For the second year running, an Irish Claas dealer has been presented with the company’s Tractor Sales Performance Award.

Alan Douglas, based near Enfield, Co. Kildare, was one of six Claas dealers from the UK and Ireland to receive awards in recognition of “sales performance and exceptional standards of service”.

In addition to Alan Douglas receiving the Tractor Sales Performance Award, Hamblys in the south-west of England was awarded both the Tractor Sales Growth Award and a Platinum Dealer Excellence Award.

A Platinum Dealer Excellence Award was also presented to Rickerby, with Gold Dealer Excellence Awards being presented to Manns, Eastern and Morris Corfield – all of which are based in the UK.

Some presentations were made at the recent Agritechnica show in Hanover, Germany. Others were made at Claas’ UK base – in Suffolk, England.

In related news, Claas officially opened its new “state-of-the-art” training centre in Suffolk in October. At a special launch event, the machinery giant unveiled its new so-called ‘Claas Academy‘.

The Claas Academy, which is located beside the company’s existing UK headquarters, will host British and Irish apprentices and trainees. It will serve as a training hub for service technicians and engineers, as well as for sales personnel – not just for the UK, but also for Ireland. The facility will employ 11 trainers on-site.

Claas is also embarking on the construction of a major new equipment test centre at its base in Harsewinkel, Germany.

The new facility will “significantly increase its testing capacities for the development of new agricultural machinery”, according to the company. It is scheduled for completion in autumn 2018. The total investment in the new centre is projected at over €15 million.