Published by Farmers Guide, April 2008.

Mike Bennett.

Change in direction was perfectly timed

YOU can't underestimate the advantage of good timing, as Farmers Guide found out when we visited Mike Bennett, of Bennett & Co, to mark his company's 10th anniversary.
Mike started the business in March 1998, but was faced with the much harder job of closing down his family's old business first. RS Bennett & Co had been trading in Downham Market for five generations as an agricultural dealership, but with the millennium approaching the company's viability was already under question.
"Things reached a head when the area surrounding our depot was identified by the local authority as a potential site for retail development," Mike said. "Reaching agreement with developers and dealing with long drawn out planning procedures over four years was not easy."
RS Bennett & Co had the option of relocating to a purpose-built depot on a less valuable site, but instead the directors decided the sensible option was to close the business down.
"At the time, the outlook for agriculture was looking increasingly uncertain, and although we had some good franchises, we felt the writing was on the wall for single-branch operations," he added. "It seemed a far better idea to sell up, pay all our bills and close the business in a neat and tidy fashion."
Looking back, Mike knows it was the right decision; indeed he feels the business would have found it difficult to survive the trading conditions of the past 10 years.

Niche business
The decision to close was helped by the fact that Mike had already identified a niche that he could fill.
"I had already built up 15 years experience in grain storage and drying systems, both before and during my time working for the family business," he said. "There was room for a firm specialising in this sector in West Norfolk and the Fens, and when I floated the idea I got a lot of support from the fixed equipment manufacturers.
"They were looking for stronger representation in this area and were keen to get someone putting 100% of their time into crop storage solutions."
Bennett & Co started a little too late to get many projects underway for the 1998 harvest, but the company was very busy from the end of that year right through to the end of 1999.
"Then things really slowed down," Mike said. "There was still work from a few big projects, but it was a real struggle.
"In early 2002 I was starting to wonder if I had a future in the business, but then things turned round very quickly. Indeed by the time that year's Smithfield Show came around, the company was celebrating its best year to date."
The business has continued to grow year-on-year, with 2007 again turning in record results and 2008 on target to do the same.
"Last year we almost reached the point where we could not take on anymore work," Mike said. "This year we are experiencing the fact that the industry only has access to a limited number of sub-contract installers and, increasingly, the system suppliers are reaching the limits of their output as well."
In fact, as far as Mike Bennett is concerned, the only way to get the facilities you want, when you want them, is to plan well in advance.
"It's all about timing," he said. "Anyone looking for new storage facilities for harvest 2008 is almost certainly going to be disappointed. And ideally I need to be talking to customers now about putting facilities in for the 2009 harvest."

Early start
Mike has already started work on nearly half-a-dozen major projects for 2009, as well as managing the builds already underway for this year.
"People have to realise the time it takes just to get to the building stage," he said. "After I visit to find out a client's requirements, it takes time to prepare the designs and costings for the different options I think will deliver what they want.
"Then, time has to be built in for decision making and getting the finance side sorted before we even get to the planning stage."
For the largest projects, it can take up to 13 weeks for planning permission to be granted, and even for the small projects that should fall under the 28-day Prior-notification scheme, the planners can decide at the last minute that full planning is required, adding another eight weeks to the process.
"The important thing is to talk to the planners as soon as possible," Mike said. "I have built up a wealth of experience by working with planners and I know how to put in a planning application so that it meets their requirements.
"This is particularly important when it comes to the hot topics of dust and noise pollution, which can often lead to unexpected hold-ups in the process."
Once planning has been granted, Mike can order the different elements of the project and start to schedule contractors to get the job done.
"The actual building time will vary from job-to-job, but a straightforward, new-build 1,000t on-floor store will take about 12 weeks from breaking the ground to completion," he said. "You can understand why I advocate starting now for next year, because if we can get through the preliminary stages by the end of the summer, we have about nine months to get the job done."

Complete service
Building new crop-storage facilities tends to be a once-in-a-generation task for farmers and Mike is happy to work with them in any way they want to make the process as pain-free as possible.
"I'll happily take on the whole project and handle every aspect of it so that the client only has one cheque to write and only one backside to kick if things go wrong," Mike said, "but I'm equally happy to do only as much as the client wants me to do on a consultancy basis.
"My aim is always to come up with practical, realistic answers to clients' problems. I know things are good at the moment, but that might not always be the case so cost-effective solutions are a must."
Mike added that working on construction projects of this size was a very personal business and it was important for growers to choose a company that they could get on with.

Close relationships
Bennett & Co also has close relationships with contractors and suppliers that have endured through the past 10 years. Building suppliers, equipment suppliers, groundworks firms, builders, electricians and specialist installers are all required to see a project to completion, as well as consulting structural engineers for more complicated projects.
"We have a good relationship with AC Bacon, which erects all of our steel frame buildings, while we work particularly closely with Harvest Installations for modulating gas burners and stirrers," Mike said. "On the bulk handling side, Perry of Oakley has been a long-standing supplier."
Grain storage and drying facilities still makes up the bulk of Bennett & Co's work, but the company has also taken on other projects including onion and potato stores, and bio-diesel production plants. In 2006, the company also designed and built a wood-drying kiln for a company that sells firewood to pizza restaurants for use in traditional ovens.
"Because I am qualified to deal with Health & Safety issues, I also get involved in projects outside of agriculture," Mike added. "One that was particularly interesting was an old brass foundry that was being demolished where different kinds of asbestos had been used in the construction."
Although in the early days of Bennett & Co about 50% of customers had links to RS Bennett & Co, that proportion has fallen as the company has started to work further away from its base, at Sporle, near Swaffham. Mike has worked on jobs all across Norfolk and Suffolk, and south into Essex. He has also completed projects as far north as Louth, Lincolnshire, and west to Nuneaton.
"Most of the work is still within 40 miles of Sporle, but I do sometimes get much further away," he said. "Advertising has helped to get my name known in the more distant counties, but referrals from satisfied clients have also been a major benefit to the business.
"When I started Bennett & Co the aim was to offer a personal service and that's what I'm still doing today. I firmly believe that every farm is different and every farmer is different. I don't go in with any pre-conceived ideas, but rather I try to listen to what the customer says and try to come up with the right solution.
"And that needn't be a new build," he added. "It's just as satisfying to refurbish existing facilities to bring them up to the standards that today's quality-assurance schemes and high-output combines demand."

Mike Bennett of Bennett & Co can be contacted on 01760 725990.