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Industry News
UPDATE | NEWS UPDATE
THE LATEST HEADLINES FROM THE INDUSTRY Karl Standley (right) with Simon Rudkins (left) and Fin Farrell Bramley (centre)
A helping hand
WEMBLEY’S GROUNDS MANAGER Karl Standley helped to save the day for a school in Hastings.
When the St Leonard’s Academy sports department shared a photo on social media of the somewhat slipshod line marking of its football pitch, Karl was quick to offer his help.
In particular, the centre circle was looking anything but central and after seeing the post himself, Karl responded from his own account to help them out, before arranging to travel to East Sussex.
Ahead of his trip to the coast, Karl called on the help of Simon Rudkins who is head groundsperson at Hastings United and also part of Wembley’s event day grounds team. And after winning six grassroots pitch of the year awards in the Isthmian and Steps 3 and 4 leagues, he was certainly a help in fixing the issue.
There was also extra support from Fin Farrell Bramley, the 15-year-old assistant groundsperson at Hastings United, who was also able to pick Karl’s brains for some insider tips on pursuing a career in pitch care and maintenance.
“To help St Leonard’s out was a privilege; we benchmark ourselves on our standards and when seeing that issue we wanted to help put it right,” said Karl.
“To have an award-winning grassroots groundsperson in Simon and young future groundsperson in Fin made it a great team effort.
“After some work on the centre circle it was looking as good as Wembley’s and was ready for the children of St Leonard’s to play on. After all, you never know, one day some of the children from St Leonard’s could be playing on the pitch at Wembley.”
Helping to make the centre circle central again!
NEWS IN BRIEF
GreenMech rationalises dealer coverage
GreenMech has announced a rationalisation of its dealer network in the South and South East, which will see an expansion in coverage area for existing dealer GA Groundcare, with effect from 1 January 2021. Operating from a purpose-built depot in Poulshot, Wiltshire, GA Groundcare will become exclusive to the GreenMech franchise, offering supply and support across the full pedestrian, road-tow and tracked chipper portfolio – together with stocking a comprehensive range of GreenMech replacement parts. Having originally been appointed in 2017 for the counties of Berkshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, the success of the partnership sees their territory extended to cover Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
Balmers GM joins INFINICUT network Balmers GM has been announced as the latest dealer in a growing network of outlets for the Infinicut and TMSystem ranges. With depots in Wakefield and Burnley, the company is well placed to deliver sales and support to a wide variety of professional customers across Yorkshire, Lancashire and Manchester.
Established over 40 years ago, Balmers GM has grown to become one of the largest dedicated turf machinery dealers in the UK. With immediate effect, it will be stocking the full Infinicut range of floating-head, fixed-head and rotary mowers together with the complete range of TMSystem cassettes for grooming, cutting and other maintenance activities.
Irelands adds Kubota grounds care kit to tractors
Irelands Lincolnshire GroundCare has added Kubota grounds care equipment to its existing Kubota tractor dealership business. This will extend the products offered to include a full range of compact tractors from 18-60hp, commercial and domestic ride-on mowers and RTV utility vehicles, putting the firm on a course for further expansion into new markets.
DEVELOPMENT Boris Johnson supports £70m Cheshire Vision project
PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON has pledged his support for plans to build a £70m world class football facility in Northwich, Cheshire. Driven by Cheshire Football Association, the proposals – called Vision 2020 – include a new 3,000-capacity stadium, two outdoor 3G pitches, one indoor 3G pitch, a medical facility, an outdoor activity centre, a hotel and spa.
Set to be located at the former Knights Grange Golf Club in Winsford, the “football village” – designed by architects Space & Place – is also set to become a leading centre for the provision of women’s and girls’ football.
Speaking in parliament, answering a question from Eddisbury MP Edward Timpson – who has been championing the development – PM Johnson said: “This is a very exciting project and I welcome Cheshire FA’s commitment to providing a new world class facility for women’s and girl’s football.”
Dave Edmunds, chair of Cheshire FA, said: “This proposal will see Cheshire at the forefront
OBITUARY
Bruce Harper
BRUCE HARPER sadly passed away, at the end of September, after a short illness. Before his illness
Bruce was very active, and would have been 80 in October. Recently Bruce was granted
Life Member Status, having been an active committee member of the Merseyside Branch for more than 30 years. Bruce loved being a member of the GMA and he attended SALTEX on numerous occasions. He never missed a meeting or an event that was organised in the North West. of County FA football development at every level of the game.
“Our aim is to provide a fantastic facility that will significantly increase opportunities and experiences for all participants within the game, be they individuals or clubs.”
Louise Gear, head of women’s football participation at The Football Association, said: “This is an innovative proposal and great news for aspiring female footballers across Cheshire. Excellent facilities mean more opportunities, better players and more enjoyment. Centres like this can only aid our aspiration, that we set out back in 2017, of doubling participation in the
women’s game.”
Bruce spent his working life working for South Liverpool Parks and gardens and, on his early retirement at 57, he had become parks manager for a number of the parks. He had no intention of hanging up his hoe and worked for a ground’s firm as well as looking after the pitch at South Liverpool Football Club, a leading club in amateur circles, right up to his diagnosis with liver cancer.
He is survived by his partner June. He will be sadly missed by all who had the privilege to have known him.
Dave Weedon, secretary Merseyside Branch
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Alistair Eccles As part of a commitment to providing the best in professional turf care solutions and expertise, Agrovista Amenity has announced the appointment of Alistair Eccles. Perth-based Alistair joins the team as an amenity specialist for North Scotland, where he’ll be contributing more than 30 years of industry experience. Previously, he worked for grass seed company DLF as a technical sales manager and prior to this, spent 12 years working for Germinal. Earlier in his career he held a range roles within the crop protection industry.
amenity.agrovista.co.uk
Daniel Tomberry
Experienced Reesink Turfcare rep Daniel Tomberry is relocating to the Midlands from South West Scotland to take on the role of sales manager for the area. Daniel has almost 15 years’ experience in sports turf management in various roles including head groundsman at East Dorset Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, and three years sales experience. It is this mix of experience that Daniel, and Reesink Turfcare equipment sales manager Alastair Rowell, say will benefit customers. resinkturfcare.co.uk
Robin Lennie STIHL Great Britain has announced the retirement of longstanding managing director Robin Lennie at the end of the year. Robin joined the company in 1990 as finance director and company secretary and was promoted to managing director in 2008. During his tenure as managing director, the company has increased turnover from £57m in 2008 to over £109m in 2019. His successor will be Kay Green, who joins STIHL on 1 March. Financial director Nick Burroughs will act as interim managing director.
stihl.co.uk
REFORM WERKE Reform Muli mid-range
REFORM WERKE has announced the arrival of the new lightweight mid-range Muli transporter T7X, T8X and T8X pro. These models combine power with a light footprint and excellent slope capability. Four fully-featured attachment points offer comprehensive multifunctionality and the adjustable suspension and the quick-release system with automatic PTO centring, in combination with the Reform built-on self-loading trailer, allow fast swapping of bodies.
slopemower.co.uk
SYNGENTA Turf management
A NEW ONE box solution from Syngenta is set to safely see greenkeepers and turf managers through the difficult transition from summer to winter disease control. FR321 is a pre-packaged single tank-mix of two fungicides, Heritage and Medallion TL, along with Ryder pigment to enhance turf colour and quality.
The pack contains the optimum proportion of each product proven to give the most effective control during periods when weather conditions and turf growth are fluctuating, advises Syngenta technical manager, Glenn Kirby. It also draws on trials that have shown the advantages of including Ryder in the tank mix with fungicides for turf colour and quality.
www.greencast.co.uk
The new one box solution from Syngenta will see you through the seasons
ARIENS IKON XD
THE LATEST ARIENS IKON XD zero-turn is a comfortable and easy ride, with a newly designed seat and intuitive controls for precision performance. The IKON XD comes with a wide range of commercial features, but at an affordable price. It’s constructed with a fully fabricated, heavy-duty tubular steel frame to provide enhanced strength and stability while travelling over different terrain. The power comes from a premium Kawasaki 726cc engine for reliability and driving a commercial quality cutter deck, and there are 13 cutting heights.
ariens-uk.com
REESINK TURFCARE Franklin Pumps
REESINK TURFCARE IS the new distributor of Franklin water pumps in the UK and Ireland. The company has secured a range of high-quality pumping systems for clean and dirty water in submersible and surface applications.
Robert Jackson, water division sales manager for Reesink Turfcare, says: “We’ve made the purchasing decision very easy for customers. The products are great quality, the cost is reasonable and there’s something for every requirement.”
The ES, VS and EV series are suitable for pumping clean water through irrigation systems at sports grounds, and the EGT and EGF series provide the solution for dirty water extraction from reservoirs, streams, lakes and pits.
