Innovative and enterprising, the Wox family had a business worth investing in and are now realising their vision with Oxbury's support
In a world of tight margins and pressures on price, advances in technology and mechanisation are bringing much-needed efficiencies for farmers.
Wox Agri Services has been working with agriculture machinery manufacturer Güttler since 2006, initially as a distributor for the UK market.
But Geoffrey Wox’s passion for engineering and making improvements to already great machines has led to a closer partnership with the German company.
A team of engineers at the Wox workshop in Morpeth in Northumberland tweak and develop products for the market, as well as creating their own, such as a hydraulic pump system designed to make pumping liquid manure safer and more efficient.
“We’re always altering machines with the blessing of Güttler and we’re also involved in parts for seeding mechanisms for cultivators,” says Geoffrey.
“Everything we do, regardless of whether it’s fitting a ring to a John Deere drill, replacing a roller on a cultivator, sorting out a seeding problem, pumping slurry or winding up pipe, it’s all about working smarter rather than harder.”
But the most important consideration is always the soil. “Our machinery range for Güttler has always been geared towards the soil,” says Geoffrey. “Engineering can help but the technique of working with the soil is far more important and our product range with Güttler is definitely in vogue with the regenerative type of farming which is currently becoming more popular.”
But product development costs time and money. Despite being a successful and profitable business, Geoffrey was struggling to access the finance needed to grow the business.
“We were in the LAMMA show in 2022 and our stand was actually right next to Oxbury’s,” explains Geoffrey. “I had heard various positive stories about them, and I had the opportunity to meet one of their directors. Ten days after the show, we had a meeting with Julia Dowd our Relationship Manager.”
“I came out to see him to get a really good understanding of the business,” says Julia. "We had a chat at his home and then he showed me around the workshop, and it was clear from the minute I saw them to being shown around that this is a business that we really need to support. This is a successful business – they just needed some help to manage their cash flow.”
As well as taking care of the cash flow and paying suppliers, working with Oxbury has allowed Wox to purchase more land, taking their plot to 115 acres where they can develop their mixed farming business and provide a venue to demonstrate their products to customers.
Oxbury’s support means that Geoffrey can now focus more effort on developing ingenious new products to help UK farmers feed the nation.
“We’ve got loads of ideas and we’re always looking for more people to help bring them forward,” says Geoffrey. “But that all costs money so you need somebody that's going to listen to you and believe in what you're doing – and they’ll see the results by the invoices that you're generating.”