MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Award-winning Northern Ireland food producer Cloughbane Farm has stuck to its tried and tested recipe for transport success, by investing once again in Mercedes-Benz Vans.
The Co. Tyrone company chose a pair of Sprinter 316 CDI Long vans to replace two older Mercedes-Benz vehicles stood down after providing faithful service for five years, during which each covered some 250,000 miles.
The Sprinters were supplied by Dealer Mercedes-Benz Truck & Van (NI) and their temperature-controlled bodies are the work of MCV Conversions, of Killyleagh. They are fitted with Coldchain refrigeration units and wear a smart new vinyl-wrap livery.
“Based on previous experience there never any question of looking elsewhere when it came time to replace them,” said Cloughbane Farm Director Richard Robinson.
The Robinson family has been farming at Cloughbane for more than 150 years, and opened its first Farm Shop in 2002. Since then the business has diversified still further into the production of a range of high-quality sausages, burgers and ready-meals, all prepared with its own farm-raised meat.
Its vans deliver these products, as well as consignments of prize beef, lamb, pork and chicken ordered online, to retail outlets across Northern Ireland, and south of the border.
“Our vehicles are on the road from 5.30am, six days a week, and cover big mileages, so reliability is of paramount importance,” continued Mr Robinson. “Our previous Mercedes-Benz vans were completely dependable and we have every confidence that the new Sprinters will be just as good. Comfort levels in these latest models are higher, so our drivers love them. We’ve also specified reversing cameras this time, to make manoeuvring in tight spaces easier and safer.”
He added: “The fact that the dealer’s workshop at Dungannon, just a few miles from our farm, is open late into the evening means any maintenance or repairs can be undertaken outside our working hours. So we don’t lose the use of a vehicle when it should be out and earning. We’ve also signed up to a package that gives us three years’ servicing, as well as fixed-price parts, and allows us to budget with confidence, knowing there are no nasty surprises around the corner.”
Cloughbane Farm’s new vans are the subject of Agility funding contracts from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. Agility offers all the benefits of conventional hire purchase with a Guaranteed Future Value (GFV) – including low monthly repayments – but gives operators extra options at the end of the term. The customer can choose whether to pay off the final lump sum and keep the vehicle, use the vehicle as a part exchange for a brand new one, or return it free of any further obligations, apart from an excess mileage charge if the initially agreed limit has been exceeded, and damage charges over and above fair wear and tear.
“Great vehicles, flexible funding arrangements and predictable, low-cost maintenance – it’s an unbeatable package,” declared Mr Robinson.
