A number of changes have been made to the John Deere turf dealer network as part of the company's Dealer of Tomorrow initiative. In the south-east of England, Godfreys is set to acquire Golf & Turf Equipment; in the Midlands, Chris Tallis Farm Machinery has joined forces with Parks & Grounds Machinery; and in the east of England, Adamsons has taken over responsibility for Lincolnshire from the Burdens Group.

John Deere's Kent and Sussex based turf dealer Godfreys has reached agreement, subject to contract, to acquire the trade and assets of John Deere's Berkshire based dealer Golf & Turf Equipment Ltd. It is expected that the deal will be concluded in early January.

Golf & Turf Equipment has represented John Deere since 1987, the last 20 under the ownership of the Burdens Group. The dealership will retain the John Deere agency and initially continue to operate with all staff from the existing site at Wokingham, trading under the name Godfreys Golf & Turf. Godfreys also acquired Palmers Turfcare, the Sussex based John Deere turf dealer, in 2009.

Turfleet Hire, a division of Golf & Turf Equipment Ltd, will remain as part of the Burdens Group and continue to operate out of the existing Reading premises.

John Deere agricultural dealer Chris Tallis Farm Machinery Ltd of Hinton-on-the-Green near Evesham in Worcestershire has joined forces with John Deere turf dealer Parks & Grounds Machinery Ltd of Bidford-on-Avon in Warwickshire.

The turf arm of the business will continue to trade under the well-established Parks & Grounds name, selling John Deere's complete line of professional and homeowner turf equipment and providing full parts and service support in its existing trading area, with all staff being retained.

East Yorkshire based John Deere turf dealer F G Adamson & Son has taken over the Lincolnshire trading area from the Burdens Group, with effect from December 1, 2011.

Based at Swanland, North Ferriby, Adamsons was originally appointed by John Deere as a full-line turf equipment dealer in 1998, covering east and north Yorkshire and the north and north-east of Lincolnshire. Extra staff have been appointed and new premises, centrally located in the new trading area, are due to be established by spring 2012.

“These deals strengthen our turf dealership presence across the country,” says Joedy Ibbotson, John Deere's UK & Ireland turf division sales manager. “All the dealerships concerned are established businesses with a strong focus on first class customer and product support. These developments are consistent with our Dealer of Tomorrow strategy, reflecting our continued efforts to build the strongest dealership network for turf equipment in the UK.”