An unlikely online star and his viral videos have helped his family-run trailer company pull in over four million views on social media.
At 76, Tone Skeggs may not be your typical internet influencer – but there was a serious reason behind the laughs when he first stepped in front of the camera.
The fun-loving grandfather began filming the tongue-in-cheek clips to shout about the fact that SB Trailers had become an official distributor for North Wales maker Ifor Williams Trailers which has factories in Denbighshire and Deeside.
What started as a light-hearted way to promote the firm’s new partnership quickly snowballed into something far bigger, with Tone’s antics helping introduce customers to the globally renowned brand now available at their base at Reddings Farm in Asheldham near Southminster in Essex.
His popularity is such that the grandfather is now known locally as “TikTok Tone”, and says his unexpected internet fame is “absolutely bonkers”.
A hilarious video showing Tone strutting around the yard, posing provocatively and even sliding down a trailer in a bid to “attract” customers in his own inimitable way, has pulled in a massive 990,000 Facebook views and 368,000 Instagram views.
Meanwhile, another one showing Tone playing curling with trailer wheels, while colleagues sweep the way, has attracted over 1.3 million views.
And an online post showing Tone demonstrating his expertise in reversing a trailer properly has had 222,000 social media views.
Tone also served up a sketch portraying him as a fast food restaurant worker titled “Welcome to Mc’SB Trailers, can I take your order?”, notching up 149,000 views.
It is not just Tone’s online antics which are generating huge numbers of viewers for the firm, based at Reddings Farm in Asheldham near Southminster in Essex.
An 11-second post showing workshop technician Freddie Joslin explaining why it is important to have your trailer regularly serviced has attracted an incredible 964,000 views on Facebook and 18,000 on Instagram.
The huge social media success is helping to drive business forward at SB Trailers, which recently celebrated becoming an official distributor for world-renowned Ifor Williams Trailers.
The company is a new division of the SB Machinery Group, run by Tone’s son Ben and his wife, Susannah, which already supplies machinery and runs a specialist haulage operation.
