Chafer’s collapse at the end of 2025 threatened a 125-year-old British brand, until Nexus stepped in.
It’s less hitting the ground running, and more sprinting full pelt, when we catch up with James Bilson and Peter Chantry, who, along with Richard Scott, head up Nexus Technology and Engineering Ltd, the new owners of Chafer and Horstine.
The company has not only been reconnecting the well-known phone lines for Chafer but has brought back 10 people from the manufacturing and sales side of the company, and spent January and February reestablishing relations with initial dealers.
“It’s been a really positive experience so far,” explains James. “Connecting with existing customers shows that there is a real appetite for Chafer still, and that we have a strong quality product to build upon.”
Synergies
Initially started as a sprayer manufacturing and software development company, Nexus was in the process of bringing its own sprayer to market, with in-house designed and manufactured components and proprietary technology. Peter explains that they were ready to build their own sprayer and introduce it to the UK market when the news broke that Chafer had gone into administration.
“It was my wife who suggested I get in touch with the administrators, and within a few days of the announcement, we were in discussions with them,” he says. “One of the things that we had in our favour was that we recognised the importance of both the Chafer and Horstine brands and wanted to keep them together.”
Having proprietary sprayer technology on hand and a historic manufacturing firm within the portfolio now, James says that there are clear synergies. However, they do not plan to rush any changes to the existing product range.
“Something that has really stood out as we speak to dealers and existing customers is that they have not been disappointed by the quality of their machines,” James explains. “They are thrilled that a company they have supported is back up and running, so any changes that we make will be incremental and in line with what users expect.”
This mindset extends to ensuring that disruption to customers is kept to a minimum. While there’s never a good time for administrators to be called in, Chafer doing this in October, with only a few weeks of viable spraying time left in the year, was the best-case scenario. James says that this has allowed them to reconnect with dealers and bring in members of the previous team to ensure that it’s business as usual now that the season is underway again.
“We have ten people on board, including familiar, customer-facing salesmen, so that there’s continuity for growers, and we have managed to retain every longstanding dealer,” he adds. “We’re also adding new companies to our dealer network, both at home and abroad.”
First in the field
Chafer previously used the marketing line ‘first in the field’, a nod to its long history of sprayer development. James is keen to build on this, saying that the company is still first in the field. Nexus Chafer plans to gradually integrate the in-house Nexus technology into machines, with the first changes due later this year.
“We can be very competitive because so much of the production will be done on site,” says Peter. “We won’t be reliant on other suppliers or the costs of imports. There’s a lot of expertise within the team, and we plan to leverage this and move quickly to meet customer demand and suggestions for new features in the future.”
James adds that there is real potential for both the Chafer and Horstine brands on a global scale. “I think it would be fair to say that Horstine, especially, was slightly overlooked previously, but there is an excellent market across the world for these applicators. With a few design changes and technology updates, it could be number one again.
“Similarly, we want Chafer to stand up against the multi-national sprayer manufacturers and show that we can develop market-leading agri-tech right here in the UK.”
After three months of rebuilding and firefighting, the company is now looking ahead. They have a spot booked for this year’s Cereals Event and aim to be at several more shows throughout the year. “We want to show that Chafer is back in a big way.”