BREAKING NEWS! Sherriff Amenity & Terra Firma (Scotland) Ltd Combine

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BREAKING NEWS – Sherriff Amenity and Terra Firma (Scotland) Ltd combine

BREAKING NEWS! Sherriff Amenity & Terra Firma Combine

Sherriff Amenity, the fine turf and landscaping division of Agrovista UK Limited, one of the UK’s leading agronomy firms today announces the acquisition of Terra Firma (Scotland) Ltd, one of Scotland’s largest specialist suppliers to the amenity and local authority markets.

The purchase will allow the two businesses to combine existing technical expertise and broad product ranges to provide land managers, local authorities, contractors, groundsmen and greenkeepers in Scotland with a full agronomy service, research driven advice, new product innovation and access to an extensive local distribution network.

Commenting on the announcement Simon Gough, founder of Terra Firma (Scotland) said: “Terra Firma joining with Sherriff Amenity is a really exciting prospect. The combination of both companies’ industry knowledge, experience and customer service ethos will form a strong, sustainable and service focused business model moving forward.”

Chris Clayton, Managing Director of Agrovista commented: “We are delighted to welcome Simon and his team from Terra Firma into Sherriff Amenity. The acquisition will strengthen the business in Scotland and provide synergies across the business which will ultimately benefit our customers. This combined with further product developments will generate exciting opportunities from the combined business”.

The new structure will retain all existing staff and the combined team will be led by Simon Gough.

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

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Kubota UK Strengthens Marketing Team

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Kubota UK strengthens marketing team with key appointments: Kubota UK is pleased to announce it has strengthened and expanded its marketing team with the addition of four new appointments to support the company’s vision to become a centre of marketing excellence.

Kubota UK strengthens marketing team with key appointments

Caroline Brown, Shannon O’Connor, Sophie Sprowell and Victoria Nemar have bolstered the team, supporting Kubota’s Marketing Manager Karen Tipping to help continue to drive brand awareness and support the company’s industry leading products and first class aftersales proposition.

Karen Tipping commented: “It’s an extremely exciting time at Kubota UK as the business invests and innovates in its product and service offering.  In order to maintain the reputation of the brand and continue our growth across all industries, we must ensure our marketing team is as strong as it can be. In the last two years the team has increased from one to six people, highlighting the commitment and investment Kubota places on marketing activities and the support for our first class independent dealer network.

“It’s fantastic to welcome Caroline, Shannon, Sophie and Victoria into the marketing team. As we continue to increase awareness and market share in both established and new markets, supporting the first class solutions and aftercare service we provide, these key appointments will prove to be pivotal as we move forward.”

As part of Kubota UK’s investment in marketing, Karen will continue to be responsible for developing and implementing the marketing strategies that will deliver continued and long-term growth for the business.  Caroline joins Kubota as a Marketing Executive and will report directly into Karen, with responsibility of managing the day-to-day marketing activities with a specific focus on Kubota Engines.

Shannon, Sophie and Victoria have been appointed as marketing assistants, supporting Karen and Caroline, with Shannon focused on Kubota’s agricultural division, Sophie looking after the groundcare sector and Victoria responsible for the marketing of Kubota’s compact construction equipment.

Karen concluded: “These new appointments will help create a more organised and structured marketing team to deliver Kubota’s dynamic marketing strategy across the agricultural, groundcare, construction and engines divisions, whilst also helping with the growing number of exhibitions and events that Kubota has committed to across all market sectors.”

Caroline joins Kubota with over 30 years marketing experience, having previously worked for Oxfordshire County Council, Entertainment UK and WH Smith, along with specialist B2B brands Timbmet and Maccaferri.  Shannon previously worked in marketing at Ford, Sophie joins Kubota from Impact Sign Solutions where she worked as a graphic designer and Victoria joins from a printing company Lynx DPM.

For more information on Kubota UK call 01844 268000 or visit www.kubota.co.uk.

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Total-play Ltd Welcomes New Technical Consultant To Its Team

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Total-play Ltd welcomes new Technical Consultant to its team – Sports turf specialist total-play Ltd has bolstered its team with the appointment of Shaun Anderson in the newly created role of Technical Consultant.

 Total-play Ltd Welcomes New Technical Consultant To Its Team

Based from the Northants Head Office, Shaun will be responsible for the design of non-turf sports facilities to meet the needs of clients whilst also reaching standards required by the various governing bodies for sport; including the company’s three ECB approved non-turf cricket pitch designs.

His appointment comes as the firm continues its rapid growth. A market leader in the design and installation of non-turf cricket pitches for match play and practice it also provides extensive natural cricket pitch services. The company is now expanding into specialised sports areas (MUGA) and athletics facility provision on the synthetic surfaces side and supporting this will be a key element of Shaun’s role.

With a career that encompasses 17 years in the Royal Engineers specialising in road and air field construction, followed by civil engineering roles in the solar and peak power plant industries, Shaun brings vital skills to the team. His experience working on high specification projects and taking into consideration factors such as geology, materials, rainfall and drainage will all prove invaluable in the design of first class sports facilities, as MD David Bates explains:

“When recruiting for this role we were looking for an individual who would fit well within the team as much as a sports background – Shaun fits the bill perfectly and his experience on diverse, complex projects will translate very well to the design of artificial sports surfaces.”

 Meanwhile, Shaun comments:

“I am really looking forward to being part of a small tight, team that achieves the build out of a large number facilities to a high standard from cradle to grave, and can’t wait to get my teeth into my first project.”

 For more details on total-play’s range of products and services, visit www.total-play.co.uk

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Moortown Ready To Take Off With Irriplan And Hunter Pilot

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Moortown ready to take off with Irriplan and Hunter Pilot – The storied Moortown Golf Club in Leeds in the north of England has completed the installation of a new irrigation system, replacing a failing 35 year old system.

Moortown Ready To Take Off With Irriplan And Hunter Pilot

Moortown, which was the first British club to host the Ryder Cup, in 1929, chose a Hunter irrigation system installed by Knaresborough-based contractor Full Circle Irrigation. Irrigation engineers Irriplan provided design and project management services.

“Our old irrigation system was very old, and it was failing miserably,” explains Moortown secretary Peter Rishworth. “We were constantly getting leaks in the underground pipework due to age, and regularly seeing other faults too. On top of that, the system was very inefficient in its use and distribution of water, leading to a lot of hand watering to compensate. The old system was basically on or off and we were limited by a lack of automatic control over the individual heads.”

Moortown made contact with Irriplan and had just signed a contract for the design of a new irrigation system, when the old equipment suffered a particularly major breakdown at the start of the 2015 golf season. “Giles Wardle of Irriplan, and also Full Circle, jointly helped us out by patching up the existing system, but we knew replacement was the only way forward,” says Peter. “Full Circle, who we know as they are local, had recommended we work with Irriplan, and Steve Robinson, our course manager, saw the strength of the Hunter system, and in particular the Hunter Pilot control system.”

Installation of the new system began in October 2015, but the majority of the work was completed during the winter of 2016-17. “The project was completed in two and a half months, including new mainline pipes and coverage to tees, approaches, surrounds, greens and our practice facilities,” says Peter. “We switched on the new system during April 2017, and we actually just put the control system live on the internet this week, so Steve and his team can control it via their phones, when they are walking round the golf course. Obviously, it is very early days, but we can see that the level of monitoring and control we have is 100 times better than with the old system. We’re very pleased with the help we have had from Irriplan and Full Circle.”

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Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham’s Training Centre

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Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham’s Training Centre – Last season’s FA Premier League runners-up Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have taken delivery of a Ventrac 4500 compact tractor and three out-front attachments to help maintain the landscaped areas at their world-class Training Centre in Enfield, North London.

Ventrac Help Maintain Tottenham's Training Centre

Commenting on the new equipment, Darren Baldwin, Head of Playing Surfaces and Estates at the club said,

“I was in discussion with a major machinery manufacturer about a mower to cut my steep landscaped areas around the Training Centre. By chance, Rupert Price of Price Turfcare, who I have known for many years, had a demonstration nearby postponed at short notice. He gave me a call and asked if he could pop in for a chat and a coffee and perhaps show me his machine.

“This chance meeting evolved into one of the best decisions I’ve made this year. I looked at the machine, and to be absolutely honest, I doubted its ability to perform here. We took it to the western end of the complex, which we are developing as a community area and where we have a large perimeter bank, which we have not touched since we moved here from our old Training Centre in Chigwell.

“Rupert had the Tough Cut deck on the tractor unit at the time and I was blown away by its performance. It knocked down and mulched vegetation that was probably two metres high and on some very severe slopes. I was amazed that a 24 hp machine could clear unmaintained areas with apparent ease. However, that’s only part of the reason for purchasing the Ventrac. I was sold on its versatility; changing the numerous attachments is so easy. He changed to the Finishing deck in a couple of minutes and we went out and tried that. Again, it performed extremely well. Completing my initial purchase is the Trencher attachment, which can reach a depth of 1.2 metres and will be invaluable when we are doing renovation work in the future.”

Paul Jones, Darren’s right-hand man at the Training Centre added,

“The possibilities with this machine are endless. We are constantly evolving and there are many upcoming projects which the Ventrac range of attachments can help us with. In the US, it is used extensively to prepare baseball fields and we use similar techniques during renovation. I’m sure it won’t be long before we add to the list of attachments. Highlighting what Darren has already said, the speed of changing between implements is impressive, the access to the blades under the decks is easy with some clever engineering and the versatility is second to none.”

It’s a challenging time again for Darren and his team at the Training Centre with a massive pitch renovation programme in place, the construction of the new 45-room Lodge and the landscaping of a helicopter landing area.

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