By Brian Ross, head of machinery at Lawrie and Symington and a member of IAAS

Over the last 12 months here at Lawrie and Symington we’ve worked hard to improve the machinery side of our business and build on this division which is one of the oldest machinery sales in the UK.

We’re very proud of the reputation we have, and the huge market share we hold, drawing buyers and sellers from all over the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. We’ve put in place a number of measures to maintain this level of interest, and increase it, by innovating within the business. We’re making far better use of photography ahead of the monthly sale day and utilising social media as a tool for promotion and communication.

We’ve shied away from taking our sales online, like many others and rely on the good old-fashioned values of the mart to increase our market share. There’s a lot to be said as an auctioneer for looking into the whites of people's eyes as you’re making a sale.

The transparency of the mart system is one of our biggest selling points. Everyone knows that by coming to auction they’re getting open market value and the fairest price. When you have a willing buyer and a willing seller you get the true value of an item and that’s what it makes on the day. You don’t get that anywhere else. There’s also guaranteed payment transaction on the day of sale so everyone leaves happy.

With some of our higher value machinery, farmers need to come prepared with finance deals in place to fund their purchases but our second market is very strong making cash purchases more manageable. We’re finding that increasingly farmers are selling through us before making new purchases rather than trading in, to put them in a stronger buying position.

We’re very proud of our machinery division at Lawrie and Symington and the part this plays in the wider auction mart system and the benefits of this to the rural economy.