History

History

We are an ATV, UTV and lawn and garden machinery specialists with a headquarters on the Deacon family farm in Marston Moreteyne, Bedfordshire and a second branch in Ixworth Thorpe, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

1987 - Where it all began

1987 - Where it all began

Originally formed in 1987, MKM Agriculture has evolved from three friends working from a converted pig shed, repairing and servicing the local farm machinery, to a multi-franchise business, including Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Logic to name just a few. Working from a purpose built workshop, store and showroom we are dedicated to providing a second to none service to the local community and surrounding areas. Our fantastic parts service has grown massively and our customers call us from far and wide across the UK and Ireland for a service then can rely on.

1991 - 1998 Valmet Tractor Dealership

1991 - 1998 Valmet Tractor Dealership

Business was going very well dealing with the repair of local tractors and the supply of second hand tractors. In 1991 we were appointed Valmet tractor dealers, we sold many Valmet tractors through until 1998 when changes within Valmet, then becoming Valtra, forced us to terminate the franchise. To this day we continue to service the Valmet tractors we sold in this period.

2000 New Build

2000 New Build

The major transformation started in the year 2000 when, as a result of expansion, owner Mark Deacon decided it was time to move out of the original workshop, into a new purpose built much bigger building, with enough workshop space to cope with the increasing size of tractors and implements we found ourselves working on. Also, with plenty of storage for spares as well as new offices and a showroom.

2004 The start of the Suzuki partnership

2004 The start of the Suzuki partnership

The next major step was three years later, when we were approached by Suzuki to sell their range of Utility ATV's, after careful consideration, we decided it was the right time and product for us to promote, and in April 2004, we took delivery of our first Suzuki ATV's, hitting the ground running, we were well into double figure sales in the first 12 months.

2006 Sport and Leisure ATVs

2006 Sport and Leisure ATVs

Following steady progress, we took on the Suzuki Kids and Leisure ATV's, to meet the growing demand. The Suzuki LT50 and LT80 kids quad is renowned for its quality and reliability, so sales of these models were plentyful. We also began selling the LT-Z400 and LT-R450 race models and took charge of the Suzuki GB ATV racing team where we competed across the UK and Europe, winning many titles.

2007 Suzuki ATV dealer of the year

2007 Suzuki ATV dealer of the year

MKM had been appointed 'Suzuki Dealer of the Year'- A proud moment for us, considering the quality of other Suzuki ATV dealers spread across the length and breadth of Britain.

Also during this same period, we found ourselves having diversified, unintentionally into the repair and service of drilling rigs, originally just on landfill sites locally, but once word was spread about the range of services we offer, we soon began to travel as far North as Sheffield, Bristol to the West, Norwich to the East, and South London, carrying out specialist hydraulic Repairs, Welding, Fabrication and Service work, on and off shore.

Due to increase in demand for the ATV's and associated equipment, we concentrated heavily on providing a top class service to many industries requiring the uses of All Terrain Vehicles.

2010 JCB Workmax utility vehicles

2010 JCB Workmax utility vehicles

We were appointed JCB Workmax dealers, to supply Utility Vehicles to similar industries and beyond. At this time the UTV market was growing fast, against strong competition we sold the JCB Workmax products very well, so well that sales man Anthony Deacon was awarded with a trip to the JCB factory in Savanah USA in 2014 as a reward for the most JCB Workmax sales in this period.

2013 Introduction of Yamaha

2013 Introduction of Yamaha

We were approached by Yamaha Motor Europe to take on the Yamaha ATV franchise. Our local competitor Frank Cook was retiring from the sales of Yamaha ATV's after many years of service and success. Both Frank and Yamaha knew we were the right people to continue with the success and reputation that Frank had built in the area and we were more than happy to for fill this request.

JCB cease production of the Workmax

2014 JCB cease production of the Workmax

JCB announce the end of production for the JCB Workmax machines. After 3 very strong successful years of selling the Workmax JCB made the decision to stop production of this machine. We are still authorised JCB Workmax dealers and continue to offer the same support and back up.

2015 Welcome Kawasaki

2015 Welcome Kawasaki!

We were appointed Kawasaki Mule dealers for the area. The UTV market was a huge part of our business and with the end of JCB we were approached by a range of UTV manufactures to sell their products. We chose Kawasaki very wisely over the other offers. We were very familiar with dealing with Japanese based companies and have always been very pleased with the back-up and support they provide. Kawasaki have a very good range of Mules which have been around for a very long time, well built and well proven we knew this was the right machine for our customers.

2016 - Honda complete our BIG FOUR line up

2016 - Honda complete our 'BIG FOUR' line up

We were approached by Honda in 2016 and asked if we would be interested in representing them in the area. Honda understood the importance of ATV's being sold through specialist ATV's dealers, dealers selling ATV's as a side line to other products can not always offer the best customer service which we believe is duly deserved by the end user. After serious consultations with Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki we decided it was the correct business decision for MKM and our customers to take on the Honda franchise, Honda are market leaders in ATV sales in the UK and have been producing quality reliable machines for many years. We are now the only company in the UK to be able to offer all 4 of the leading Japanese brands from under one roof.

2017 - New workshop - New showroom

2017 - New workshop - New showroom

The time had come to further expand our premises as just like back in 1999 we were out growing our existing working space. We made the decision to move the workshop out of our purpose built building and move it 30 feet across the yard into the old cow shed. The new workshop was designed with a layout to cater for ATV's and UTV's and also expect a bigger machine from time to time. Due to the introduction of Honda we had a larger range of machines in our product line up and our sales team feel its important to be able to display a wide range of machines to ensure our customers make the correct choice when choosing an ATV. This meant we needed a larger showroom so with the workshop moving out we removed the dividing wall in our main building and created what is possibly the largest specialist ATV showroom in the UK with more choice than anywhere. A proper 'one stop shop'..

2019 - Opened second branch in Suffolk

2019 - Opened second branch in Suffolk

The opportunity was made available to us to open a specialist Honda branch in the Suffolk area and we decided this was an opportunity that we could not miss. The area was previously managed by Fieldens and we were fortunate enough to be awarded the dealership by Honda in recognision of the sucsess of what we have done with Honda from our Bedfordshire headquarters. Keith Collins (ex Fieldens) is branch manager and brings a wealth of experience and product knowledge. We also offer the full range of Honda lawn and garden machines from this branch.

2020 - COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 - COVID-19 Pandemic

The world was not ready for what was about to come, as a provider to the agricultural industry our company had to think and act fast to ensure we could continue to trade while maintain a high level of safety for our staff, customers and suppliers. We were able to adapt our trading style to ensure we continued to meet customers’ requirements while offering this new level of safety. Our new style included constant sanitisation, meet and greet areas outside, virtual product viewings using various methods of video calls, a virtual show as well as all the standard UK distancing procedures.

2021 - The Fire

2021 - The Fire

Just when we thought things were getting back on track from the COVID-19 pandemic at 4am on Wednesday 7th April Anthony received a phone call to say the workshop at Marston Moretaine was on fire. A full forensic investigation was completed and the cause of the fire was unknown. We lost 86 machines and 35 years’ worth of tools in this devastating event, 54 of those machines were customers. Our team pulled together and worked hard over the days, weeks and months to follow to ensure we could continue to trade. Our insurance company supported us very well and we were quickly able to compose a short, mid and long term recovery plan.

2022 - Coming Soon, The New Build

2022 - Coming Soon, The New Build

Now I know this is a History page and this is not yet history but we would like to share with you our new facility at Marston Moretaine which is due to be built in the summer of 2022. This is a 20 meter x 50 meter (65ft x 164ft) purpose built dealership comprising of a showroom, workshop, parts department, aftersales office, customer collection area, sales, marketing and accounts offices, staff room and a meeting/ staff training room. Follow our social media channels for regular updates on the build.