Agricultural machinery dealership group Ernest Doe & Sons is expanding under a new deal with Great Plains.

Ernest Doe, which is based at Ulting, near Maldon, has been appointed by Great Plains ? for which it is a long-serving dealer in other areas ? to cover Norfolk and adjoining parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

It is taking over the territory from the Ben Burgess company, from which Great Plains has had what it describes as “an amicable split”.

As a result, the Essex company will now supply the Great Plains range of cultivation equipment, drills, planters and seeders from all of its 10 Ernest Doe-branded branches.

Graham Parker, sales director, said: “We see a great deal of potential in Norfolk for machines like the UniPress, as well as for the Centurion drill, for which we already have a full programme of demonstrations arranged”.

James Clark, Great Plains territory manager, added: “Ben Burgess has made a great contribution to the development of our company within this area, for which we are very grateful.

“It is very reassuring to be able to place this important region in the hands of Does, which was one of the first companies to take on the original Simba franchise, and has always represented the company with great professionalism and success.”