Turbulent times for golf course machinery suppliers
Machinery hire may be a good alternative to purchasing during the COVID-19 crisis
Buying machinery during the COVID-19 pandemic might not be a great financial move. Courses are closing and machinery orders are being cancelled, leaving many feeling as though they were living a repeat of the 2008 financial crash.
At that time, companies like Golfhire.ie were the main dealers for Toro golf machinery, delivering over €290,000 worth of machines to one customer alone when the crash occurred and their bank pulled the finance.
Getting paid became a nightmare, credit terms tightened up and that feeling that the recession never quite went away has lingered ever since.
The bright side of that period for companies like Dunshaughlin-based Reel-tech was an increase in business for their machinery hire division, www.golfhire.ie.
As golf clubs did not want or could not get finance for machines, they contacted Reel-tech to see if they could hire machines for a few months or full seasons to see how they sat financially at the year-end.
This would help them maintain the course without having to take out a loan, it also gave them confidence in the ability to make repayments going forward.
“I see mower fleet hire becoming the norm as we go thru the next few years until we see how all this plays out,” said Reel-tech’s Barry Drennan.
“With the financial effects of Covid-19 on the income from golf, hiring machinery is a logical option where a club doesn’t want to tie up all their capital in big-ticket items.”
For more information on hire, Long or Short term, contact:
Barry Drennan
www.golfhire.ie is the hire division of Reel-tech, based in Dunshaughlin Co. Meath
