British Built Agricultural Machinery

Standen agricultural machinery is designed to be gentle yet effective, to minimise crop damage and to maximise performance and output. 

All our machinery is built to order at our factory in Ely, in Cambridgeshire, which gives the ability to adjust elements of our machinery to suit your specific requirements and if required, build a completely bespoke machine for your farm. 

If you would like to find out more about our machinery,  to request a quote or a demonstration of any of our range of potato harvesting, planting and cultivation equipment, please get in touch on either 01353 661111 or sales@standen.co.uk

STANDEN ENGINEERING LIMITED

Standen Engineering Limited, an independent privately owned company is a manufacturer of Standen Potato Systems and Standen Powavator Rotary Tillers which are sold directly and through a UK and international dealer network.

Standen Imports is our imported machinery division; suppliers of specialist salad and vegetable planting and harvesting machinery.

Standen Potato Systems products:

• Bed Formers
  
• Rotary Tillers
  
• Stone and Clod separators
  
• Planters
  
• Toppers
  
• Harvesters
  
• Separation modules
  

Our design teams are constantly refining our products and developing new technologies; many of these are protected by worldwide patents. Custom built machines for sweet potato, miscanthus, onion, carrot, red beet, swede, parsnip and turnip topping and harvesting are available to order.

Standen Potato Systems also includes Baselier hook-tine cultivators and potato toppers and AVR harvesters and in-store equipmnet.

Standen Imports products:

• Arc Tying Machines
  
• De Jongh Weeding Systems
  
• Imants JNC Rotovator
  
• Imants Spaders
  
• Imants Fumigators
  
• Bassi & Bassi seeding equipment
  
• Ferrari Transplanters
  
• Ortomec Seed Drills
  
• Ortomec Leaf Harvesters
  
• Forigo Bed Formers
  
• Forigo Stone Buriers
  
• Hoaf Thermal Weed and Foliage Control
  
• Ferrari Inter row hoe weeder
  
• Simon Carrot & Leek Harvesters
  

Standen Sub-Contract Services:

With the resources of a complete manufacturing facility in one location, Standen Engineering Ltd is ideally situated to offer a comprehensive range of sub-contract engineering services to many different industries. To find out more click here.

Standen Management Team

Standen Engineering Ltd is managed by a board of directors:

• David Rickwood:    Finance Director
  
• Edward Gilbert:      Sales and Marketing Director 
  
• Philip Germeney:   Service & Production Director
  
• Andy Bone:            Company Chairman
  

Ownership: Standen Engineering Ltd is owned by its shareholders, most of whom hold key positions within the company.

With more than 100 years manufacturing experience and with the resources of a complete manufacturing facility in one location, Standen Engineering Ltd is the perfect partner when looking to subcontract part or all of your manufacturing process.

At our Ely base, we can offer:

Design & Drawing Shop:

• Design concept projecting and developing.
• Prototype assessment and design development.
• 3D CAD and modelling.
• Detail draughting.

Steel Saw Shop

• Auto saw up to 250mm width. Up to 45-degree mitres
• Cropping and punching machine.
• Materials stocked:
• Mild Steel Box section metric sizes
• Mild steel Flat bar metric sizes
• Mild steel angle metric sizes
• Mild steel tube / imperial sizes.
• Round bar: 8mm – 120mm various grades from free machining to heat treatable steels (EN1A, EN8,
• EN16, EN24, EN32)

Sheet metal

• Sheet steel Plasma cut steel 1.2mm-20mm. Maximum sheet size 3000x1500mm
• Press brake – 1.2mm – 6mm mild steel up to 3000mm wide
• Press brake – 8mm – 12mm mild steel up to 2000mm wide
• Press brake – 15mm – 20mm mild steel up to 400mm wide
• Steel rollers 1.2-3mm 1000MM wide – 3-6mm 2000wide
• Sheet Guillotine – 1mm – 4mm 3000mm wide

Materials Stocked:

• 1.2, 1.6, 2.0, 2.5 & 3mm cold rolled mild steel (CR4) sheet sizes: 2x1m 8’x4’ 3x1.5m
• 4, 5 & 6mm Hot rolled mild steel (hr15) sheet sizes: 2x1m 8’x4’ 3x1.5m
• 8, 10 & 12mm Hot rolled mild steel (hr15) sheet sizes: 2x1m 8’x4’
• 15 & 20mm Hot rolled mild steel (hr43a) sheet sizes: 2x1m 8’x4’

Machine Shop

• Bar feed CNC; 16mm – 63.5mm (2 ¼”) diameter
• Chucking CNC; 25mm-320mm diameter (X) with 600mm length (Z)
• CNC VERTICAL milling; 1000 wide (X)x 500 deep (Y) x 500 tall (Z)
• Manual lathes; 8mm – 600mm with 1200mm length
• Manual milling; 200x1500mm (keyways and milled flats)
• Pillar drills – Drilling up to 50mm diameter holes
• Surface grinding - 200x500mm table
• Keyway broaching - 5mm-12mm width

Welding

• Mig welding of steel assemblies using jigs or free hand
• Tig welding of small batches
• Welding Jig design and manufacture
• Fabricators that are skilled to weld free hand without the need for jigs allowing for prototype/development work.

Paint/Shopblasting

• Shot blasting, primer and painted in 2K paint

Or

• Not blasted and painted with direct to metal paint.

PAINT BOOTH CAPACITY – 6m LONG x 3m WIDE x 3m HIGH
SHOTBLAST CAPACITY – 3.5m LONG x 1.6m WIDE x 1.5m HIGH

Assembly

• General assembly work with a stock of fixings available.
• Final assembly and pre delivery inspection services.
• Gantry lifting capacity:
  • First assembly bays 1 ton
  • Finishing assembly bay 5 ton

Electrical Assembly

• General soldering, Pinning plugs, loom and control box assembly.
• Continuity testing.
• PAT testing

Stores

• Parcel and packing services.
• Parcel, package, box, and palletised delivery options
•  

Our workforce offers huge levels of experience and we pride ourselves on the quality of our workmanship, so whether you need a new gate or require full supply of a key component, to a larger manufacturing process from start to finish, we can help.

For more information or to chat about your project in more detail please contact

Michael Gammon  

• 01353 661111 / 01353 880306
  
•  m.gammon@standen.co.uk
  

International Terms and Conditions of Sale

General Supply Conditions for the supply of machines, installations and solutions

Valid from 01/08/2020

The present General Conditions shall apply, save as varied by express agreement in writing by the contractual parties.

Wherever the present General Conditions use the term “in writing”, this shall mean by documents signed by the two parties or by letter, facsimile, electronic mail or by such other means agreed to by the parties.

For agreements between contractual parties to be valid, they must be in writing.

In case of divergent interpretations of the English text and the text drawn up in the other language, the English shall prevail.

1. General Provisions

The sale of our goods is carried out in accordance with the present general conditions, and the purchaser recognises to have full knowledge of the terms thereof. Any derogation from these general business conditions shall only be valid after express written agreement. The catalogues, printed matter and other commercial or technical documents belonging to Standen Engineering Ltd excluding the present general conditions, may in no case be considered as contractual. They may be modified without prior notice. It is not for us to assess the appropriateness of the choice of products, objects or goods regarding the final use by the client. Consequently, the company Standen Engineering Ltd, shall in no case be held responsible for side effects arising from the use its products under conditions or circumstances other than the normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.

2. Formation of contract

2.1 The contract is deemed to be entered into when the seller has sent a written acceptance upon receipt of an order, if need be, within the deadline set by the purchaser.

2.2 If, on submitting a written offer, the seller has set a deadline for acceptance, the contract is deemed to be entered into if the purchaser has sent a written acceptance prior to the expiry of the deadline. However, this is only valid if such declaration of acceptance arrives no later than one week after such deadline has expired.

3. Plans and documents

3.1 The indications contained in the catalogues, leaflets, circulars, advertisements, illustrations and price lists relating to weight, measurements, volume and other data are not legally binding save to the extent that, under the terms of the contract, it is expressly stated that they are binding. This is valid also for indications and information contained in general documents relating to the product and in price lists – whether they are in an electronic or other type of format.

3.2 The plans and technical documents that are submitted to the purchaser in person prior to or following the conclusion of the contract or are put at their disposal in electronic format and that may be used for the construction of the goods that are the subject of the delivery or of different parts thereof shall remain the exclusive property of the seller. Without its agreement, the purchaser shall not be authorised to use, copy, reproduce or hand over to a third party, nor let a third party have knowledge of them.

3.3 Drafts, drawings, and documents of any kind submitted or used by the seller remain its exclusive property. They should be returned to it at its request. They are provided free of charge, if they are followed by an order relating to them, otherwise reimbursement of costs and travel expenses shall be due to the seller. The seller retains full intellectual property of its drawings and documents, and these may not be communicated nor carried out without its written authorisation.

4. Packaging

If not stipulated in the sales contract.

4.1 The prices quoted in the price lists and catalogues shall be deemed to be exclusive of packaging.

4.2 The prices quoted in the legally binding offers and in the contract include the packaging or protection required under normal transport conditions in order to prevent damage to the goods that are subject of the delivery before they reach the palace of destination as stated in the contract.

5. Risk Transfer

5.1 The time at which the risk shall pass is determined in accordance with the international rules for the interpretation of trade terms (incoterms) of the International Chamber of Commerce using the version in force at the date of the formation of the contract. Where no indication in the contract of the form of sale, the goods which are the subject of delivery shall be deemed to be sold “ex-works”.

5.2 In the case of a sale of ex-works, the seller must provide the purchaser with written notification of the date on which the purchaser must take delivery of the goods. Such notification must be given in sufficient time to allow the purchaser to take such measures as are normally necessary for the purpose of taking delivery.

5.3 If, in the case of a sale ex-works, the seller, at the purchasers’ request, undertakes to send the goods to their destination, the risk will pass to the purchaser at the time of the handing over [of the goods] to the first carrier. insofar as this moment precedes the moment defined in article 6.2.

5.4 If, in the case of a sale ex-works, the purchaser does not collect the goods that are the subject of the delivery due to one of the situations stipulated in article 7, the risk passes to the purchaser at the latest at the time the said situation occurs.

6. Delivery time, Transport and Loading

6.1 Final validation of the order and calculation of delivery time may be made after receipt by us of the signed order acknowledgement and of any duly mentioned advance payment. Any delay shall lead to the delivery being postponed accordingly. Should the interim terms not be met, delivery of the equipment may be postponed accordingly.

6.2 Should no choice be expressed by the client, the choice regarding the means of transport and the choice of carrier shall be made exclusively by the company Standen Engineering Ltd. Our delivery periods are indicative and any delay therein cannot be a justification for any refusal of goods, order cancellation or any indemnity whatsoever on behalf of the purchaser. Goods, including goods sent post paid, are always transported at the recipients own risk. In the case of damage in transit, shortages etc, specific reservations must be made on the carrier’s delivery receipt and be confirmed by registered letter within the time provided by law.

6.3 In the case of collection by the client.

                  6.3.1   If the purchaser fails to accept delivery of the goods at the contractually agreed time, he shall nevertheless pay the purchase price which becomes due on delivery as if delivery had taken place. The seller shall, if he is in a position to do so, store the products at the expense of the purchaser. The purchaser shall insure the products at his own expense.

                  6.3.2   The loading shall be carried out by the seller at the expense of the purchaser at the rates currently in force. Where transportation is provided by us, unloading onto the quay, handling, storage and insurance of materials at the client’s premises outside or within the factory are at the cost and under the responsibility of the purchaser.

7. Start-up of equipment

7.1 In the case In the case of an order on behalf of the client for a start-up, the purchaser undertakes, as from the agreed delivery date for the equipment, to have the necessary equipment at its disposal (e.g., a tractor).

7.2 The purchaser shall be solely responsible for the choice of tyre and load bearing capacity on his own equipment.

7.3 The seller may not be held responsible for meteorological and bad weather conditions that make start up impossible. In such an event, the seller is not obliged to wait for a possible lull. A second technical mission may be arranged with the agreement of both parties.

7.4 The start-up in the field must be carried out in normal conditions, with normal vegetables and normal foliage. Any possible additional time necessary for the start up in conditions judged to be unusual by the seller will be charged to the purchaser according to our current rates.

Payment

8.1 The purchaser must make all payments with the agreed payment conditions.

8.2 Any advance payments made by the purchaser shall be deducted from the price of the delivery. They shall not constitute a deposit, the abandonment of which would entitle the purchaser to terminate the contract.

8.3 Should the purchaser be late in payment, the seller shall be entitled to cease to fulfil its own obligations until receipt of the corresponding amounts, save where the late payment is based on an action or omission on the part of the seller. The seller is entitled to withhold its service if, due to a circumstance occurring after the contract has been concluded, it considers that it may not receive the purchaser’s consideration in its entirety and under the agreed conditions.

8.4 Payment of our invoices shall be made to our head office at Ely on the agreed due date as mentioned on the order. The rates applicable are those in effect on the date the order is made. No discount shall be made for an advance payment. If payment is made by cheque, this must be in the possession of the company Standen Engineering Ltd on or by the due date indicated on the invoice or order confirmation. Payment conditions may in no case be unilaterally modified by the client, without written consent of the company Standen Engineering Ltd.

8.5 If the purchaser is late with its payment, the seller may demand default interest. In the case of payment after the payment date indicated on the invoice, penalties for late payment calculated at the legal interest rate plus 3% will be applied. The non-payment of all or part of the invoice by the due date shall make all other invoices due immediately, including those for which the time for payment has not yet expired. If, on a previous order, the purchaser backed out of one invoice by the due date shall make all other invoices due immediately, including those for which the time for payment has not yet expired. If, on a previous order, the purchaser backed out of one of its obligations (e.g., default payment or late payment) a refusal to sell may be made against it, unless the purchase can provide satisfactory guarantees or payment in cash. No discounts shall be made for payments in cash or advance payments.

8.6 If the purchaser does not pay the amount due within the 1-month deadline, the seller shall be entitled to terminate the contract by simple written notification (without referring to the court) and may claim damages.

8.7 Resolutory Clause

In the case of failure by the client to pay the amounts due by it on the due dates or to carry out any of its obligations, the company Standen Engineering Ltd may opt either to fulfil this contract for its duration, or to terminate the contract. In all cases, the sums paid as advance payments or interim payments shall remain his property in exchange for works carried out. In addition, the company Standen Engineering Ltd reserves the right to claim compensation for prejudice suffered following the non-fulfilment by the purchaser of its obligations.

9. Warranty

9.1 The warranty period shall begin to run on the day the purchaser receives delivery of the goods and will run for a period of 12 months from the delivery date. In the case of a sale to an authorised Standen Engineering Ltd dealer the warranty period runs for 12 months from the date of the initial sale by the dealer.

9.2 For spares parts delivered or parts repaired in pursuance of this article, the same warranty conditions shall be valid as for the goods which are the subject of the original delivery with the new warranty period of 12 months. For the other parts which are the subject of the delivery, the warranty period shall be extended only for the period during which the subject of the delivery has been immobilised due to a defect covered by this article.

9.3 The purchaser is required to immediately notify the seller in writing of any defects that have appeared. In all cases, such notification of defect must be made within a reasonable period after the end of the warranty period. The defect must be described in the notification of defect. If the purchaser does not send a written notification of the defect to the seller in the time specified in this article, the purchaser shall lose all claims to the relating to the remedy of the defect. In the case where the defect may possibly result in damage, the purchaser must immediately inform the seller in writing. The purchaser shall bear the risk for the damages that may result from omitting to send such information. The purchaser must give the seller every opportunity to record a defect and to remedy it.

9.4 After receiving notification of defect (article 9.3), the seller must remedy the defect forthwith at his own expense. On principle, the defect must be remedied on the place where the subject of delivery is situated, however the seller may, if he judges necessary, have the subject of delivery returned to him for the purpose of repairing or replacing it. The seller is responsible for dismantling and reassembling the part insofar as special knowledge is required for such action. Where no particular knowledge is required, the seller’s obligation as regards the defect shall cease at such time as the property repaired or replaced part has been delivered to the purchaser.

9.5 If no conflicting provision has been agreed to, the purchaser shall bear the cost and risk of transport of the defective parts, repaired parts or spare parts between the place of business and the place where the purchaser has returned the object at the purchaser’s request.

9.6 The seller’s warranty shall only apply to defects that appear under conditions provided for in the contract and under proper use. In particular, it does not cover defects arising from the purchaser’s faulty maintenance, or alterations carried out without the seller’s consent in writing, or from repairs carried out improperly by the purchaser, nor does it cover normal deterioration.

9.7 From the time at which the risk has passed (article 5), the seller shall bear no further responsibility other than that set out in this article.: this provision also concerns defects existing at a time prior to the transfer of risk. It is deemed to be expressly agreed that the seller is not obliged to pay the purchaser any damages for the damage of goods that is not the subject matter of the contract or for loss of profit unless it is shown by the circumstances of the case that the seller has been guilty of gross misconduct.

9.8 Gross misconduct does not comprise any and every lack of proper care or skill, but means an act or omission on the part of the seller implying either a failure to pay due regard to serious consequences which a conscientious contractor would normally foresee as likely to ensue, or a deliberate disregard of any consequences of such act or omission.

10. Damages
All claims by the purchaser, in particular concerning compensation for damages of all kinds are excluded – irrespective of the legal reason invoked to assert them.

11. Claims following receipt of goods

For claims to be admissible they must be made within 10 working days following receipt of goods and works, after this time, they will be considered to be null. Nor shall we be liable, even before the expiry of this deadline, once the goods have undergone any kind of alteration and are no longer in the condition in which they were delivered by us. Goods returned shall only be accepted following the prior written agreement of the company Standen Engineering Ltd. They shall be made at the purchasers risks and within 10 working days following the prior written agreement of the company Standen Engineering Ltd. They shall be made carriage paid unless otherwise agreed beforehand in writing by our company.

12. Scope of present conditions

The drawing up of the contract constitutes the clients pure and simple acceptance of the present conditions of sale, that shall if need be prevail over the clients purchase conditions, or any other document issued by him.

13. Termination of the contract

The termination of the contract, regardless of the reason invoked, shall not imply the loss of rights of the parties that are born during the term of validity of the contract up until the termination of such contract.

14. Arbitration and applicable law

14.1 All sales concluded by the company Standen Engineering Ltd shall be governed by the law of England and Wales. In case of disputes arising in respect of the performance of a sales contract or of the payment price, as well as in the case of interpretation or execution of the clauses and conditions set out above, the commercial court of London shall have sole competence, regardless of the place of delivery, the means of payment accepted and even in the case of the guarantee being called or proceedings involving several defendants.

14.2 In accordance with the rules of conciliation, and arbitration of the London Court of International Arbitration, final decisions relating to any litigation resulting from this contract shall be taken by one or several arbitrators designated in accordance with the said rules.

14.3 The contract is contingent upon the right of the seller to the extent that the parties have not expressly agreed to a different ruling.

14.4 The arbitration tribunal shall meet at the defendant’s head office to the extent that the case may not be duly dealt with by way of written proceedings. The proceedings shall be held in the English language.

14.5 The arbitrator shall, in giving their ruling, act as amiable compositors only if the parties expressly so agreed.

14.6 To the extent that the legal order that has been designated requires it for the recognition and enforceability of arbitral decisions and judgements made at the head office of the party concerned, the parties shall enter into a specific arbitration agreement satisfying the designated legal requirements and in which the rules of arbitration shall be set out in accordance with article 14.2 

15. Unforeseeable circumstances or force majeure

The occurrence of a case of force majeure shall have the effect of suspending the fulfilment of the company Standen Engineering Ltd.’s contractual obligations. A case of force majeure means any event outside the control of the company Standen Engineering Ltd and that prevents it from functioning normally in terms of manufacturing or delivering the products. Total or partial strikes that effect the performance of the company Standen Engineering Ltd, or of one of its suppliers, sub-contractors or carriers shall be considered cases of force majeure, as in an interruption in transport, energy supply, raw materials or spare parts.

16. Retention of title

The company Standen Engineering Ltd shall reserve the title of goods sold until receipt of full payment of their price (principal and interests) Failing payment of the price at the agreed payment date, the seller may recover the goods, the sale shall be cancelled with full rights if the company Standen Engineering Ltd should see fit and the advance payments already paid shall remain his property in return for the full use of the goods that the purchaser will have had. The purchaser shall become responsible for the goods as soon as they are handed over, the transfer of ownership meaning a transfer of risks.

Thank you for contacting us. A member of our team will be in touch shortly.

Standen Engineering hold the UK license for Baselier potato and vegetable machinery.

Standen's roots originate back to the reign of Queen Victoria!

Many of the older companies in our industry are associated with either a particular person or a particular product, or sometimes with both: Henry Ford and his first massed-produced tractor, the Fordson, or Harry Ferguson and his revolutionary hydraulic system, plus of course his little gray tractor. Even further back are Ransomes, who will always be associated with the development of the modern plough.  Massey-Harris and the combine are inseparable, as are John McCormack and the binder.

The name of Peter Standen is synonymous with British engineered potato and sugar beet machinery. Peter Standen is the man, who picked up the reins of his father’s development workshop to create Standen Engineering, and his name has adorned the sides of successive models of sugar-beet harvesters which entered service during the nineteen-fifties and sixties.

Peter Standen and Vic Gray in 1967:

This brief illustrated history will trace the development of the company since the war, which as with most agricultural companies a story of machines, and the people who made them.

The Early Days  

We know there was a Samuel Frank Standen working as a blacksmith in West Street, St Ives, in Cambridgeshire in 1846.  There had been a smithy on the site for several generations before Samuel picked up his first hammer as a boy, or pumped his first bellow, because by the nature of things the local blacksmith was a permanent feature of the farming community, son following father, and expecting his son to follow him.  Samuel's own father Henry had taken over the business from his father Elias, who himself had moved up to Cambridgeshire from Sussex in the 1820's. No doubt Samuel expected his eldest son Frank to take over the business when it was time for him to forge his last horse-shoe.

History is hazy on the subject, but what is known is that Frank had a falling-out with his father, and as a result  took himself off to Pig Lane in St Ives and started his own business. By 1906 he was filing for a patent on a fixed tine cultivator, so clearly he was showing signs of the inventiveness that he passed down in full measure to his son Peter.

Old Samuel died in 1911, but Frank was by then into his stride and had already registered his company F.A.Standen Ltd. During the twenties he took on various franchises, including Austin cars and lorries, and in 1934 was appointed the local dealer for John Deere and Case. Of course in those days farming was in terrible financial trouble, with many farmers walking away from their farms, as it was impossible to make a living. Fortunately East Anglia has always been a favoured agricultural area, and however bad things were Frank was able to make ends meet and to continue to pay his staff of five.

By 1936 his son Peter and brother Eric had joined their father and the name of the company was expanded to F.A.Standen & Sons Ltd.

Whilst Eric became more involved in the retail side of the business, Peter began experimenting with new designs of machine, and proved so apt that his father funded a new company, F.A.Standen & Sons (Engineering) Ltd, with Peter as the effective boss.

Frank and Peter Standen with executives of Massey-Ferguson at a Royal Show in the 1960's. Frank is on the left of the picture, Peter the right.

The War Years

When the government of the time realised war with Germany was almost inevitable money was directed back into farming, and only just in time too. The War years were what we now call a command economy, with the Ministry of Agriculture, or WarAg as it was called, dictating who grew what and where, who received the new machines that were coming across the Atlantic in the holds of merchantmen, and what price farmers would receive for their produce. Out of all this however came a healthy farming industry, which, once the War was over, was able to fill the bellies of the under-nourished people of Britain. Nor must it be forgotten that at this time most of Europe was close to starving, with ruined factories, displaced populations, and no money.

Against this background British agriculture was poised to take a giant leap forward, and in particular in the engineering sector. Once the benefits of America’s generous Marshall Aid programme filtered through there was an insatiable demand in Europe for mechanisation, for machines to replace human labour, for machines to drive up productivity. Thus any company in the position to design and manufacture such machinery was strongly placed to reap a growing reward as prosperity returned to exhausted countries.

One such company was Standen, with Peter Standen opening premises in the nearby city of Ely. It should be noted that by this time the dealer side of the business had switched from John Deere to Massey-Harris, and in due course took over the Ferguson franchise. These two brands in fact became one through the merging of the Massey-Harris company and Ferguson, to create Massey-Ferguson. At that time the company's products were painted in John Deere green, this being as a result of the early prototypes being painted in the colour found in the workshop whilst John Deere products were still being serviced.

So the story really starts in Ely in the nineteen-fifties, as Peter’s fertile mind addressed the problem of mechanising the harvesting of sugar beet. Given that most beet was lifted and topped by hand, at the back-end of the year often in harsh working conditions, he was pushing at an open door.

Sugar Beet in Britain

Sugar beet had been grown in Britain since the first processing factory was opened at Cantley in Norfolk in 1924. The whole sugar industry was government sponsored because the First World War had shown how vulnerable Britain was to a cutting-off of food supplies through the submarine menace. Without sugar the country would be in serious trouble. As a consequence an ambitious plan was implemented under which 18 factories were built to process the raw sugar beet into refined sugar and its animal feed by-products.

This of course meant the crop had to be attractive to grow, and so prices were set which guaranteed farmers a good return for their efforts. The British Sugar Corporation was established, which totally controlled what was grown, how many tons each farmer could grow, at what price it would be bought, what penalties would be incurred by the growers if they did not produce the necessary degree of cleanliness and topping of the beet they sent to the factories, even indeed the days on which the Corporation wanted each farmer’s beet at the factory, and to which factory it would be sent. To help them grow the crop BSC, as it was known by all and sundry, employed field experts to advise growers on how to do the job better. Failure to comply could lead to a loss of some, or in extreme cases, the entire quota. In the bad years of the twenties it was the beet cheque that kept those farmers lucky enough to have a quota financially afloat. Few could afford to lose it.

The First Machines

At this stage beet ploughs had been around for a long time. Often horse-drawn, they simply turned the beet out of the ground, where it would be left to dry out. In due course a farm worker would pick up each beet and with a deft stroke of a sickle-like knife cut off its top. Sugar beet factories penalised farmers who sent in under- topped beet, even as they do today, so accurate topping was essential. On the other hand one did not want to cut off more top than was necessary because one would lose some of the value of the crop. Next each root was flung into a trailer, and taken off the field to be delivered to the designated processing factory, usually by rail. Remembering that this work was often carried out in the depths of winter one can easily imagine how anything which relieved this soul-destroying drudgery was sure of a welcome. Or was it.....

Hand labour still ruled the day, even after machines appeared.

Farmers were in those days notoriously conservative in their views, and with labour being paid a pittance, living as often as not in tied houses, machines that saved labour needed to do the job better than a gang of men, quicker, and preferably cost next to nothing. Well, of course machinery has its price, but this price had to be well within reach of the farmer’s pocket. Leasing was unheard of, and hire purchase viewed with suspicion. Only the bank manager was seen as a source of funds, and few wanted any higher overdrafts than they already had.

This therefore was the challenge facing the designers of farm machinery, and one that Peter Standen had to meet.

An early prototype of the Standen Beet Master:

A set of pointed discs held the top of each sugar beet plant to allow it to be cut. This was turned by the main wheel.

A knife set underneath it sliced off the top. Even today this is the best method of topping sugar beet.

Not visible in the picture  are a pair of lifter- wheels that squeezed the beet out of the ground and into an elevator. The rest of the working parts are PTO powered. The most popular tractors were the 20 to 35 HP models produced by MF, Ford, David Brown and IH.

The beet was dropped into a tank at the rear of the harvester and when it was full a lever was pulled which allowed the moving floor of the tank to eject the beet in a pile on the ground.

Later machines incorporated a discharge elevator so that the beet could be delivered direct to the small trailers which were in use at that time.

These were the days before drawing aids, and engineers worked more often than not from sketches. Peter Standen would sketch out what he wanted and this was interpreted by his development people. The sketch shown below was found on the back of a photograph by the author of this history as he rummaged through an old box of photos stored in the attic of his office. It is almost certainly by Peter as no one would have dared to deface one of his precious pictures!

All the testing that took place had one end: to harvest with one machine more than one acre of beet in the day. Finally this milestone was achieved, and Peter’s son Edward remembers his father coming home one day in the fifties and announcing, "We’ve done it!" And so they had. The first stage of the growth of Standen Engineering was over.

Here are some pictures retrieved from the archives, with a few words about each.

An early prototype outside the Lynn Road premises in Ely. Although it is difficult to see, there is in fact a topper mounted on the front of the tractor. This was a  novel feature which a decade or two later became standard on multi-row harvesters.

 Gleave & Key in Norfolk were Standen's first dealer:

  Windrowing fodder-beet for animal feed:

A topper prototype:

Delivering to dealers was often by rail:

A typical dealer's show-room in 1938:

This picture shows seven different models of Standen sugar beet harvesters working in line-ahead. This was staged for a television documentary made in 1968.

In 1986 Peter Standen revisited the factory, for the first time since 1969. In this picture we see him with some of old colleagues, all but one of whom had also retired. In the picture, reading left to right, are Sid Rowe, who was the company's purchasing manager until 1977, George Gray, the development engineer who also retired in 1977, Tony Bell, who ran production, then we have Peter, with his second wife, Fay. Next to her stands Bob Baxter, Standen's sales director until 1984, and Jack Keen, who was the factory director until 1979. Leaning into the machine is Vic Grey, who worked on developments until 1989. 

This was Peter's one and only visit to the company he founded after he had departed in 1969. At the time of his visit he and his wife were living in Jersey. He died  on Christmas Eve 1989, peacefully in his sleep.

Introduction

This privacy notice is issued by STANDEN ENGINEERING LIMITED. Registered in England with company number: 4315838 and with its registered office at Hereward Works, Station Road, Ely, CB7 4BP.

1. Tel: 01353 661111 email: info@standen.co.uk

This privacy notice aims to give you information on how Standen Engineering Limited (Standen) collects and processes your personal data as a contact person (whether acting as an employee, director, agent or officer) of a customer or a supplier of services or products (or a prospective customer or supplier) to Standen.

It is also issued in accordance with new data protection laws – in particular the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Standen does not have a data protection officer. If you would like to discuss our approach to data protection or any details set out in this notice, please speak to your primary contact at Standen.

Personal Data

We only collect and use personal data for the purposes of our legitimate business needs.

We may collect the following types of personal data:

• name
• contact details (work address, work contact numbers and email address)
• bank account details if supplied
• trading history

In the main, we use this personal data where Standen has a legitimate business interests to do so or to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject. Examples of the most common uses of your data are as follows:

• enter into and manage contracts with the company that you represent
• contact you in connection with a business contract
• general “know-your customer” checks
• ensure we can operate that contract (i.e. authorise payments, set-up deliveries)
• contact you about new products, trade events, industry news

We typically get the data directly from you, but also via third parties, like dealers, other industry representatives or contacts.

If you choose not to give us this personal data, we may be hindered from engaging in legitimate business activities with the corporate entity that you represent.

We do not currently undertake email marketing campaigns – if we do so in the future, you would have the right to opt-out.

Disclosure of your personal data to third parties

We have limited reasons to share your data with third parties. We may do so where required by law, where it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.

We would only share your data where it is lawful for us to do so under the GDPR. We do not currently and do not foresee any future reason to disclose your personal data to recipients located outside of the EEA.

Retention period

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it (subject to any legal, accounting or reporting requirements imposing an obligation on us to keep the personal data for a longer period).

We destroy any personal data in a controlled manner.

Security

We have in place appropriate security measures to protect your personal data. For example:

• we store your personal data on secure servers – access to which is password protected
• we utilise the most up to date and robust anti-virus programmes
• we limit access to your personal data to other personnel of Standen who have a “need to know” the information
• any hard copies are stored in secure units, with appropriate locks.

Your rights under the GDPR

By law you have the right to:

• Request access to your personal data
• Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you
• Request erasure of your personal data
• Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest
• Request the restriction of processing of your personal data
• Request the transfer of your personal data to another party

The above listed rights can be exercises by you in certain circumstances and are subject to conditions specified in the GDPR.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please use the contact details set out in section 1 above or speak to your primary contact at Standen.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint to an appropriate data protection authority – which in the UK is the Information Commissioner’s Office (https://ico.org.uk/).

Updates

This privacy notice is issued in May 2018. We may update this privacy notice at any time.

If you have a general enquiry about any aspect of our products or services, please contact us using the form below.

[contact_form]

Or you can contact us directly at our Ely head office...

Standen Engineering Ltd

Hereward Works
Station Road
Ely
Cambridgeshire
CB7 4BP

Telephone:  +44 (0) 1353 661111
Fax:             +44 (0) 1353 662370
Email:         

or for customers in Scotland please contact...

Standen Engineering Ltd

Whitelea Road
Burrelton
Perthshire
PH13 9NY

Telephone:   01828 670597

Email:         

News from Standen Engineering...

We are looking forward to exhibiting our potato and vegetable machinery at the following events:

Standen Imports Sales Manager/ Product Specialist

£ Attractive remuneration package inc company pension, PHI & life cover

Standen Imports is the Imported Machinery arm of Standen Engineering Ltd.

We are looking for someone to join our small, friendly team to drive the sales of our imported product range, this would be based at our Ely factory or home based, depending upon the individual and their current location.

Products include:

• Ferrari Transplanters and Inter-Row Cultivators,
• Forigo Stone Buriers & Bedformers,
• Simon Carrot Harvesters,
• AMAC Onion Machinery; and other ancillary lines.

Ideally we would like someone with experience of vegetable / brassica machinery, however product training will be provided. Also, sales training would be provided for the right candidate that has experience of this industry and is keen to further their career in sales. A hands – on and flexible attitude is important, as is someone who can build relationships with customers.

Key responsibilities would include;

• Identifying new sales leads across the UK
• Following up enquiries that are generated by our website and the wider sales team
• Supporting the sales team with specialist product knowledge and pricing
• Liaison with our overseas suppliers
• Demonstration of the range of products
• Promoting the Standen Imports range at shows, open days etc
• Supporting the Stores department with monitoring of stock levels of spare parts
• Some service work when required

A company vehicle, laptop and phone would be provided, the package would include 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, pension, life cover and permanent health insurance.

Please send a covering letter and C.V to e.gilbert@standen.co.uk, or call Edward Gilbert on 07889 752642 for an informal chat.
All applicants will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Parts / Stores Person

£ Attractive remuneration package inc company pension, PHI & life cover

We require a full-time Stores Person to join our team to assist in the operation of our extensive parts department, supporting the needs of our manufacturing facility and those of our customers in the UK and overseas.

Full-time hours are:
Monday - Thursday: 8am - 5pm
Friday: 8am - 4pm

However, you may be required to work additional hours to meet seasonal demand.

The role will be customer facing at our Ely factory, supplying parts to internal and external customers and keeping accurate records. This is a physically demanding role that involves a significant amount of manual handling.
The successful candidate will be self-motivated, reliable and conscientious with basic computer knowledge, good communication skills and a willingness to work both as part of a team and individually.
In-house training to meet the requirements of the role will be provided as required.
The position comes with a competitive rate of pay and various other benefits including a company pension scheme. We also offer 25 days paid holiday per year in addition to Bank holidays.
Please apply in the first instance by either contacting us on 01353 661111 or emailing us at k.palmer@standen.co.uk

We have 2 parts and service centres to cover the UK, based in Ely Cambridgeshire & Burrelton, Perthshire. Please find contact details below.

We also offer out of season machine appraisals to ensure your Standen machinery is in perfect working order ready for next season. Machine appraisals are available on a parts and or labour basis.

Standen Service and Parts Contact Telephone Numbers:

Please visit our contact page for more information.

Parts

Your Standen potato machinery will run at it's very best if you always replace with genuine Standen parts. As manufacturers of our own machinery we can supply you with genuine parts, or you can purchase them from your local Standen dealer. We pride ourselves on our competitive pricing on our genuine parts. Please get in touch for a quote.

All machinery parts numbers are listed in your machinery parts book. Parts books are also available as pdf downloads, please click here to view the full list and to confirm parts numbers before ordering. If you are still unsure, please get in touch on 01353 661111.

We aim to despatch all parts within 24 hours of receiving your order, so you are in receipt of them as soon as possible, dependent on your location.

Service

Our factory trained technicians are experienced in all aspects of our machinery and are available to provide expert after sales service, when required. If you require after sales service, please call our Service department at our Ely HQ on 01353 661111.

Standen Imports is focussed on enabling British growers to source the very best specialist machinery from around the world.  The following brands are currently available: