Agritel is a family-owned business located in Oswestry, specialising in packaging mainly for pallets, parcels, fields and farms and operating chiefly online but always open to increasing its number of trade customers.

The company was launched in 1996 and, since becoming a Shropshire Chamber of Commerce member in 1999, has regularly benefitted from our training programmes, events and services.

We asked Agritel Director Rob Duffus to tell us more…

He said: “Since 2018 Agritel has doubled sales volumes, turnover and staffing levels. It’s all been done strategically and by making sure we have good people in place - which ties in with what we have done with the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce.

 

“The Chamber has helped us with the export and import side of our business and has been massively beneficial in terms of developing our staff. Staff turnover is fairly low and most of our people have been with us for a long time, with everybody developing into their roles and looking after separate areas of the business.

 

“The Chamber supports that in terms of training and development so we can grow, bringing the skills, knowledge and theory into our day-to-day working patterns. It’s been a tremendous benefit to us as a business.

 

“We attend events and networking hosted by the Chamber, which are always useful for us, and there are a lot of people at those events who are supplying business services, which is helpful to them. It is good for us in terms of building a network of business support companies and the like.”

 

Extremely beneficial

 

“The support of the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce around importing and exporting is excellent and the training they provide is really key for us. We are chiefly an online business so this marketing and training assistance helps in terms of deepening our knowledge around online and eCommerce requirements. 

“We have also benefited from help with more basic things like improving skills around Excel, which has been really good. We have a very competent team anyway but refreshers and attending Chamber courses are always important for us as a company.”

Rob said just getting out of the office, meeting people from other businesses and understanding their challenges were also a valuable aid in keeping abreast of an ever-changing business world.

He said: “The Shropshire Chamber of Commerce training courses give our staff the opportunity to improve their networking capabilities. We have people who, through those courses, are able to reach out to other businesses if they are looking at something particular or to share ideas.”

 

Valuable service

 

“The Chamber is incredibly important for businesses in and around Shropshire. The training is excellent and covers a good spread of things, such as well-delivered LinkedIn courses. For a business of our size we don’t have that in-house so it just bolts on for us really nicely. And in terms of what we pay for membership, it is great value - which obviously I like as a business owner.

 

“There is a full range of assistance available from the Chamber, including support with imports and exports, an area that has become increasingly complicated since Brexit. The Chamber has given us great service in this area, providing lots of reassurance and the knowledge that we are doing things correctly.

 

“I would really encourage anybody to enlist the help of the Chamber with their imports and exports, particularly if they are a small business. It can even mean not having to take on an extra member of staff to deal with that area of operations.

The Chamber provides the experience and knowledge that allows things to go smoothly for both a business and its customers.”

 

A great place to live and work

 

“As a company, we have nationwide coverage but owe the foundation for a lot of our success to businesses in Shropshire and customers we have in the area. We think it is a fantastic part of the world to base your business.

 

“There are some amazing businesses located here and it is always pleasing whenever we take on a new customer to discover what they do and who they serve. The rise in online and eCommerce means that businesses in rural areas can serve customers anywhere in the country . . . or the world for that matter while living and being based in this beautiful location.

 

“That is great for a business like us, providing all the packaging our customers need to meet their requirements - and what is good for them is good for us.”

 

For more information about Agritel visit https://www.shropshire-chamber.co.uk/membership/members-directory/agritel-ltd