Profile: Interview with Mark Moseley at Handy

Garden machinery comes in Handy

Mark Moseley, Sales and Marketing Director of British garden equipment distributor and manufacturer Handy takes time out with Maggie Walsh

Handy has been established for more than 84 years. How did the company come about?

In 1938 Geoffrey Handy started an ironmonger's business in the old town of Swindon. Over the years, the company expanded into hardware, bottled gas and lawn mowers before becoming the specialised home and garden machinery business known today as Handy.

It has grown to become one of the UK’s largest independent garden machinery wholesale distributors from its purpose-built 60,000ft Swindon site which is home to more than 45 full-time staff.

We are the exclusive UK distributor of industryleading cordless home and garden tools manufacturer Greenworks Tools and most recently Cramer Commercial Landscaping equipment.

Handy also has its own branded products under the Webb, The Handy and Q Garden brands, all of which are designed and manufactured by the company.

To this day, Handy remains a family-owned British business. Its experience, expert knowledge, and dedicated customer service –which includes carrying

over 70,000 spare part lines – has enabled the company to build a team driven by high performance and family values.

What has been your highlight since joining the business?

When joining the business in January 2015, I recognised that Handy had been making great strides with its own Mark Moseley brand developments to compliment the product offering from the established brand proposition. One of Handy's core strengths is having the ability to react to the needs of its customers and bring new products to market to fulfil those needs very quickly. The highlight for me personally over these past seven years has been identifying this key strength to drive the Handy-owned brands including Webb, The Handy and Q Garden to take a larger share of our business. Whilst our brand partners are extremely important, it has meant we have been able to take more control of our destiny and invest more into driving those brands under our control. We have worked hard to develop a range of products that complement our brand partners meaning we can confidently cover any of our customer's entire garden machinery category needs and truly act as a one-stop supplier within this competitive marketplace place.

What is Handy’s business model?

At Handy, our goal is to offer a complete range of gardening tools at price points that work best for businesses and consumers’ particular needs.

With a 98% product availability rate and over 1000 different items in stock, we make sure that there are garden machinery options for the experienced gardener as well as for those who are new to gardening and want to try it out without spending too much money upfront.

Our mission is to bring to market products with the best value, highest quality and latest innovation with instant availability.

What is your market? Is it trade professionals or consumers looking to purchase for their garden, and what tools are most sought after?

We supply garden machinery to specialist dealers, large national retailers, garden centres, mail order companies and directly to the consumer from our own brand websites; from lawnmowers to scarifiers, chainsaws to tillers and everything in between. With a choice of hand, electric, petrol or battery power, our aim is to provide quality products with exceptional performance while offering unbeatable value for money.

The most popular tools are our cordless garden tool ranges from Webb and Greenworks. Lightweight and compact, all products in the ranges can be easily stored in a garage or a garden shed while taking up minimum room when not in use and the battery is interchangeable with other tools. With no emissions and lower running and maintenance costs than petrol equivalents and no power cables to contend with, the ranges provide total convenience and ease of use.

What brought about the decision to launch your own products?

We launched our own products under the Webb, Greenworks, Q Garden and The Handy brands so that we could design innovative high-quality garden machinery tools that encompass the full range of gardeners and gardens, from the beginner to the experienced enthusiast, from the tiny urban back yard to the expansive country garden.

How do you keep ahead of your competitors and what do you feel is Handy’s unique selling point?

We offer 1000s of garden machinery from leading brands, including electric, cordless petrol and hand-powered tools.

Our unique selling point is spare parts and our aftersales service! A lot of our competitors do not have fast access to spare parts. This is a personal pain point for me as it drives customers to distraction when you have a product but are unable to use it as spares are not stocked. This doesn’t happen here at Handy – we’re proud to carry over 70,000 different types of spare parts across major brands supported by a dedicated spare parts team.

Do you see a trend from customers to be more discerning on what products they choose with the environment in mind?

Yes, consumers want environmental-friendly gardening tools! Our battery-powered cordless Greenworks line is a great option that will not only save you time and money but will also reduce the overall pollution levels.

For example, if you are looking for a sustainable lawn mower, Greenworks offers different options and power types to choose from depending on your lawn size and type. For smaller lawns, you can opt for a 24v mower or a 48v option which utilises two 24v batteries to deliver improved performance and larger cutting deck sizes. For large lawn types, the 40v and 60v mower options can provide improved performance and features such as self-propelled functions, steel deck, side discharge and wider cutting decks. Compared to petrol, the initial outlay may be slightly higher in cost but the additional spend is recouped in time through no need for expensive fuel or servicing costs. With each battery charge costing less than 1p and a run time of between 30 to 40 minutes, the savings rack up. As the batteries are interchangeable with other garden machinery tools, such as line trimmers, hedge trimmers and garden vacuums, any additional equipment can be purchased without having to get additional batteries. Cordless mowers are emission-free, quiet, and lightweight. They are cheap to run and maintain plus provide freedom and flexibility around the garden.

The Cramer products available via Handy

We have been through some rough times during the last few years thanks to Brexit, Covid and global unrest – how has this affected Handy?

The supply chain continues to be an issue within our industry. Covid may have been a bolt from the blue, but supply chain issues were already presenting themselves

WER18HP4 Webb petrol rotary mower

several years before, both on the back of Brexit and also as a result of climate change initiatives which were leading to Chinese factories operating at 50% capacity. At Handy we could see the writing on the wall and had already implemented key changes – the pandemic just accelerated these plans.

We directly addressed supply chain issues by increasing our stock holdings and storage capacity and made an extra £1m stock investment along with a significant expansion of our warehousing which has seen two extensions completed and a third, due for completion this year, increasing capacity by a further 30%. Secondly, we ensure stock arrives in plenty of time. Pre-Covid, the stock would generally arrive in January/February, but with the ongoing delays and issues we are all facing, November would be a safer option.

What do you think the landscaping and turf industry can do collectively to help keep businesses viable and open spaces maintained?

Not only do we see the demand from our domestic customers for more environmentally friendly, money saving cordless products, but we also understand our commercial customers are under pressure to also source products to reduce their carbon footprints and introduce products which are better for the environment. The commercial contractors who invest in cordless products are more likely to win contracts and meet the targets set by councils etc. to reduce their emissions. Our Cramer 82v professional range of equipment including the new Zero turn ride is fully equipped to service these needs offering petrol performance with zero emissions. Whilst the initial outlay may be more expensive, the Cramer professional range requires minimal servicing and no fuel meaning the products will eventually pay for themselves. Not only will they meet their customer environmental targets but the contractor will also benefit financially in the long term. A win-win for both sides.

Finally, do you have any exciting news that you can share?

We are excited to announce a brand-new partnership with Cramer Tools, a specialist in durable batterypowered tools and professional gardening equipment, to deliver its powerful 82v battery technology for emission-free garden care and landscaping to the UK commercial market. To facilitate the partnership, Handy has set up a new team dedicated to the Cramer Tool range.

For four years now, the Cramer brand has belonged to the Globe Group, the market leader in the USA and the world-leading manufacturer of battery-powered tools and gardening equipment. The company has already established a reputation as a specialist in sustainable and high-performance technologies. Its products are developed by a 45-member team at the company’s research and development centre at Jönköping in Sweden. Pioneering battery technologies have been created here alongside innovations in IoT and robotic lawn mowers. The smart combination of batteries, software chips and motors harmonises perfectly with Cramer’s products. The modular concept enables the use of an 82v battery pack in all Cramer products, including chainsaws, pole saws, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, and power cutters.

Cramer 82v battery technology ensures that gardeners, landscapers, and non-professional users are able to work safely, with no direct emissions of carbon or high-frequency noise. The ergonomic product design and lightweight structure make handling easy in any situation. And finally, devices fitted with the high-performance battery are much more cost-efficient in terms of operation and maintenance compared to conventional, fuel-powered devices.

We’re really looking forward to showcasing the range and its capabilities at APF Exhibition on the 22-24th September and SALTEX on the 2-3rd November 2022.

• The current product range is distributed exclusively via specialist dealers. Handy offers its Cramer partners full assistance, from in-person support and sales advice from field service staff to digital support, attractive marketing services and comprehensive after-sales service - for further information, please visit

www.cramertools.com