accreditations and experience, combined with the attention to detail and the aim to provide exceptional customer service, have resulted in 2012 being the best year yet for Agritel. We look forward to maintaining this success into 2013 and beyond."
