“It’s tough doing business along the border and sometimes you have to improvise,” says Martin Kennedy, as we sit in his office overlooking the Agridirect shopfloor. “We found it really hard to handle the sterling fluctuations. One week you would have Northern custom, the next you wouldn’t, so from a planning point of view it was very difficult and we knew we had to do something different. That’s why we moved more online in 2012.”
The Ballyconnell business moved to a purposes built 5,000sq ft premises in 2012.
The business is also dealing with different animal health legislation north and south of the border.
“It was either open another unit in the North or expand via online sales and we chose the latter.”
The west Cavan native isn’t afraid of change and in 2002, took on the task of building a state-of-the-art premises on the family’s Ballyconnell site.
A marquee was erected at the back of the shop to deal with online orders.
“We were operating out of an 800ft2 off shoot off the family supermarket and we just hadn’t enough space, so the decision was made to move out the back and build a new premises.”
It was always going to be a career in retail for Martin. His father, Vincent Kennedy, had managed Ardlougher creamery and when Killeshandra Co-op closed the small rural creamery in the 1980s, Martin’s father went on the road with a van selling items to local farmers. That went so well that he opened the Ballyconnell premises.
A packing area was also built for online sales.
Martin admits that making a name for themselves in the beginning wasn’t easy and a huge amount of work went into advertising, going to agricultural shows and establishing an online presence.
Martin Kennedy owner of Agridirect.
“The business grew and we are now one of the largest online providers of agricultural products in the country.”
COVID-19
The company upgraded their online system last October. “We were lucky that we did, because our old system wouldn’t have coped with what we have seen over the last few weeks. Our online sales have quadrupled since lockdown commenced in early March and it’s turned everything on its head as regards work practices here in the business,” Martin says.
Temperature checks have become the norm for staff as they turn up for work every morning.
Staff found themselves packing 200-300 packages daily for a DPD collection at 2pm each day. This led to Martin erecting a temporary marquee at the back of the store to hold the parcels for DPD to collect. It also meant taking on new staff to manage the online part of the business.
“As our orders come in, we will print off a list, pack them up and have them ready for courier collection each day at 2pm, with the target of having it in the farmer’s yard the next day. COVID-19 presented huge challenges for deliveries. We just couldn’t get couriers, but it’s all settled down now.
“Postcodes have been a revelation here. We used to have untold problems trying to contact farmers for directions and then communicating these to couriers.”
It also meant a lot of changes taking place in the retail shop. Protective screens, temperature checks and routine sanitizing of the shop area are all now part and parcel of the Ballyconnell business. “There’s increased costs everywhere, but you do what you have to do to keep going,” Martin says.
Online products
So, what are farmers clicking on when it comes to online purchases? “It’s a lot of small things, to be honest,” says Martin.
“Dosing products are huge for us and we find that we need to carry a wide range, because if a farmer is browsing for a specific product, they will go elsewhere if it’s not on your site. It’s easy to go elsewhere, so you need to make sure you have what they want.”
Fencing and cleaning products were also big in the last three months. 
“It was obvious that people had time on their hands and they were using that time to do the small jobs they could never get to before. Pet products have also seen a rapid growth in sales over the last few weeks.”
Will online buying stay?
Martin says it will. He sees farmers busier than they ever were before. “Taking time out and coming to the store during the day isn’t an option for some. Coming in, forgetting something and having to come back again isn’t a good use of time.We have some large clients who just love the automation of having items left in their yard at the same time on delivery days. I think a lot of people didn’t realise how easy it was, and for that reason it will continue.”
“It’s tough doing business along the border and sometimes you have to improvise,” says Martin Kennedy, as we sit in his office overlooking the Agridirect shopfloor. “We found it really hard to handle the sterling fluctuations. One week you would have Northern custom, the next you wouldn’t, so from a planning point of view it was very difficult and we knew we had to do something different. That’s why we moved more online in 2012.”
The Ballyconnell business moved to a purposes built 5,000sq ft premises in 2012.
The business is also dealing with different animal health legislation north and south of the border.
“It was either open another unit in the North or expand via online sales and we chose the latter.”
The west Cavan native isn’t afraid of change and in 2002, took on the task of building a state-of-the-art premises on the family’s Ballyconnell site.
A marquee was erected at the back of the shop to deal with online orders.
“We were operating out of an 800ft2 off shoot off the family supermarket and we just hadn’t enough space, so the decision was made to move out the back and build a new premises.”
It was always going to be a career in retail for Martin. His father, Vincent Kennedy, had managed Ardlougher creamery and when Killeshandra Co-op closed the small rural creamery in the 1980s, Martin’s father went on the road with a van selling items to local farmers. That went so well that he opened the Ballyconnell premises.
A packing area was also built for online sales.
Martin admits that making a name for themselves in the beginning wasn’t easy and a huge amount of work went into advertising, going to agricultural shows and establishing an online presence.
Martin Kennedy owner of Agridirect.
“The business grew and we are now one of the largest online providers of agricultural products in the country.”
COVID-19
The company upgraded their online system last October. “We were lucky that we did, because our old system wouldn’t have coped with what we have seen over the last few weeks. Our online sales have quadrupled since lockdown commenced in early March and it’s turned everything on its head as regards work practices here in the business,” Martin says.
Temperature checks have become the norm for staff as they turn up for work every morning.
Staff found themselves packing 200-300 packages daily for a DPD collection at 2pm each day. This led to Martin erecting a temporary marquee at the back of the store to hold the parcels for DPD to collect. It also meant taking on new staff to manage the online part of the business.
“As our orders come in, we will print off a list, pack them up and have them ready for courier collection each day at 2pm, with the target of having it in the farmer’s yard the next day. COVID-19 presented huge challenges for deliveries. We just couldn’t get couriers, but it’s all settled down now.
“Postcodes have been a revelation here. We used to have untold problems trying to contact farmers for directions and then communicating these to couriers.”
It also meant a lot of changes taking place in the retail shop. Protective screens, temperature checks and routine sanitizing of the shop area are all now part and parcel of the Ballyconnell business. “There’s increased costs everywhere, but you do what you have to do to keep going,” Martin says.
Online products
So, what are farmers clicking on when it comes to online purchases? “It’s a lot of small things, to be honest,” says Martin.
“Dosing products are huge for us and we find that we need to carry a wide range, because if a farmer is browsing for a specific product, they will go elsewhere if it’s not on your site. It’s easy to go elsewhere, so you need to make sure you have what they want.”
Fencing and cleaning products were also big in the last three months.
“It was obvious that people had time on their hands and they were using that time to do the small jobs they could never get to before. Pet products have also seen a rapid growth in sales over the last few weeks.”
Will online buying stay?
Martin says it will. He sees farmers busier than they ever were before. “Taking time out and coming to the store during the day isn’t an option for some. Coming in, forgetting something and having to come back again isn’t a good use of time.We have some large clients who just love the automation of having items left in their yard at the same time on delivery days. I think a lot of people didn’t realise how easy it was, and for that reason it will continue.”
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