SALTEX Announce Innovation Hub

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SALTEX Announce Innovation Hub: In a new addition for 2018, visitors to SALTEX will be able to experience the very latest groundscare ingenuity in the Innovation Hub, a new area on the show floor which is purely dedicated to innovation and new concepts in grounds management.

SALTEX plays host to the most technologically-advanced equipment showcase with hundreds of exhibitors pushing the boundaries with new products and services. Within this fast-paced and evolving industry, manufacturers are more forward-thinking than ever before to ensure their products match their client’s needs and with over 8,000 SALTEX visitors, these new technologies are certainly under the spotlight.

SALTEX Announce Innovation Hub

According to the SALTEX 2017 visitor survey, an incredible 97 per cent claimed that their main reason for attending the exhibition was to see the latest innovations. Taking this feedback on-board, SALTEX event organisers have decided to host, for the very first time, a dedicated Innovation Hub.

Visitors can expect to watch interviews with industry experts and those at the forefront of new groundscare innovations and listen to research and trial work findings. Furthermore, a number of key speakers will take to the stage to discuss and explore current groundscare trends such as cordless/environmentally friendly equipment, robotics, GPS control machinery, pesticide alternatives, pitch lighting (including watering systems and oxygen) and pitch monitoring systems.

In this exciting new feature, delegates will be able to engage in conversation regarding key topics or seek advice while using the opportunity to network with the industry’s most innovative business leaders and exporters – making the Innovation Hub a must visit area for all attendees.

The Innovation Hub will also play host to the SALTEX 2018 Innovation Award ceremony. Entries to the second ever SALTEX Innovation Award are now open and visitors can again expect to see the latest and very best in new grounds care technology.

Making its debut at last year’s show, the Innovation Award attracted a number of high-quality entries from across the globe spanning a wide variety of products, services and equipment.

The independent panel of judges, who based their decisions on a number of factors including what the entry offers the industry and how it makes life easier for the person using it, were unanimous in selecting four stand-out entries – and by all accounts 2017 was the year for new line marking technologies.

The standard was incredibly high resulting in a tie for first place. Rigby Taylor’s Intelligent One autonomous robotic line marker and Fleet Line Markers’ MAQA line marking machine were announced as joint winners of the first ever SALTEX Innovation Award.

Second place went to Oregon’s Gator Speedload, which judges said was a quick and simple device which negated the need to dismantle the head each time to re-load/wrap new strimmer cord. Third place went to the Etesia Hydro 80 MKHP4 E-Connect, due to its ability to set up multiple users and record data – allowing organisations or clubs to monitor the amount of use and user’s ability.

Due to the popularity of last year’s Innovation Award, SALTEX 2018 is expected to attract even more entries and all will be revealed in the lead-up to the show. Additionally, by referring to the show guide, SALTEX visitors will be able to follow an Innovation Trail enabling them to see every single entry on the show floor.

SALTEX takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on October 31 and November 1.

Visitors can register to attend SALTEX for FREE via the website – www.iogsaltex.com

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STIHL Returns To Glee

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STIHL Returns To Glee: Following the success of last year’s show, STIHL will be returning to Glee on 10th – 12th September to showcase its range of cordless garden tools.

As the popularity of battery powered products continues to rise amongst keen gardeners, STIHL’s Lithium-Ion powered cordless range is designed to meet the needs of domestic users. Delivering high performance, the affordable tools are supplied with either built in or interchangeable Lithium-Ion batteries, making garden tasks even easier to complete.

STIHL Returns To Glee

The full range now includes more than 35 light-weight, well balanced and quiet machines such as; chainsaws, hedge and grass trimmers, pole pruners, long reach hedge trimmers, lawn mowers and much more. These join STIHL’s range of electrical tools including pressure washers, grass and hedge trimmers as well as blowers and vacuum shredders.

Traditionally only available through its network of over 700 garden machinery and forestry specialists, STIHL’s cordless range is now also stocked in select gardening centres throughout the UK, including Dobbies and Hilliers.

Simon Hewitt, Head of Marketing at STIHL GB, said: “We’re delighted to be returning to Glee as the show presents the perfect platform to exhibit our range of accessible cordless tools and how they can benefit everyday gardeners.

“The STIHL Lithium-Ion range and award-winning STIHL Compact Cordless System have proven to be incredibly popular with domestic users, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to the stand to find out more about the products.”

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Reesink Award Winners Announced

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Reesink Award Winners Announced: Reesink Turfcare is delighted to announce the winners of its Aftermarket Dealer Awards. The awards recognise Outstanding Performances in the three areas of Service, Parts and Skills, as well as recognising an overall Dealer of the Year for ‘Excellence in Customer Support’.

In keeping with its Service Level Agreement (SLA), which benchmarks great customer service, Reesink awards those dealers achieving the best scores, rated on quarterly Key Performance Indicators (KPI), within each of the three sections, while the Dealer of the Year Award combines the KPI scores from all three.

Reesink Award Winners Announced

The winners are: Outstanding Performance in Service goes to Redtech in Coventry, while Lloyd Ltd in Carlisle excelled in Skills, and Revill Mowers in Gloucestershire in Parts. The coveted Dealer of the Year award has two joint winners: Cheshire Turf Machinery in Stockport and Revill Mowers in Gloucestershire.

The runners-up are: Russells Groundcare in Yorkshire for both Parts and Service, and Oliver Landpower in Kings Langley for Skills.

Ever since Reesink adopted the principles of a customer service level agreement to set a baseline standard for after-sales customer support in 2015, its strategy has been to ensure that it delivers strong customer service with all its business partners, says David Jackman, Reesink’s aftermarket manager: “We’re looking to continually improve on our customer experience after a sale completes, and our Service Level Agreement outlines the core customer service standards, goals and considerations adopted by all our Authorised Service and Dealer Locations, which helps to earn the loyalty of our customers.

“Part of this extensive remit are the awards, which give us a standard set of common goals, targets and values that can be shared and promoted to the end user, benefitting customer retention and business growth across our dealer network. As we expected it would be, this has been met with great enthusiasm by our dedicated dealers and has done a fantastic job of driving the aftermarket business forward.

Reesink Award Winners Announced

“We’re delighted to be able to recognise the winners and runners-up of these awards, which not only provide a snapshot of each dealers’ performance with us but also our support for them. Overall, the major benefit of this process is the benefit it brings to the end customer, which is what we’re all in it for.”

 And it’s certainly an approach that has worked with Reesink having been recognised by The Toro Company for its outstanding performance in Parts, Service and Technical Training in the past.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Polaris’ ‘Ultimate RANGER Experience Winners

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Polaris’ ‘Ultimate RANGER Experience Winners: The winners of the ‘Ultimate RANGER® Experience’ competition were announced on Monday 16th July on the Polaris website at www.ranger20thanniversary.com.

Polaris launched a competition in May to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their best-selling utility vehicle, the RANGER®. Entrants were given the chance to win an ‘Ultimate RANGER® Experience’, by uploading a picture and caption showing their own personal RANGER® experience. The competition was a great success with over 320 entries being submitted throughout May and June from 36 participating countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa, to be selected for one of the two European experiences, with the RANGER® at the heart. The top 3 finalists were selected from each country before being reviewed by a panel of judges, including a representative from Polaris Industrial Design in the USA, to select the winners. The judges were looking for authenticity, inspiration and enthusiasm for the brand.

Polaris’ ‘Ultimate RANGER Experience Winners

Rodrigo Lourenco, Vice President and General Manager of Polaris Off-Road Vehicles EMEA, said: “I’m sure the judges had a very difficult decision when picking the winners, as many of the entries show a real passion for our brand, with amazing stories from every country and uses for the RANGER® that we had never seen before. Thank you to everyone who took part and made this competition a success – the perfect way to celebrate the RANGER® 20th Anniversary this year.”

The two winners have been announced:

Peter from the UK, who is part of the NHS North West emergency response services, with his entry showing a Polaris RANGER® 6×6 being used to assist the team where conditions are treacherous and do not allow conventional ambulance access.

Judges said “It is truly inspiring to know the RANGER® can, and is, being used to save lives by the North West Ambulance Service – what a wonderful way to showcase how versatile the RANGER® is.”

Peter will be sent to the Greece, to explore the Greek island of Naxos in a RANGER®. They will take a trip around the mountain villages, tour the ancient ruins and soak up on the sun on the long stretches of beach. They will also be a chance to take the RANGER® on a drive to Kasto, a hilltop castle dating back to the 13th century.

Manya from Belgium, who submitted a photo of their custom-built RANGER® 570 in Northern Spain’s Picos de Europa National Park. Located in the mountains, the national park is known for rocky terrain, beautiful scenery, and its resident Cantabrian Brown Bears. It makes sense then, that Manya built an aluminium trunk cover to prevent any bears taking food and materials from the RANGER® whilst visiting.

Judges said “Another perfect example of how our RANGER® can be adapted to suit any adventure and master any environment, even if that does involve hungry bears!”

Manya will enjoy a trip to Iceland, where she will enjoy the stunning landscape of the Icelandic mountains and see how the iconic RANGER® is customised and used by owners of lodges in the mountains to access their remote cabins.

Twenty years ago, Polaris introduced the very first RANGER® vehicle. Since then, the RANGER® has become known as one of the most dependable side-by-side and is the No.1 selling utility vehicle worldwide. With industry-leading capabilities in some of the most relentless conditions imaginable, its’ legacy continues to grow stronger year on year. Fueled by consistent innovation, the Polaris RANGER® range has been designed to be the hardest-working, smoothest-riding SXS ever built.

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STIHL To Showcase New Chainsaws

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STIHL To Showcase New Chainsaws: STIHL will be exhibiting its latest developments in professional chainsaws and forestry equipment at this year’s APF Exhibition, where visitors will have the opportunity to see the products in action at the manufacturers demo area based on the woodland demo circuit.

In addition to its own demo area, STIHL will have a large range of of high performance tools for professionals on display within the main arena on the static circuit, including the latest MSA 161 T cordless top-handled chainsaw and the lightweight MS 462 C-M petrol chainsaw.  STIHL will also be giving visitors a look at the new MS 500i – the world’s first lightweight petrol chainsaw with electronically controlled fuel injection.

STIHL To Showcase New Chainsaws

Rounding off its offering, professionals will also be able to discover more about STIHL’s range of PPE including the new VENT & X-VENT helmets and range of breathable and weather resistant ADVANCE chainsaw clothing.

Ahead of this year’s Stihl TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship at The Echo Arena in Liverpool in October, guests will be able to see the extreme sport in action as some of Europe’s top lumberjacks will take to the TIMBERSPORTS® Roadshow stage to compete in the six events.

Simon Hewitt, Head of Marketing at STIHL GB, said: “It’s a pleasure to be present at APF this year, and the exhibition is a great opportunity to showcase our ever expanding range of high quality tools for professionals.  Having a demo area on site is the perfect way to demonstrate the capability of our products, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to find out more about STIHL.”

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