Like most companies we have been quietly going about our business during the pandemic, adding more and more of our people back to the workforce as we have become busier.  We are happy to report that we are now back at pretty much full capacity and building new machinery for the UK and overseas markets.  It might seem redundant to say this, but we DO manufacture British-made equipment in our factory in Kettering.  We only mention this because we still have the odd conversation with people who know us who still believe we import our machines from the continent….!

We are so busy that at the moment we are loathe to offer fully reconditioned equipment, which has, at times been as much as 30-40% of our business.  Why?  Because the length of time involved in fully reconditioning equipment is so much longer than producing new or secondhand equipment.  It takes a long time to strip old equipment.  It takes a long time to refurbish all the components.  It then takes a long time to rebuild as per a brand-new machine.  All time we can ill afford to allocate while we are geared up to building new equipment where everything is on the shelf and can be easily assembled.

The good news (for the trade) is that we are more than ever open to striking favourable deals for new equipment - it is much easier to add another new device to a machine run than it is to stop everything to commence refurbishing a machine.

But, there are another 5 good reasons to look at new machinery rather than reconditioned.

• Quality, all new components
• Longevity of the machinery
• Finance companies are more inclined to assist with funding
• Greener more efficient performance
• Better, more effective extraction

As we have mentioned previously, we have started offering, at the other end of the scale, good quality secondhand machinery.  This has been a spectacular success and truly opened our eyes to this end of the market.  We are still, as time allows, preparing secondhand finishers and stitchers for sale and listing them on our website.  A quick glance at this section of our website will give a flavour of how much quality secondhand equipment we’ve sold to delighted customers over the past year.  We like to think the service of offering secondhand kit is a bit like buying from e-Bay. 

• Except you aren’t fighting others for the machines
• And the machine actually exists
• And you know the equipment is in good, safe mechanical order
• And you know the seller won’t suddenly vanish, or sell to someone else
• And the equipment has a guarantee
• And it has been cleaned
• And it can be delivered and installed
• And spare parts are available

Come to think of it, buying direct from Standard is NOTHING like taking a punt on e-Bay…..!