Guild member Chris Biddle received a Lifetime Achievement accolade at the annual graden and agricultural machinery industry awards he organises.
The award was made in recognition of his 25-years involvement in publishing specialist business magazines for the farm, garden and turfcare industries.
Before launching his first magazine in 1987, Chris had worked all his life in these industries, first as a demonstrator with the tractor division of Ford Motor Company in 1962, and then with the family-owned farm and grass machinery dealership A Brewer & Company based at Wilton, near Salisbury.
“I worked my way through the ranks to become managing director of the three dealerships located in Dorset, Devon and Somerset,” Chris recalls. “But after the business was broken up in 1985, I turned to my expereince as a freelance writer to launch my first trade magazine for the garden machinery industry.”
The lifetime achievement award presented to Chris Biddle (right) was presented by sales director and general manager Ray Spinks of sponsor AgriArgo UK, distributor of Landini and McCormick tractors in Great Britain.
This was followed by a specialist title for the golf course and turfcare industry, Turf Professional, and then a magazine for farm machinery dealers, Torque.
The two dealer trade magazines were later combined into a single title called Service Dealer.
“In 2012 I decided to take more of a back seat role and handed over production of Service Dealer and Turf Professional to a new team,” says Chris. “But I continue to write and commentate on the industry, both as a contributor to the magazines and through a weekly industry e-mail newsletter.”
