A company with its roots deep in the agricultural machinery business has clinched a major deal with Europe's top trailer maker.

Thomas Sherriff & Co Ltd has been appointed by Ifor Williams Trailers as their distributor in the Scottish Borders and north Northumbria.

The firm was established almost 200 years ago to build and supply machinery for the farming community along the Scottish/English border.

According to Thomas Sherriff’s Group Sales Director Colin Weatherhead, the company is very excited about the new arrangement which he describes as a "very good fit".

Colin said: "This agreement significantly enhances the product range we offer our customers and strengthens its position by becoming the region’s official distributor for Ifor Williams Trailers.

"Ifor Williams Trailers is an incredibly successful company selling a quality product, and I think the key to it having become the household name it is today is the sheer inventiveness it continues to show in product development.

"Our company has been around almost 200 years and in all those years has obviously gone through a lot of peaks and troughs in the agricultural machinery business.

"I believe we are very good fit for each other and as a result of the distribution arrangement we are looking forward to a very bright future together."

The new arrangement will mean Thomas Sherriff will supply the full range of Ifor Williams Trailers from its six depots, at Alnwick, Berwick upon tweed, Dunbar, Haddington, Stow by Galashiels and Coldstream.

Colin explained that the centre of these operations will be a new trailer centre which the company is setting up at its Coldstream depot.

He said: "We’re currently recruiting a manager and an additional technician for the new centre, which will include a spacious display area for the Ifor Williams Trailers range. The other five depots will all have dedicated trailer sales people who will undergo full product training by Ifor Williams Trailers

"Our new trailer centre will be the springboard for the ambitious plans we have for the development of the trailer business.

"Our ground care division, which is based at Haddington, already has a very solid customer base such as golf courses, hotels, local authorities, hospitals, schools and large country houses and they are all potential customers for Ifor Williams Trailers products.

"Apart from that we are currently seeing a real uplift in the housing construction market, which also provides great potential for new trailer customers."

"We recognise that the Ifor Williams Trailer range has a customer base which encompasses much more than only agricultural customers."

Apart from the horsebox range, Ifor Williams products include a huge range of trailers for construction use including flat bed and tippers as well as many plant trailer options – widely used in the hire industry. In addition their car transporters and box vans further expand the customer base and sales opportunities.

He added: "We will do all that is necessary to develop the business as much as we can over the next 12 months and beyond and are looking forward very much to working closely with Ifor Williams Trailers."

Colin said that Sherriff’s would debut the Ifor Williams Trailers range at two prestigious Scottish events over the next few months.

The first appearance will come at the Floors Castle Horse Trials in Kelso from May 16-18 and then at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh from June 19-22.

Thomas Sherriff & Co Ltd takes over as Ifor Williams Trailers distributor for the Scottish Borders and north Northumbria from J Rutherford during Mid- May 2014.

Peter Nesbitt, the Business Development Manager at Ifor Williams Trailers, said: "We would like to sincerely thank J Rutherford for the excellent work they have done over many years in representing Ifor Williams Trailers in the region.

"During the handover period Rutherfords and Thomas Sherriff will work together to ensure that there is a smooth transition for all current and future customers."

Paxton’s will continue to sell and market Ifor Williams Trailers from its Pity Me headquarters, providing sales and service support in County Durham, northwards to the River Tyne.

Established 1816 at Beltonford, Dunbar, the company which was to become Thomas Sherriff Ltd was owned and named by a man named Sherriff Robertson, who eventually relocated to a site where the Village Hall now stands in West Barns.

In 1865 new premises were built at the current site, designed to expand the manufacture of all types of seed sowing machinery and repair of the various machines used in farming at that time.

In the following 100 years the company changed and evolved several times as it continued to serve the needs of the farming community.

In the 1970s a period of expansion followed the appointment of the company to the John Deere dealership network, with the setting up of new premises in Haddington, Stow and Alnwick.

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