Deere & Company Elect John May

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Deere & Company Elect John May: Deere & Company has announced that its Board of Directors elected John C May, 49, as President, Chief Operating Officer, effective from 1st April 2019. May will be responsible for leading Deere’s efforts to maximise operational excellence throughout the company.

May has been with Deere for 22 years and joined the senior management team in 2012 as President, Agricultural Solutions and Chief Information Officer. Last year he was named President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, with responsibility for the Americas and Australia, the Global Harvesting, Turf & Utility and Crop Care Platforms, and the Intelligent Solutions Group. Earlier in his career, John headed the company’s China operations, served as factory manager at the Dubuque Works in Iowa, and was Vice President of the Turf & Utility Platform.

Deere & Company Elect John May

“John’s record of success and proven leadership skills make him highly qualified for this broader role,” said Samuel R Allen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition, his leadership of the company’s precision agriculture initiative and experience as chief information officer will serve him well as Deere moves ahead on its digitalisation journey.”

Deere also announced the election of three other leaders to new positions, effective from 1st April. These include:

  • Cory J Reed, 48, to the position of President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, Americas and Australia, Global Harvesting and Turf Platforms, and Ag Solutions. Reed joined the company in 1998 and most recently has been President, John Deere Financial.
  • Rajesh Kalathur, 50, to the position of President, John Deere Financial and Chief Information Officer. Since joining Deere in 1996, Kalathur has held positions in finance, business development, logistics, operations and marketing. Since 2012, he has been a member of the senior leadership team as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He assumed the added responsibilities of Chief Information Officer in 2018.
  • Ryan D Campbell, 44, to the position of Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. Campbell joined John Deere in 2007 and has held a number of management positions within the finance function. He became Vice President and Comptroller in 2016 and last year was named Deputy Financial Officer.

For more information, visit: www.JohnDeere.co.uk

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Germinal’s New Sales Representative

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Germinal’s New Sales Representative: Germinal has recruited Alex Beesley as its new Amenity Technical Sales Representative for South Wales, the South Midlands and the South West of England.

Based from his home in Rugby, Alex will provide technical sales support to Germinal’s customers throughout his region and will be responsible for promoting the company’s popular range of Grade-A sports and amenity grass seed mixtures to golf course greenkeepers, turf growers, sports groundsmen and landscapers.

Germinal's New Sales Representative

Alex will also be responsible for promoting Germinal’s specialist amenity fertiliser range which includes conventional compound products as well as liquid and phased-release fertilisers and specialist sward conditioners.  Alex will also promote Germinal’s range of regional and general landscaping wildflower seed mixtures.

Alex joins Germinal with a wealth of sales and marketing experience within the golf and grounds maintenance sectors: he has previously held positions with DBS Leoch Ltd and Midlands Grounds Machinery where he was responsible for developing new sales accounts and providing class-leading levels of aftersales and service support.

Prior to this Alex was the sales and marketing manager for The Oxfordshire Golf, Hotel and Spa and more latterly had his own golf consultancy business, acting as a golf sales agent for JS International.

Alex can be contacted via the following:

Mobile: 07795 416391

Email: alex.beesley@germinal.com

Web: www.germinalamenity.com

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Rigby Taylor Appoint Peter Robin

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Rigby Taylor Appoint Peter Robin: Rigby Taylor has expanded its product management team of industry product specialists with the appointment of Peter Robin as UK Irrigation Product Manager.

Peter will spearhead the company’s expansion into the irrigation market as the UK distributor of Rain Bird’s golf, sports pitch and landscape products.

Rigby Taylor Appoint Peter Robin

Peter, a New Zealander by birth, has a Bachelor of Horticultural Science degree and over 20 years’ experience across a wide range of irrigation market sectors and installations, 10 years of which have been spent in the UK.

Peter lives in York but has a nationwide brief and can be contacted by email (peter.robin@rigbytaylor.com) or by ‘phone on 07741 665679.

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SCH Supplies Entrepreneur

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SCH Supplies Entrepreneur: In 1987, entrepreneur Andrew Rodwell noticed a gap in the market when he became frustrated at the lack of suitable lawn care attachments to fit to his garden tractor.  With the help and encouragement of Malcolm Vandenburgh at Wests Engineering Ltd, the pair set about designing and manufacturing a range of grass care machinery. Before long, SCH (Supplies) Ltd was created and began selling machinery to the public from their workshop in Holbrook, Suffolk. Malcolm later continued with his core business at Wests.

To market and grow the company, SCH attended many garden machinery shows cross the country, talking to potential customers and machinery dealers, who sell products on behalf of SCH. As of 2019, SCH have over 800 machinery dealers across the UK and Europe, who drive the majority of SCH’s sales.

SCH Supplies Entrepreneur

Andrew has always encouraged his staff for input on the companies’ products, which has been an essential driving factor to their profile of over 250 machines, ranging from grass care and flail mowers to trailers and leaf collectors. There is a wide range of experience at SCH, as their 25 employees design, manufacture and deliver their products themselves.

After reaching the grand age of 80 last December, Andrew has decided to hand the reigns over to two of his long term employees, Ian Holder and John Free, as he takes a well-earned retirement. He’s happy to be leaving the thriving company with an annual turnover in excess of £1.5 million.

Ian and John have been with SCH for 14 years each, and will be adapting their previous roles as the works manager and accountant to run and oversee the company. Andrew is sure they will continue his entrepreneurial spirit, as new and innovative products will be added to the SCH range in the coming years. They are fortunate enough to have an enthusiastic and dedicated team to support them, including Alan Lawrence, who has helped smooth the transition by taking over many responsibilities of the works manager.

SCH produce over 50,000 copies of their free 80 page brochure, which contains their most popular products. Many of these have been inspired by the unique and innovative requests by customers over the past 33 years. If you have any ideas that you would like to see manufactured, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01473 328272, email sales@schsupplies.co.uk, or visit our website to find out more www.schsupplies.co.uk

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JCB Celebrate Apprentices Record

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JCB Celebrate Apprentices Record: A record-breaking group of JCB apprentices had two reasons to celebrate at the launch of National Apprenticeships Week on Monday (March 4th).

A total of 79 apprentices were awarded their apprenticeship certificates – at the same time as getting coveted contracts of employment with the Staffordshire-based digger maker.

JCB Celebrate Apprentices Record

The group is the biggest in the history of JCB to graduate as Level 2 and 3 apprentices in a single year. They received their awards from JCB directors at a special graduation ceremony at JCB’s World Headquarters, Rocester.

JCB has a long history of recruiting apprentices and this year marks 55 years since the first intake of nine completed their training and were presented with their apprenticeship certificates by company founder Joseph Cyril Bamford.

JCB Chief Executive Graeme Macdonald said: “New talent joining the business is fundamental to JCB’s future growth and success; our business is growing rapidly and the apprentices are an important part of our plans for the long term.  Over the past five years JCB has invested £30 million into its training programmes with more than 700 new recruits joining the business as apprentices or graduates. Their commitment to learning has been exemplary and their hard work has paid off with the award of full-time contracts.”

JCB Director of Learning and Development, Max Jeffery said: “The apprentices who have been awarded full-time contracts range from age 18 to 38 and include a former professional rugby player, pub landlord and cleaner as well former students from the JCB Academy. The diversity of this year’s graduating apprentices shows this is a great route into a new and promising career – no matter what your background, age or experience.”

Apprentices offered contracts include:

  • Adam Parkins, 29, from Alfreton, Derbyshire. Married with four young children, he left school aged 16 to pursue a professional rugby career with Premiership clubs Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints, where he remained until he was 27.  He is now a welder and assembler working on the iconic JCB Loadall production line, at Rocester.
  • Wesley Hemmings-Topliss, 19, from Burton. Having studied a BTEC at college, the former Thomas Alleynes High School, Uttoxeter, student found work as an office cleaner at JCB. He saw his friends studying apprenticeships with the company and decided he wanted a career making the machines too. He is now a welder in the JCB Hydraulic Business Unit, at Rocester.
  • Tom Clarke, 29, from Stafford, a former team leader at Screwfix, Stafford, where he was in charge of almost 100 people. Tom has become JCB’s first Level 2 Health and Safety Apprentice with the company’s Loadall division, at Rocester.

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