Finalists For IOG Awards Confirmed

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Finalists For IOG Awards Confirmed: The finalists have been announced for this year’s prestigious Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards which acknowledge the passion, dedication and challenges faced by grounds staff, volunteers and professionals across all levels of sport.

This year’s finalists, including some international entries, for the awards are:

Finalists For IOG Awards Confirmed

IOG Toro Most Promising Sports Turf Student 

Callum Allsop, Leicester City FC;

Daniel Hill, Harlequin FC;

Lee Morgan, Arnold House School, London.

IOG Rigby Taylor/Top Green Young Grounds Person

Pierre Bagot, Stade Rennais, France;

Ollie Deeming, Northampton Saints;

Nick Pepper, Gloucestershire CCC.

IOG Volunteer Sports Grounds Team/Individual

Andy Cambridge, Foxton FC, Cambridgeshire;

Trubshaw Cross Ladsandads, Newcastle, Staffordshire.

IOG NGB Community/Grassroots Sports Club Grounds Team/Individual 

Harborough Town FC, Leicestershire;

Norton Sports Charity, Stockton-on-Tees.

The NGB award is sponsored by the AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis Club), ECB (the England and Wales Cricket Board), The FA (Football Association), the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association), the Premier League,  the RFU (Rugby Football Union) and the RFL (Rugby Football League).

IOG AMS Robotics Public Sector Sports Grounds Team 

Prestige Grounds Ltd, Wiltshire;

Yeovil Recreation Centre, Somerset.

IOG Bowling Grounds Team/Individual

Polly Bowls Club, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire;

North Mymms Bowls Club, Hertfordshire.

IOG SCH Supplies Best Managed Artificial Surface

Ipswich Town FC;

University of Warwick.

IOG Ransomes Environmental and Ecology Strategy 

Cardiff University;

City Football Academy, Manchester.

IOG Headland Amenity Professional Cricket Grounds Team 

Essex CCC;

Sussex CCC.

IOG Cub Cadet Infinicut Professional Tennis Courts Grounds Team

All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon;

Devonshire Park, Eastbourne.

IOG John Deere Professional Horse Racing Grounds Team
Huntingdon Racecourse;

Redcar Racecourse;

Warwick Racecourse.

IOG Professional Rugby Football League Grounds Team

Castleford Tigers, West Yorkshire;

Leigh Sports Village, Greater Manchester.

IOG Compo Expert Professional Rugby Football Union Grounds Team
Gloucester Rugby;

Northampton Saints.

IOG Professional Football Grounds Team
For English Leagues 1 & 2, National League, National League North/South, Scottish Championship & Leagues 1 & 2, Ireland & Wales Professional Leagues.

Charlton Athletic FC, London;

Colchester United, Essex;

Swindon Town FC.

IOG SGL Professional Football Grounds Team 

For Premier League, Championship and Scottish Premier League.

Croke Park, Dublin;

Leicester City FC;

Tottenham Hotspur FC.

IOG Redexim Charterhouse/Kubota University/College Grounds Team 

Cardiff University;

Nottingham University.

IOG Growth Products Independent School Grounds Team
Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh;

Rydal Penrhos School, Colwyn Bay, Wales.

IOG SISGrass International Award

Andy Cole, iTurf Management

Alan Ferguson, FIFA;

Dean Gilasbey, ProPitch Management.

Independent judging at each venue will now take place.

Two awards will be presented on the night – at the IOG Industry Awards dinner hosted by BBC TV presenter Dan Walker on Wednesday October 30 at The Vox, located in Resorts World at the Birmingham NEC, on the evening of the first day of the SALTEX exhibition:

The IOG Grassmaster Outstanding Achievement Award, and the IOG Ransomes/DLF Alex R Millar Award – to the person chosen as the outstanding winner across all award categories.

Commenting, IOG chief executive Geoff Webb says: “With so many memorable sporting events to celebrate this year, the IOG Industry Awards’ shortlist rightly includes the grounds teams that have created the playing surfaces across all sports for such sporting drama. In addition, of course, this year’s awards also recognise the efforts of grounds people at all levels and at sporting venues of all sizes.

“This is the 11th consecutive year that the awards have uniquely provided a national stage for the achievements of everyone involved in groundscare and we should applaud everyone who took the time to enter as well as those who have reached the shortlist.”

Visit www.iog.org/awards for more details. The IOG reserves the right to enter/shortlist any application into the most relevant category(ies) based on sport(s), size and resources.

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AGS Reach Business Award Finals

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AGS Reach Business Award Finals: Advance Grass Solutions Ltd is proud to announce that they have been successful in reaching the finals of two National Awards.

SME NATIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS 2019 in the “BEST NEW BUSINESS” category.

AGS Reach Business Award Finals

UKBA –UK BUSINESS AWARDS 2019 in the “BEST NEW BUSINESS” category.

“Being recognised as a finalist in these National Awards reflects the success of the business over the past two years and is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the whole AGS team” says CEO Jamie Bennett.  “Over 2500 companies applied for these awards and to be shortlisted to the final is incredible”

Sam Honeyborne concluded ‘’It’s great to see our industry being recognised in this way and we’re very proud of our achievements in a relatively short period of time. We hope this will be the first of many accolades, as our specialist team continues to grow in the coming years.’’

The Awards ceremonies are to be held at the Park Plaza London on the 8th November 2019 and at Wembley Stadium on the 6th December 2019.

For more information on AGS or to enquire about ongoing opportunities to join the team  please call 01183-914540 or email info@advancegrass.com.

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Turf Matters Scoop TOCA Awards

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Turf Matters Scoop TOCA Awards: Turf Matters won the top award, and a clutch of other prizes, at the prestigious TOCA International Awards ceremony, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, earlier this month.

“A Star in Any Language”, written by Turf Matters Editor Scott MacCallum, on Ryder Cup preparation, picked up the award for Best Writing in a Publication, while it also won the Gardner Award for the “Best of the Best”, selected from all category winners.

Turf Matters Scoop TOCA Awards

Scott also picked up a Merit award in the same category for his article entitled “Demain’s the Name”.

In addition, Turf Matters’ Designer Tim Moat won Best Design in a Publication for a one page design article for “The Beast on the East” and a Merit for “All eyes on Paris” in the same category while he also collected a Merit for Best Design in a Publication for a Full Magazine Layout for his work on “Improving on a Masterpiece”.

“Tim and I are absolutely delighted with our success at the TOCA Awards. It is the first time we have entered and it has given us affirmation that the work we are doing on Turf Matters, and presenting to our readers, is of the highest quality,” said Scott.

“It is particularly pleasing to be the Gardner Award winner for 2019 as it is an international competition. Coming out on top against the rest of the world is very humbling,” added Scott.

Turf Matters Scoop TOCA Awards

It wasn’t just Turf Matters which did the UK proud, also experiencing the sweet taste of success in Charlotte was, Forte Marketing, with Ellie Parry and Helen Willson, collected two Merit Award for their work with Lawn Master and Rain Bird Europe.

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Pitchmark Win Queen’s Award

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Pitchmark Win Queen’s Award: Bristol based line marking machinery and equipment manufacturer, Pitchmark, has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2019.  

Pitchmark was founded in 2010 by ex-groundsman of over twenty years, Mark Rodman, and his wife Sue, with the vision of making line marking easier and with a better result for groundsmen everywhere. They were joined by their sons Tim and Darren and a family friend, Jon Griffiths. The five directors have grown the business rapidly to now employ fourteen people in the local area and sell products in over thirty countries around the world.  They began as an export-only company, reaching as far as Brazil, Iceland, Australia and Qatar. Even today overseas sales account for 70% of the turnover. Pitchmark’s products are used at all levels of sport, from local amateur clubs to top international stadia like Wembley Stadium and competitions such as the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 and EURO 2016 France.

Pitchmark Win Queen’s Award

“We as a company are very proud to receive the Queen’s Award for Enterprise,’ says Mark Rodman. “It is the pinnacle of our achievements and puts the focus on what a small business can achieve in worldwide markets. It also recognises the contribution of our team of people at Pitchmark and the efforts of our key partners in each overseas territory. We work closely with our distributors, with a focus on education and support alongside our market-leading products.”

Pitchmark manufacture and supply a complete range of line marking paints, machinery and equipment for all kinds of sports and surfaces. Line marking is often a strenuous task and the company has shown a winning formula in making the job easier through innovation and solving customer pain points. An advanced GPS line marking is a strong example of the company’s approach. Pitchmark has demonstrated an exceptional growth record and remains focused on ambitious but realistic targets in the UK, Europe and overseas. The company is exploring opportunities for expanding the product range and providing services as well as products.

Pitchmark Win Queen’s Award

“Promoting British-made products around the globe is something we’re very proud of,” says Mark. “We’re big fans of putting the UK on the map wherever possible and joined Made in Britain so we can promote and advertise this recognisable logo on our British made products. Now we thank everyone who has been involved in our journey to achieving the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.”

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Queen’s Award For Allett

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Queen’s Award For Allett: Allett, the Staffordshire based specialist cylinder mower manufacturer, has won the coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2019 in recognition of its growth in exports and contribution to the British economy.

A wholly British-owned company, Allett has designed and manufactured mowers for the sports and premium lawns market for over fifty years. The award marks a major period of development for the company, with ranges of new products launched to meet the needs of strong emerging markets. Allett’s main export success has been achieved with their professional products for sports stadiums and training grounds, achieving increased sales with the USA, Russia, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Spain leading their top ten markets in the past three years.

Queen’s Award For Allett

“We’re very honoured to receive the Queen’s Award,” says Austin Jarrett, Allett’s Managing Director, “it recognises our achievements and team efforts in bringing innovative developments in our mowing systems to meet challenges in overseas markets with large potential. We’re no longer confined to the seasonality of domestic sales cycles in the UK. Our mowers and turf maintenance systems are used throughout the world where they are maintaining sports surfaces and lawns to the highest standards.”

Allett was the major supplier to the host stadiums and contractors in Russia for the 2018 World Cup football tournament. The company concentrates on assisting a World Cup country for a period of three years to help attain the striking light green-dark green stripes in time for the main tournament. Markets with large potential such as the USA offer access to developments for sports such as American football and baseball as well as soccer. South America, where previously they have not had the financial resources, is now a developing market, says the company. Allett has placed its first mowing systems in China where there are great World Cup ambitions.

“The groundsmen in the UK are recognised as being the best in the world and they demand the highest standards from their equipment suppliers,” says Austin. “This demand drives our engineering team to improve and develop our mowing systems which consequently produce world class sports surfaces and garden lawns. We have benefitted from this and we are confident that we can deliver improved standards to the stadiums and lawns using our systems in the rest of the world. This is because of the help we get from our great customers in the UK. Every one of our machines proudly wears a Union Flag decal, and this really helps us in our export markets where the UK is revered for their lawns.

“We will be hosting Pitch Maintenance training seminars in China this year,” adds Austin, “to help set standards and expectations for the playing surfaces in this huge country which is growing rapidly as a footballing nation. Allett is more than just a machine. We’re strengthening our technical support and embarking on a plan of new product development to concentrate on a wider range of grass and sports turf maintenance products.”

Allett recently launched and continue to develop products powered by Lithium-ion battery, with the advantages of zero emissions at the point-of-use, low vibration for the operator and almost no noise. To accommodate the growth of the business Allett recently moved their Hixon, Staffordshire base to a new, larger factory.  The company has an After-Sales team in place to support overseas national distributors and, as export sales grow, consider it is important to maintain the ‘brand value’ which has been a keystone to home market success. Allett say the recognition of achievement the Queen’s Award for Enterprise brings is a proud moment in its history, and one the company can bear as a premium standard into the export markets of the future.

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