An agricultural machinery demonstration day has marked the start of a new partnership between industry-leading agricultural dealer Crawfords and Writtle University College.
R W Crawfords Agricultural Machinery Ltd held the ‘Power on the Land’ event on Tuesday 7 March, giving WUC staff, students and its customers the opportunity to see some of the latest farm machinery and technology at work.
The company recently purchased a piece of land along Fox Burrows Lane from the University College, to build an agriculture vehicle workshop and sales depot. As part of the agreement, the facility will include a student training room and Crawfords will be offering WUC students a range of opportunities, including providing unique access to the latest agricultural machinery and technology, to enhance and enrich their studies.
The new partnership will be a real boost for those students who study agricultural courses at WUC and will include training demonstrations and technical briefings on a variety of agricultural machines, work experience opportunities, as well as supporting the University College with events throughout the academic year.
Dr Stephen Waite, WUC Vice Chancellor, said: “At WUC, we are always looking for ways to work with industry professionals in order to give our students the best opportunities and experiences during their education. Crawfords will be working closely with us to give students an insight into the workings of the latest machinery, servicing of older vehicles, highlighting future career opportunities and sharing their industry expertise with us. It was so good to see all of the amazing farming machinery right on our doorstep.”
Following the success of the day, Wes Crawford, Company Sales Director, added: “The ‘Power on the Land’ demonstration day was hugely successful and we are now looking forward to getting our new depot building underway.
“We have outgrown our current depot, which we’ve had for over 34 years, making the working environment challenging. This is a key project and the new depot will certainly be a welcomed development for our staff. It is also an extremely positive project for both ourselves and WUC. The new depot will contain a state of the art workshop, showroom, stores and offices, opening up an array of opportunities for both Crawfords and WUC.
“At Crawfords we are extremely fortunate to have an excellent portfolio of franchises along with a fantastic team of employees with a wealth of knowledge and experience. We shall be welcoming the agriculture students to discover and learn about the latest machinery and technology on offer to the agricultural industry. As an agricultural dealer, this is a fantastic opportunity to give something back to the industry by helping the next generation get the right level of experience before going onto their next step in education or entering the workplace. We are looking forward to developing our family business in Writtle and working in partnership with WUC.”
The company’s expansion and need for new premises reflects the increasing demand on agriculture and reaffirms the growing need to attract more students to this specialist field of study.
WUC Governor and Strutt and Parker Partner, John McLarty, supported the development by adding: “The planning permission to deliver a state of the art facility for Crawfords is very exciting for Writtle University College and Chelmsford City. The delivery of the project will significantly enhance the student learning experience and ensure students train on modern, highly-technical agricultural equipment from across the country and Europe.”
Writtle University College offers a range of agricultural qualifications, ranging from short course programmes and apprenticeships, to college and university courses. For more information visit www.writtle.ac.uk/courses
