Sid Arrowsmith Retires

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Sid Arrowsmith Retires: Well known in the greenkeeping industry for his work at Frilford Heath Golf Club and as a president of BIGGA, Sid Arrowsmith has now retired after 42 years.

With such a varied and impressive career, Sid has certainly left his mark on the industry and will undoubtedly be much missed by many. And he credits Reesink Turfcare and Toro as having played a part in some of his biggest achievements.

Sid Arrowsmith Retires

“One of the things I’m proudest of is what we achieved at Frilford Heath Golf Club, where I was course manager for 25 years,” says Sid. “From developing a third championship course, to obtaining GEO (Golf Environment Organisation) certification for our sustainability efforts and becoming an Open regional qualifying club, Frilford Heath has come a long way since I arrived. And the successful relationship we had with Toro really aided the club’s progression.”

With more and more Toro brought in to Frilford Heath under Sid’s tenure, the progress made is proof that a forward thinking club and equipment brand working together can achieve great things.

“And the same could be said for my time as Head Greenkeeper at Royal Portrush Golf Club. I was responsible for preparing the courses for the club’s centernary year and used Toro to get them up to standard. It speaks volumes that the club still uses Toro today and hosted The Open Championship this year.”

Sid continues: “As well as producing reliable and high quality machines, Toro is constantly investing in research and development to create new equipment that meet the needs of the industry. My partnership with Toro has meant I’ve made friends for life with those at Reesink Turfcare and also gave me the opportunity to go to the Toro Headquarters in Minnesota, USA which was a great experience.”

And it’s not just Toro that has helped to improve Frilford Heath. Five years ago Sid turned to Reesink and Otterbine to improve the club’s water reservoir. “We had a lot of algal growth caused by pollutants getting into the water source,” says Sid. “But with Otterbine aerators, the reservoir was transformed. In fact, using the water from the reservoir to irrigate the course allowed Frilford Heath to become self-sufficient.”

One of the biggest tests of Sid’s career was obtaining BIGGA Master Greenkeeper certification, but he says he “loved the challenge”.

“The Master Greenkeeper certification means an awful lot,” he says. “It’s a demanding and lengthy process which isn’t for everyone, particularly the two exams – they’re definitely not for the faint hearted! But the fact I was able to test myself at the highest level possible and be successful, is definitely one of my proudest moments.”

Imparting his knowledge is something Sid also had chance to do during his time as president of BIGGA, while attending the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards. “Seeing the stars of the future developing their knowledge and getting to speak to them was very rewarding. It’s wonderful Toro and Reesink sponsor these awards and involve themselves in the industry this way.”

With such an incredible career behind him, Sid is now taking some much deserved time off. “I’m going to really miss working with the guys at the club every day, but I’m looking forward to spending as much time with my wife as possible. We’re spending a lot of time travelling and have three trips booked for this year alone!”

But Reesink Turfcare couldn’t let Sid retire without a proper send off – presenting him with a personalised decanter to commemorate such a fantastic career.

“I was absolutely honoured,” says Sid. “It was such a lovely gesture that I wasn’t expecting at all. I have some great friends at Reesink, and I know those friendships will continue.”

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Kelly-Marie Clack Joins STRI Group

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Kelly-Marie Clack Joins STRI Group: STRI Group is delighted to announce that Kelly-Marie Clack has joined the business as a consultant agronomist.

Kelly will be working with a range of sports facilities across the UK delivering STRI’s broad suite of services and agronomic support for clients.

Kelly-Marie Clack Joins STRI Group

She has worked in the amenity industry for over ten years, most recently with AGS where she discovered a passion for soil health and biology.

Kelly said: “I’m over the moon to have joined STRI Group. It’s an exciting time for the business and I’m relishing starting this journey with them. I have lots to learn over the coming months and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Kelly’s appointment is one of several new faces to join STRI Group in the last three months, as the business continues to grow across its global territories. A number of new diverse roles have recently been created and STRI is looking for talented individuals to fill them.

Agronomy general manager, Paul Woodham, said: “Kelly has been on our radar for a while and this is the perfect time to welcome her to STRI Group. Her skill sets and enthusiasm are well suited to our team who work across a diverse range of sports. Kelly’s recruitment has been well received in the industry and she’ll be out meeting clients in the coming months.”

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New Appointment At Reesink

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New Appointment At Reesink: Rochelle Bedford has been appointed the new marketing manager for Reesink Turfcare.

Overseeing marketing activity for all the turfcare machinery and equipment brands in the Reesink portfolio, Rochelle says it was Reesink’s established reputation, values, great work ethic and ideas sharing culture that appealed to her most about the role, as well as working in a new industry.

New Appointment At Reesink

“Reesink Turfcare is a well-established company and its reputation preceded it,” she says. “With a great work ethic, the values of the company and the way staff are encouraged to share their ideas to come up with new solutions for ongoing projects was an exciting aspect of taking on the role. Plus, my marketing experience with commercial vehicles and dealer network support lends itself well with this new and interesting industry.

“With the marketing machine fully up and running, I was excited to get stuck straight in to see how it all worked. Over the past couple of months, I have seen great potential for how the marketing department can be developed, in supporting the business as a whole and taking it to that next level.”

Rochelle has already recruited another member to the team and Nichola Spinks joins the company as marketing assistant.

Reesink’s marketing department is a vital part of the business, as well as coordinating all of Reesink’s turf marketing programmes in the UK, it also organises all the shows and events the company attends throughout the year too.

Rochelle concludes by saying: “There’s no question there’s definite potential for future growth for the team!”

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Limagrain UK Appoint Sam Horner

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Limagrain UK Appoint Sam Horner: Sam Horner has been appointed as Limagrain UK’s new amenity seed specialist covering the south of England, the company has announced.

Sam has been involved in the sports turf industry for over twenty years and brings with him a wealth of experience.

Limagrain UK Appoint Sam Horner

It all started at his beloved Gloucester Rugby where he first became familiar with sports turf maintenance. He then went onto study sports turf at college and after graduating he landed a job at Tewkesbury Park Golf Club. Sam quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to deputy course manager before accepting the position of golf course manager at Gloucester Golf Club.

Five years ago he moved into a sales and marketing role within the amenity industry but continues to ‘work on the tools’ by offering match-day support for the grounds staff at Gloucester Rugby.

Commenting on his new position at Limagrain UK, Sam said that the opportunity was just too good to turn down.

“It was a very easy decision – all the way through the process I knew that if I was offered the job then I was absolutely going to take it. Limagrain is an outstanding company, in terms of its product portfolio and its reputation – the way it conducts itself is very professional. Limagrain has always been a leading company in the industry working at the very high end of sports turf and opportunities like this do not come along very often – I was always going to take it.”

With immediate effect Sam will now be offering technical advice and full support on products such as Limagrain’s leading brands of MM and Designer grass seeds and Colour Splash amenity flower mixtures.

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm.

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Doosan Bobcat EMEA Announces New Changes

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Doosan Bobcat EMEA Announces New Changes: Doosan Bobcat, a global leader in the compact equipment industry has announced new presidents and other organizational changes in the global structure of the company.

The changes have been announced as the company works across all regions to fully integrate and leverage the strength and scale of the business around the world, whilst maintaining the focus on customer centric solutions and further expanding and refining the company’s full liner strategy. As a result, Doosan Bobcat has announced the appointment of new regional presidents and a different global organization and leadership structure, including newly created global groups responsible for engineering, procurement and strategy.

Doosan Bobcat EMEA Announces New Changes

Consistent with these changes, Doosan Bobcat has announced the following leadership appointments, effective immediately:

  • Gustavo Otero has been appointed president, Doosan Bobcat Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Otero previously served as vice president of Compact & Telehandlers, Doosan Bobcat EMEA. Otero will be based out of Doosan Bobcat’s EMEA headquarters in Dobris in the Czech Republic.
  • Mike Ballweber has been appointed president, Doosan Bobcat North America. Ballweber previously served as senior vice president, Commercial Business, Doosan Bobcat North America.
  • Alvaro Pacini has been named senior vice president, Global Procurement, Doosan Bobcat. Pacini previously served as EMEA region president.
  • Troy Kraft has been appointed senior vice president, Global Engineering, Doosan Bobcat.
  • Youngmin Kwon has been named senior vice president, Global Strategy & Operational Excellence/Total Quality Management.

All the executives named above will report directly to Doosan Bobcat CEO, Scott Park.

“As a global company, we are taking these steps to become even more collaborative by sharing the best ideas and innovations around the world,” said Park. “I have great confidence in each of these leaders as they take on new and expanded roles and look forward to working with them to ensure our continued growth in the global marketplace.”

New Doosan Bobcat EMEA president named

Gustavo Otero has been named president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA). Otero joined Doosan Bobcat in 2012 and most recently served as EMEA region vice president of Compact and Telehandlers. Prior to this, he was vice president of Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment EMEA and served as general manager at Geith and has an extensive 20-year background in the global construction equipment and automotive industries.

Otero earned a master’s degree in industrial engineering at Universidade de Vigo, an executive MBA from IESIDE Business Institute and a PDD from IESE Business School Universidad de Navarra.

Gustavo Otero commented: “I look forward to working with our global function teams, leaders and dealer network to further position us for long term growth and bring enhanced collaboration and innovations. I believe that the expanded global organizational structure will assist us in reaching new levels of success in EMEA and reinforce our position as the global leader in compact equipment to bring the best value to our customers.”

Global function leadership team

As a part of this initiative, Doosan Bobcat has announced additional senior leadership roles to lead the expanded global structure and help enhance and streamline the company’s focus on engineering, procurement and strategy globally. These global teams are designed to encourage collaboration, agility and drive innovation and growth strategies.

Alvaro Pacini has been appointed senior vice president, Global Procurement. He is responsible for global procurement functions including regional governance and commodity strategic management. He joined Doosan Bobcat in 2011 and most recently served as region president of Doosan Bobcat EMEA. Pacini has an extensive, 30-year background in the construction equipment and automotive industries, including experience in operations, strategy, sourcing, supply chain and total quality management.

Troy Kraft, named senior vice president of Global Engineering, has led engineering for Doosan Bobcat North America for nearly 12 years. He has been appointed to join the global leadership team and is responsible for global compact equipment product development, product safety and international standards.

“We are extremely pleased to have Troy and Alvaro lead the global engineering and procurement function teams,” said Scott Park. “They bring unique skills and professional insights that will enhance our global executive team, from their in-depth industry experience to technical leadership and impressive management capabilities.”

Kraft and Pacini join Youngmin Kwon, senior vice president, Global Strategy & Operational Excellence/Total Quality Management, as members of the Doosan Bobcat global function leadership team.

“Our new global structure and leadership team will encourage greater collaboration and agility throughout the company’s worldwide regions,” said Park. “Together, we will work more closely as one global team, which will bring enhanced collaboration, innovation and continued success for Doosan Bobcat.”

For more information about Bobcat and Bobcat products, visit www.bobcat.com

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