Working as Service Technician

I’ve worked at Lely Center Holsworthy since 2009. I am now in my 15th year with the company; I choose to work for Lely as my wife’s family had six A3 Astronauts fitted while I was working on the farm. I took a real interest in the day-to-day chores on the robots and fixing any faults that I could. This led to me moving across to the Lely Center as an Engineer.

After joining Lely, I progressed from a SL1 to a SL2 service technician before becoming Service Manager in 2012 looking after the team of Engineers throughout Devon & Cornwall.

Lely have a fantastic range of automation, not just the milking robots, but robotic feeders, feed pushers and scrapers, everything they do is about consistency, saving labour and energy.

My favourite Lely product is the Astronaut milking robot, from the information they can produce to the fact that the machine just keeps going 24hrs a day in all conditions still impresses me. Also, the flexibility I see the customers get from installing the machines is great! It leads to a calmer/happier customer and cow.

I’m a Product Specialist and Senior Technical Support for the Cornwall Engineers at Lely Center Holsworthy.

Prior to joining Lely in May 2012, I worked for a food processing plant as an Engineer shift supervisor in the cooked meats department. I was also the site welder. When I left school, I studied Agriculture Engineering for two years. I have a family background of farming and contracting so it was always a big interest of mine. I joined Lely as a good friend of the family Mr Harvey had two Lely A3 astronauts, so I was familiar with the company.

I joined Lely Center Holsworthy as a Senior Technical Engineer in January 2024. Prior to this, I started my Lely career off as an engineer at Lely Center Yeovil spending 8 years there before leaving at the start of 2023.

In my break from Lely, I worked at a feed mill as a maintenance engineer in a mill producing chicken and pig food.

Before joining Lely, I did general farm work including milking and then worked for a recycling company supplying machinery to help reduce waste.

At Lely Center Holsworthy, I will be assisting Service Manager Dan with technical support for the engineering teams based in the east and central areas.

I am the Barn Products Engineer for Lely Center Holsworthy having previously worked as an SL1 Service Engineer at the Lely Center for 14 months. In my new role, I provide service cover for all barn products including the Lely Juno, Discovery and Collector throughout Devon & Cornwall.

The decision to join Lely was an easy one; after a close friend, David Waterman, had Lely milking robots installed at their farm, I found the concept of the milking robots fascinating and this got me interested in what is a really interesting product. I enjoy working on all the Lely products so it would be hard to pick a favourite one, but if I had to, it would probably be the Juno flex which has clever options such as the skirt lifter and the bi-directional feed pushing feature.

When I left school, I worked in agriculture on farms and for contractors and a large vegetable grower. I then went onto work a quarrying company as plant engineer.  I worked for a motorhome company for 13 years repairing motorhomes and servicing the motorhomes.

I am an SL1 qualified Service Engineer at Lely Center Holsworthy; I joined the center as an apprentice in September 2021 and completed my apprenticeship in October 2024.

After completing a two-year college Engineering course, I wanted to pursue an apprenticeship in Engineering and carry-on learning. I did a few days’ work experience with Lely, and I was impressed by what robots could do. It brought together all my interests in Engineering and being outdoors.

I enjoy getting around Devon and Cornwall, meeting the customers, and servicing and learning about the different robots. My favourite Lely product is the Astronaut milking robot, and I am impressed by the latest model, the A5 because it’s easy to work with and I look forward to working more with these.

I am a SL2 qualified engineer Lely Center Holsworthy, mainly based in Cornwall. I joined at the start of January 2022. Before joining Lely, I was a maintenance engineer for Tulip/Danish Crown working the butchery/processing department for 14 years where I served an apprenticeship in engineering.

I had been looking for a career change to progress my skills further for a while. After seeing a former work colleague that worked for Lely advertise the job, I did some research and found it ticked the boxes I was looking for a in a new job, such as working with cutting edge technology, being outside and exploring more of the south west.

I would say my favourite Lely product is Astronaut A5 as it seems more user friendly and easier to work on than the past generations of robots.

I have worked for Lely Center Holsworthy as a Service Engineer since the beginning of November 2022. I joined Lely because I wanted a career within a varied environment that could make better use of both my practical and troubleshooting skills.

Prior to working for Lely Center Holsworthy, I was an IT Technician at the Symbro Group maintaining 53 fast food stores and gyms across the country.

Being based in North Devon, close to the Cornwall border, the area I will predominantly be covering is Devon and East Cornwall although I am sure customers further afield will see me on farm too at some point.

My favourite Lely products are the Astronaut milking robot, as I believe they are a phenomenal piece of engineering, as well as the Juno feed pusher, as I am fascinated by the way they can navigate farms with minimal interaction.

Outside of work, I help my parents with tasks on the farm and enjoy listening to music.

I am a SL2 qualified engineer having joined Lely Center Holsworthy in March 2023.  Being based in North Devon, I predominantly cover the Devon service area and I really enjoy getting on farm to meet customers throughout the county.

Before Lely, I had a 6-month stint working on a different brand of dairy machines with work ranging from rotary parlours through to some robotic experience. For 6 years prior to that I worked as a fabrication technician building industrial food production equipment, I was mostly welding during this time picking up tig and mig welding as well as a range of mechanical engineering experience.

I realised when I worked at the other company the lifestyle of the service and breakdown role suited me as I like being out and about in different places every day and when I saw the opportunity come up to work for such a renowned company I jumped at the chance.

My favourite Lely product is the A5 milking robot it’s a fantastic piece of engineering.

In my spare time I play rugby for Ilfracombe rugby club and enjoy skiing then during the summer spending as much time outside as possible.

I joined Lely Center Holsworthy as a Service Technician in June 2023. I live in Cornwall so am predominately be on farms throughout Cornwall and I’m really enjoy getting to know all our customers.

I joined Lely after working in a factory environment for 28 years as a Lithographic Printer. After spending the last 19 years on permanent nightshift, the opportunity to work a normal work pattern and be out and about was very appealing. Also, a new challenge was needed having done the same job for such a long time.

I think I’d have to say the A5 robot is the piece of kit I’m most impressed with because servicing them is a lot more straight forward than the older models and it seems that a lot more technology has been implemented.

Outside of work, I’m mad on motorbike’s being a bit of a MotoGP geek, I also love mountain biking and occasionally go for a surf. All this is after I’ve made sure my 2 dogs have been totally pampered and had the compulsory 2 walks a day.

I joined Lely Center Holsworthy in September 2023 as a Service Engineer covering mainly the Devon area.

Before joining Lely, I have spent my whole working life on what was my family’s small tenant dairy farm near Tiverton, covering all the different and varied types of jobs as you would expect on a family farm. Due to many factors we sadly had to end the tenancy at the farm in spring 2023. But with this previous experience in the dairy industry, I can appreciate/understand the mindset of a farmer and how crucial it is to have a robust system with optimum efficiency and therefore having the best chance of running a profitable business. I look forward to helping local farmers achieve this.

Being brought up and then having worked on a dairy farm, I’ve known Lely as a company for many years and have always had great interest in their innovative technology which seems to improve year on year, transforming many farmers lives. I joined Lely as a Service Engineer as I wanted to be part of a market leading company in agriculture like Lely, providing great support and backup to farmers across Devon and Cornwall.

My favourite product in the Lely lineup is the Lely Vector feeding system. Although the number of automated feeding systems in the UK is still relatively small, I believe in the next decade with farmers looking further to increase their efficiency and forage intakes as well as struggling with labour shortages, the Lely Vector will be a common product seen on both modern dairy and beef farms across the country.

Being a farmer’s son its natural for me to want to be outside as much as possible even in my spare time, whether that be simply walking the dog, cycling, running or even skiing when I get the chance. I’m also a long active member of my local Young Farmers Club, taking part in many competitions and charity events.

I joined Lely Center Holsworthy as a Service Engineer in mid-November 2023, I’ll predominantly be covering the east and mid- Devon service area. Before Lely, I was an Aircraft Technician in the RAF. At the start of my career I was based at RAF Benson working on Puma HC2 working away in places like Oman and Afghanistan. I then moved to RAF Lossiemouth working on Eurofighter Typhoons keeping the jets operational for deployments around the world, as well as QRA (quick reaction alert) defending the UKs airspace.

I wanted a change from aircraft work, I had been told about the work Lely do through a friend who also works for the company, and it sounded like an interesting new challenge for me to be working on all the different types of robots Lely have to offer and out on customer farms.

In my free time, I like to spend time with my friends and family, whether that’s down the local pub or out on the golf course.

I joined Lely Center Holsworthy as a Service Engineer in October 2024 after relocating to Devon from Shropshire. I spent the previous 20 years working as a milking machine engineer, fitting, maintaining and servicing the Waikato product country wide. In that time, I was involved in building over 100 parlours from 10-point swing overs to 70-point rotary’s and everything in between. I’m hoping to bring my experience to this role as well as seeing how the robotic milking system can improve on the traditional milking methods

I’ve always been fascinated by the Lely product, only really seeing it at the Dairy Event / Dairy Day, when I would always stop on the show stand. The Astronaut A4 & A5 has always been the product that has pulled me in. The technology has always impressed me and seeing it in action has only drawn me in deeper.

I spend most of my time with the family, we regularly go traveling mostly road trips, all over the UK and Europe. I am trying to take up the gym, but the jury is still out with that one!

I started work at Lely Center Holsworthy as a Service Engineer in early January 2025. For the last 6 years I was a Copper & Fibre engineer for Openreach installing, servicing & maintaining telecommunications systems. Prior to Openreach I was in the Royal Air Force for 22 years where I was a Survival Equipment Fitter and a SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract) Instructor, this career took me all over the world traveling to some very nice countries for training as well as deploying to Operations overseas such as Bosnia, Iraq & Afghanistan.

After leaving Openreach I took a couple of months off to make sure I found the right job and industry for me to move into, I saw the advert and straight away knew it was where I wanted to work. I researched the products that Lely use and the more I read the more interested I became. The farming industry is tough enough so to be part of a team that helps the agriculture industry & provide amazing support to UK farmers is something I will be proud to do.

As I’m new to the team I’m still learning about the products and to be honest they’re all amazing at the tasks they carry out and the support they bring to the farms. I have to say that initially I have a soft spot for the Discovery 120 Collector, the workhorse that just doesn’t stop, constantly backwards and forwards making sure everywhere is kept clean which will improve the cow’s hygiene and help to prevent infection and illness.

I will be work predominantly in Cornwall and West Devon but will travel further East if work requires me to do so and I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know our customer base.

I like to be active and enjoy weightlifting, I’ve recently got into mountain biking as my knees are feeling the effects of 25 years of football. I love all things surf from longboarding to Stand Up Paddle boarding and walking my 2 dogs Remy (French Bulldog) & Opie (Irish Wolfhound). Away from sport you can’t beat weekends away camping and if live music is involved it’s even better, I also have a season ticket at Plymouth Argyle.

I’m a Product Specialist and Group Training Specialist for Lely Centers Holsworthy & Yeovil.

Previously, I worked at Lely Center Holsworthy for 9 years as a Product Specialist and Team Lead in the engineering team. 

In my new role I’m looking forward to getting fully involved in both centers, primarily in engineer development hopefully passing on some of my experience to our newer engineers. In time I hope to develop specific training courses for engineers to attend based on specific concerns or areas the service managers would like to develop skills. And further down the line, I would like to run farmer training sessions using the training robots at both centers.

In the short term you might see me on farm assisting engineers with servicing or commissioning and hopefully passing on a few hints and tips.