Administrators seal deal for part of stricken agricultural machinery firm

Part of a group of Lincolnshire agricultural machinery dealerships has been sold out of administration.

Ernest Doe & Sons has bought the Burdens Group’s southern Lincolnshire branches, in Sutterton and North Kyme.

Burdens Group appointed Begbies Traynor as administrator in August 19.

Ernest Doe has branches across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Sussex, Surrey, and Kent.

We are thrilled to welcome the Sutterton and North Kyme branches into the Ernest Doe family,” said managing director Angus Doe.

He added: “Our focus is on maintaining the strong customer relationships cultivated by The Burdens Group, while introducing the high standards of quality and service that have defined Ernest Doe & Sons for over 125 years. We look forward to serving the local community and supporting our new customers with the expertise and dedication that our longstanding customers have come to rely on.”

The Burdens Group was established in 1972 and offers a range of tractors and farm machinery, spare parts and machinery servicing and repairs. It is one of Lincolnshire’s main New Holland dealers.

The firm’s latest available accounts, made up to the end of 2022, show it employed 87 people.

In 2022, the company took “cost-saving initiatives,” during the year including the closure of its Wragby site. Over the period the firm’s turnover fell from £25.4m in 2021 to £24.9m in 2022 and it plunged to a loss of almost £400,000.