John Deere Limited has appointed Bob Holt as branch customer support manager for the UK and Ireland, replacing Stuart Minter, who has retired after more than 36 years with the company. Mr Holt has a Diploma in Agricultural Engineering from Caythorpe College and a BSc in Agricultural Technology and Management from Cranfield Institute of Technology. He began his career with John Deere Limited as a branch management trainee in April 1994 and became a demonstrator in July that year, followed by assignments as a training instructor and area manager product support. In February 2001 Mr Holt accepted a field service position at the John Deere harvesting equipment factory in Ottumwa, Iowa, USA and in June 2003 he moved to Zweibrücken in Germany to become a senior service engineer. After returning to the UK in January 2005, he held the positions of harvesting product support specialist, manager technical services/customer support and division customer support manager.