Welsh dairy dealership expands

Photo: Lloyds Dairy Centre Manager, Owen McConochie.

Lloyds Dairy Centre has almost doubled its team and taken on a new site in Pembrokeshire to meet demand from Welsh dairy farmers. The DeLaval dealer has operated from Lampeter for 30 years and has expanded with further branches in Carmarthen and Fishguard. Manager, Owen McConochie says:

“We have expanded the team from 7 to 13 in 2022 to help manage the level of enquiries and support that we give to farmers in the area. We have operated in Carmarthen since 2006 and have expanded into Pembrokeshire this year to further widen the area that we cover.”

He suggests that some farms in Wales are looking to grow and are installing larger parlours. “There has been strong interest in DeLaval rotary parlours and robots, and we are installing two rotary parlours near St Clears as the moment. Growing herd sizes is definitely a trend and this has led to farms investing in new equipment,” he explains.

Almost three quarters of the team is under thirty which has been a deliberate strategy to encourage talented young dairy specialists to work in the service sector. “By using our experience staff to train younger recruits, we have a stronger team and a more sustainable future. Our staff are enthusiastic and have embraced new technology such as robotics to help us offer every farm a variety of services from parlour installations to dynamic testing and milking diagnostics.”

The business operates 24/7, with service engineers on hand to help farmers at any time. “We are passionate about service, and I think this has helped us grow over the years. We offer fixed cost maintenance packages to help farmers budget and we have a full portfolio of chemicals and consumables that are distributed by our own technicians, operating out of both Lampeter and Fishguard.”

Photo: The Lloyds Dairy Centre team installed a 40-point DeLaval E100 rotary parlour at Cribor Fach, near Cardigan in March 2021.