| 91 CONTRACTING Arnold Franks Ltd Adapting to meet customer demand Arnold Franks Ltd specialises in everything to do with agricultural water services, as well as brass, stainless, galvanised fittings, (marine engineering) and batteries of all sorts. T T Virginia Wright “We carry a comprehensive range of stock to cater for the walk-ins and local DIY’ers...” Easily found in the centre of Whangarei, where it’s been since 1963, farm equipment supplier Arnold Franks Ltd does more than just sell quality irrigation and effluent products at competitive prices – it provides products for a much wider range of needs. Since Steve and Rhondda Nightingale bought the business from one of Arnold Franks’ sons Ian, in 2006 – Steve having already worked there for two and a half years - both its reach and its range of products have increased. “We could call ourselves a rural general merchant, but we also sell things like irrigation systems for lawns and gardens in town,” says Steve. “We carry a comprehensive range of stock to cater for the walk-ins and local DIY’ers, and we’ve listened to customers and adjusted our product lines accordingly. We enjoy answering their questions and fulfilling their needs.” As a soil and water engineer with 20 years on the job, Steve had already been designing drainage, effluent disposal, water supplies and the like for dairy farms and horticulturalists. These days he’s doing less design as he concentrates on the inventory used to make the end-product, and puts to work his indepth understanding of what they are selling and what it’s expected to do. Over the nearly two decades since Steve and Rhondda took over the business, their customer base has grown, along with the types of businesses they supply, which include farmers, horticulturalists, marine repair plumbers, and DIY’ers. As big as a typical rural supplies store, Arnold Franks Ltd specialises in everything to do with agricultural water services, as well as brass, stainless, galvanised fittings, (marine engineering) and batteries of all sorts. Steve still does design work as required for dairy farmers looking for an efficient effluent disposal system, while supplying them with the pipes, pumps, travelling irrigators and any other equipment they might need. He’s equally at home with the pumps and irrigators needed for efficient irrigation of orchards, such as kiwifruit or avocado, whether it’s one hectare or 10. Arnold Franks Ltd adapts to meet customer demands, from bringing in the reputable Hansens brand of water fittings to stocking popular PVC fittings and pipes. This doesn’t translate to buying cheap, explains Steve. “We buy the best products to make sure that we don’t have failures and nothing comes back, which is a waste of everyone’s time, ours and the customers.” Behind the scenes Rhondda runs the administration side of the business, while Steve does all the buying, drawing on his extensive experience and hands-on knowledge of what his customers might need. After 42 years of working in the industry Steve has plenty of credibility. When a farmer walks in the door, he knows which pipe or pump they are looking for, not least because many of them were his former clients, and they can have confidence that whatever they are buying is right first time. Batteries have become a big part of the business over the last 20 years as it has grown to become one of the top 10% of battery suppliers in the country. They buy so many that their prices remain competitive, plus they will take your old batteries and recycle them. They send them on to the company in the Philippines where Steve has seen firsthand where they break them down for the plastic, acid and lead they contain, It’s all part of a day’s work for Arnold Franks Ltd, with Steve and Rhondda very clear that whatever happens, the customers are the boss. 112-114 Lower Cameron Street, Whangarei | P : +64 (9) 438 1359 | www.arnoldfranks.co.nz Dairy Effluent Systems | Irrigation Systems Water Supply Systems | Filtration Systems | Water Tanks Proudly 100 o / o Northland
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=