Exciting Times: New H&P Branches for Dubbo and Warren

It’s been a busy and exciting past few months as some of Hutcheon & Pearce’s finest worked to acquire two new branches and extend our reach northward in regional NSW. Now, having sealed the deal, it’s full steam ahead for our welcome new additions to the H&P family and we can’t wait to meet our new customers in and around Dubbo and Warren. We sat down with CEO Arron Hutcheon to get the lowdown on the acquisition.

Tell us about the new branches and how and why this came about?

In October, Chesterfield Australia was taken on by RDO Australia Group. Hutcheon & Pearce managed to secure two of the 13 dealerships at this time and it’s an opportunity that just makes sense for the business and our customers.

With its large-scale broadacre farming and irrigation areas, Dubbo and Warren are a perfect fit for our existing business. We have a long history in the small grains, hay, cotton and livestock segments throughout Southern NSW and Northern Victoria, which makes us well placed for a smooth transition for our new customers and staff. 

This is not about getting big for big’s sake. It’s actually all about getting to a scale that allows us to better invest in our property and people to deliver solutions to all of our customers, now and moving forward. Underpinning this strategic move, the evolution or growth we’ve seen to date has been required to keep up with our customers and their changing business needs.

So, it’s about having the required scale to be able to afford the resources that deliver solutions to our customers.

What does this mean for the staff at the Dubbo and Warren branches?

It’s exciting times for everyone now as we work with the teams on the ground there to bring them into the H&P way and introduce them to all the H&P family. 

We are hoping the staff at these branches can already see the passion, drive and focus the rest of the team has for the business. We also hope they can appreciate the investment that Hutcheon & Pearce puts into our people so they can deliver. We want our team to feel they have purpose and a future with an employer focused on long-term sustainability so we hope they feel that security and are as excited as we are. We really are grateful for the incredible response from the Dubbo and Warren staff so far – their support and willingness to remain openminded is a credit to them and seeing just how well they’ve handled the change makes me very excited for what’s to come.

Everyone is really looking forward to getting up there to learn about the teams and their operations, and also get to know the customers to see how we can support them in the ways they need.

What can customers in Dubbo and Warren expect from Hutcheon & Pearce?

Customers can have confidence that we bring our 67 years of experience in the agricultural industry to the table. We are ready, willing and able to contribute to the already outstanding local sales, parts and service teams that have supported them in the past and keen to continue supporting them into the future.

This is an opportunity for us to build on the strong foundations already in place in Dubbo, Warren and the surrounding areas. And now with 13 locations, our new and existing customers have access to more resources, support and expertise than ever before.

Will Dubbo and Warren stores still be green?

Absolutely! Our blood runs green, so John Deere will be our lead brand. We’ll simply be narrowing our focus to John Deere because we want to be exceptionally good at it and in order to do that we will not be continuing with some of the other brands that have been in those branches to-date.

Any final words?

I am incredibly proud and grateful for the team that’s been involved with acquisition in Dubbo and Warren. While the timing is not ideal, being in the middle of a global pandemic and a particularly busy time, their support and effort has been fantastic and really made sure everything went as well as it possibly could.