Joshua Bate Trading Bermuda, Ltd has sent two staff members to the US for training as the appliance dealer looks to step up its service offerings.

Ian Tyree and Phillip Woolridge left the Island yesterday to attend three weeks of intensive training in Ohio, followed by two weeks of fieldwork with appliance and air conditioning technicians in Maine.

The company’s president, Joshua Bate, said the move was an important one in the firm’s development.

“I’ve heard more than once that service was the weakness of our business, and I’ve worked for years to try to solve this weakness,” Mr Bate said. “Finally, it looks like we will have the people in place to even perhaps become known as a ‘go-to’ company for service and maintenance Island-wide. That would be a huge feather in the cap of our business.”

Mr Bate said customers could look forward to a higher standard of service by the end of this year. “The time has come to bring service into our direct control using largely our own people. Our service company will offer many services, such as maintenance contracts and air conditioning installation, as well as appliance service,” he added.

Bate Trading assisted two Bermudian independent technicians attend training in the US last year, but had scarce resources to help the continuing demand this year. GE Appliances, for whom the Bate’s has been Bermuda distributor since 2010, donated to the cause, and Workforce Development also contributed to enable Mr Tyree and Mr Woolridge to travel for training.

Joshua Bate has been doing business in Bermuda since 1992.

Bate’s moved to the Somers Warehouse, 14 Cemetery Road, Pembroke, last year, from its former spot on Par-la-Ville Road, and Mr Bate said business had improved significantly.

“Business is recovering, but not consistently month by month,” Mr Bate said. “However, in order to serve our clients as cost effectively as is possible, we continue to invest in our business and our people to assure our continued success as the economy continues to recover.”