ND & JA Giles is a family owned and run business based in South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula which has been servicing its surrounding area’s agricultural industry for over 40 years. Established by Nigel Giles and his wife Judy (hence the name ND & JA), the business started from humble beginnings in the shores of Lake Alexandrina at Milang.
While ND & JA Giles had initially started by doing mechanical repairs of various nature, it wasn’t long before Nigel took on franchises from John Shearer, Horwood Bagshaw and later Ford Tractors. By 1992, the business had outgrown its surroundings at Milang, so Nigel moved the business to a bigger facility in Strathalbyn, where it continues to grow.
Today, ND & JA Giles employs 25 full time staff and offers mechanical repair services to customers in the broad acre, hay, dairy, market gardening, viticulture and horticulture industries. The business has also expanded its franchise network, offering products from the likes of Nobili, Sitrex, Pottinger, K-Line, Silvan and John Shearer. Nigel, now nearly 70 years old, remains closely involved with the business, while his son-in-law, Nathan Duffield, has assumed the role of General Manager and co-owner of the business.
Nathan, who has been part of ND & JA Giles since 2003, says a key strength of the business is the relationships it has forged with customers and suppliers alike.
“Our business is built predominantly on customer service. In our job, no two days are ever the same. There’s no routine. We are challenged every day to come up with new solutions and new strategies to help our customers get on with their jobs. If their machines are down or if they need some parts urgently, we rely on the backing from our suppliers to get the required parts to them in minimal time,” says Nathan.
For the past 25 years, the CBC Regency Park branch in Adelaide has been supporting ND & JA Giles with the supply of bearings, chains, drive solutions and other components and spare parts required at their workshop. Nathan says the relationship with CBC has enabled ND & JA Giles to offer cost-effective solutions to their customers.
“Sometimes machines break down and it is not feasible to source genuine replacement parts within the limited timeframe that we have. This is one of the areas where we work closely with CBC to source reliable after-market spare parts for our customers,” he comments.
An example, Nathan says, are the Diamond® chains from CBC that ND & JA Giles use to replace worn out chains in hay balers and other harvesting equipment.
“Maintaining hay balers is often very challenging because they are used in a very dusty environment; so you need chains that are good quality and you can get good usage out of them. We do find that the Diamond chains we source through CBC are even more reliable than the genuine product on the machines. Often times when a hay baler comes in for servicing and if the chain needs replacing, we use the corresponding Diamond chains to replace the old chains.”
The harvest season is usually the most critical time of the year for ND & JA Giles’ agricultural customers and with Fleurieu Peninsula’s diverse crops, Nathan says repair and maintenance of harvesting equipment forms a big part of ND & JA Giles’ business.
“CBC Regency Park has always been our go-to supplier as they have never let us down. We also share a very healthy relationship with their sales representatives, who often advise our specialists on maintenance best practices when they visit our workshop. With such a strong supplier backing and the work ethics that Nigel has stowed into all the team at ND & JA Giles, we believe that there is no bridge we wouldn’t cross to satisfy our customers and their needs,” Nathan concludes.
