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NEWS ARTICLES

ICL welcomes Lewis Blois as Business Development Manager

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ICL welcomes Lewis Blois as Business Development Manager: ICL is delighted to announce the appointment of Lewis Blois to the role of Business Development Manager – Landscape & Industrial for the UK & Ireland.

With over 15 years of experience in UK and Ireland amenity sector, Lewis’ journey started with Agrovista Amenity. He subsequently joined ICL in 2010 as a Technical Area Sales Manager within the T&L business. Lewis eventually ascended to the Key Account Manager role.

ICL welcomes Lewis Blois as Business Development Manager

ICL welcomes Lewis Blois as Business Development Manager

Lewis then joined Bayer Environmental Science as the Key Account Manager for Industrial Vegetation Management (IVM) and Rail, where he played a crucial part in launching and managing iconic brands including Roundup, Ecoplug Max, and Valdor Flex/Lockstar. His responsibilities also extended to managing key amenity distributors in IVM and Turf.

Before rejoining ICL, Lewis built on his expertise at Barenbrug as the Technical and Product Manager for their Amenity business.

On his appointment, Lewis expressed, “I am delighted to re-join the ICL team. My vision is to bolster the success of the Industrial and Landscape business, ensuring ICL remains the top choice for customers in these areas.”

For more information, please visit www.icl-growingsolutions.uk

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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GroundsFest arrives in style

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GroundsFest arrives in style: After months of anticipation, GroundsFest 2023 lived up to the hype and celebrated a very memorable debut event with the groundscare community.

The atmosphere was electric as GroundsFest united every corner of the industry and brought together 6,511 unique visitors (excluding exhibitors) across the two days.

GroundsFest arrives in style

GroundsFest arrives in style

It was apparent among exhibitors and visitors that this new event was exactly what the industry needed.

The mix of indoor halls and outdoor areas certainly seemed to strike a chord with visitors. Inside, the vibrant show floor provided attendees with a great mix of exhibitors showcasing a wide range of products and services, while five seminar theatres offered a feast of free education. The Landscape Zone, an entire hall dedicated to those involved in the planning, design, and construction of outdoor environments in the landscaping sector, also proved to be a welcome addition.

The practical demonstrations from Grounds Training were a big hit with attendees. During the two days large groups gathered round experienced instructors to learn more about pedestrian mowers, ride-on mowers, handheld machinery, and the calibration and use of knapsack sprayers and boom sprayers. Furthermore, the instructors were on hand in a large outdoor area to show visitors how to mark out a running track and speak about the essential elements of line marking sport pitches.

In the outdoor areas hundreds of exhibitors were proudly showing off their products with many new innovations being unveiled for the first ever time ahead of the 2024 season. Not only was there plenty to see on the stands but the outdoor areas provided visitors with the perfect opportunity to see a wide range of machinery and to participate in live demonstrations.

On the evening of the first day, exhibitors and visitors came together to enjoy the festival aspect of the event. With a range of food stalls, and live entertainment headlined by a very popular Queen tribute band, it was the perfect way to conclude a very special first day at GroundsFest.

Commenting on the first ever GroundsFest, Event Director Christopher Bassett, said: “On behalf of all of us at GroundsFest we really want to extend our gratitude to all our exhibitors, partners and visitors that have showed their support for the first event. From the very start we wanted GroundsFest to be an event for everyone and to be able to establish a real sense of community. Over the two days we’ve had sunshine, we’ve had rain showers, but more importantly we’ve had collaboration, built relationships, witnessed innovation at its finest and ultimately come together to celebrate the industry and have a great time with one another.

“The positive feedback has been overwhelming but we’re certainly not resting on our laurels.

We’re already planning how we can improve the event for 2024 by listening to every single piece of feedback and by analysing both the exhibitor and visitor surveys. We’ll certainly be back with GroundsFest chapter two in September 2024 and we cannot wait to welcome you all again.”

To watch the show highlights please click here

For more information, please visit www.groundsfest.com

You can also follow GroundsFest on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @GroundsFest for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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SALTEX Learning Live programme revealed

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SALTEX Learning Live programme revealed: Designed to bring people together for the greater good of grounds, SALTEX’s comprehensive and extensive Learning LIVE programme for 2023 is now live on the exhibition’s website – www.saltex.org.uk/learning-live.

Months in the making, all of the industry’s hottest topics are covered across the three stages over two days.

SALTEX Learning Live programme revealed

SALTEX Learning Live programme revealed

On the Spotlight Stage on Wednesday 1 November, the ‘Messi of mowing’ John Ledwidge, head of grounds and landscapes at Manchester City FC, Nick Taylor, managing director of Greycircle and Adrian Kay, York Racecourse Grounds Manager, host a discussion on skillful leadership best practice and the importance of team culture.

How do you deliver a major sporting event? Grounds managers at England’s most iconic cricketing venues talk about that and overcoming the challenges in hosting this year’s Ashes tournament on the Main Stage. Visitors can also meet the team behind the Women’s Ashes’ pitch delivery. These female pioneers will discuss how they got involved in this initiative and how they’d like its legacy to help promote grounds management as a career option for women and girls.

Also on Wednesday, attendees will get the chance to take part in an interactive panel discussion on the Main Stage with GMA consultant, Tim Nicholls and the Rugby Football League’s, Pat Clusky. The topic of discussion will be the GMA’s newly launched Grounds Management Framework which offers new and existing grounds staff a clear career pathway aligned with the necessary tools and qualifications needed to improve pitch standards and progress within the industry.

On day two, the Main Stage is busy celebrating volunteer heroes. Wes Matthews from Cranfield FC & Luton Town FC, GMA award winner Dean Gibbons from Wantage Bowls Club and Liam Murgatroyd from Queensferry ARLFC talk about working around the day job, finding funding opportunities and making the all-important budget spread further.

The requirement to reduce non-household water usage by nine percent by 2037 has created the perfect storm for leisure turf irrigation, resulting in requirements to reduce both abstraction volumes and mains use at the same time. At Learning LIVE visitors can find out how water availability will change and what should be considered in the search for alternative sustainable water sources.

Tony Hanson, Planet Mark Associate and Golf Environment Organisation Sustainability Associate, who is hosting a session on this subject says: “Water availability is changing – historically high personal consumption, population growth, climate change, increasing incidence of drought and flooding, over abstraction and pollution have all contributed to problems we now have to solve around water resource and quality. The leisure sector can protect future water sources and be part of the solution at SALTEX.”

Speaking of climate change and what comes next, over on the Spotlight Stage on day one, an important audience participation event concerning where we were, where we are now and where we are going with concern to UK weather under the umbrella of a rapidly changing world is hosted by Jim Dale – senior meteorological consultant, British Weather Services.

While on day two, the Spotlight Stage shines a spotlight on building relations with key stakeholders and justifying capital expenditure. The seminar is delivered by Callum Allsop from Leicester City FC, Adrian Kay from York Racecourse and Niall Hazelhurst from Warrington Wolves.

And finally the Eco Stage, on day one an update on sustainable installation and maintenance of synthetic turf, the current EU regulations on rubber crumb and recycling solutions is hosted by Alistair Cox from Loughborough University, Colin Corline from SAPCA, Chris Barry from Football Foundation and Eric O’Donnell from Sports Labs.
Following the sustainable theme, on day two Dr John Dempsey discusses non-pesticidal disease management. The independent turfgrass researcher says: “With all the restrictions on pesticides and the ambition of turfgrass managers to maintain their facilities and control disease in a sustainable manner, non-pesticidal disease management presents ways in which to do this without recourse to pesticides and by utilising the turfgrass’s own defence mechanisms.

“My seminar covers several research projects carried out over the past three years and presents results on surfactant effects on soil moisture and turfgrass quality, rootzone amendment’s effect on turfgrass growth, reduction of earthworm casting and the uptake and accumulation potassium phosphite.”

All Learning LIVE sessions qualify for both BASIS and BIGGA CPD points with 2 BASIS CPD points gained for attending SALTEX this year and a point for each session attended (up to four per day). BIGGA Networking Credits are also available with one for attending SALTEX and a one BIGGA education credit per hour for each Learning LIVE seminar attended.

More information about the SALTEX 2023 Learning LIVE programme can be found on the event’s website at www.saltex.org.uk/learning-live. Free visitor registration is now open. Visit saltex.org.uk or register here.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Certis Belchim Growing with the Amenity Industry at SALTEX

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Certis Belchim Growing with the Amenity Industry at SALTEX: With a legacy of trusted weed and surface management solutions and a focus on sustainable time saving practices, Certis Belchim Amenity and its products play a fundamental role in landscape and grounds management throughout the UK.

’We have the gold standard non-selective residual herbicide in Chikara Weed Control’ says Dom Corbett, Technical Support Advisor ‘as well as it’s efficacy Chikara Weed Control offers versatility of application with pre and early post emergence timing and a wise range of surfaces with amenity vegetation (around), natural surfaces not intended to bear vegetation, permeable surfaces overlying soil, and hard surfaces (railway ballast only)’.

Certis Belchim Growing with the Amenity Industry at SALTEX

Certis Belchim Growing with the Amenity Industry at SALTEX

Fewer applications thanks to the lower application rate and control for up to 5 months mean less resources to get the job done. All in all, Chikara Weed Control is one of the most cost effective tools available for total weed control.

Another of our non-selective products and derived from sustainable plant-based sources is Katoun Gold. This is a contact acting herbicide, again for total weed control on amenity vegetation, natural surfaces not intended to bear vegetation, and permeable surfaces overlying soil. Dom adds ‘Katoun Gold is very fast acting thanks to its mode of action and affects can even be seen within a couple of hours of application. Plus, with its low water rate it is easy to apply and cover large areas quickly.’

Winner of the Saltex innovation award in 2021, Enclean is a novel biocide for the control of green deposits on a wide range of surfaces; Patios, roofs, artificial surfaces like tennis courts, fences and more. Dom says ‘It was great when we introduced Enclean to get the recognition at Saltex for the work that went into developing and launching this product. It has a novel mode of action, fast acting and quick to apply making it more cost effective than conventional QAC products, a real innovation.’

To learn more about our range, come and see our dedicated team of Basis qualified professionals who bring expertise and insight across a wide variety of situations from industrial to fine turf on stand H110. If you can’t make the show you can always find us at www.certisbelchim.co.uk as well as on social media:

X/Twitter: @CB_Amenity_UK, LinkedIn: Certis Belchim Amenity and Instagram: @certis_belchim_amenityuk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Foamstream at SALTEX

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Foamstream at SALTEX: A hugely busy summer season for the team at Weedingtech will culminate in them returning to SALTEX this November, showcasing their world-leading commercial herbicide-free weed control solution – Foamstream.

Proven in trials to deliver comparable efficacy to traditional chemical controls, Foamstream has been adopted by facilities across the sports and grounds sector, with all the details available to visitors on stand E057.

Foamstream at SALTEX

Foamstream at SALTEX

Delivered by a range of patented machinery, Foamstream combines hot water and a biodegradable foam, made from natural plant oils and sugars, to offer an organically certified and herbicide-free alternative to weed and moss control. The hot water is ‘insulated’ by the foam, ensuring that the heat penetrates the waxy outer layer of the leaf, travels down the stem and into the roots, killing or severely damaging the plant. In addition to eradicating the plant, Foamstream also sterilises surrounding seeds and spores, helping to reduce future weed growth – reducing treatment cycles and overhead costs.

The all-natural ingredients also mean it is safe for applications around people, animals and sensitive environments making it a viable solution for, schools, local authorities parks and housing associations. 2023 has also seen a surge in sales at top-flight sports turf facilities, including a number of Premier League football clubs, most recently Chelsea FC, using Foamstream to control vegetation on pathways, car parks and other hard surfaces.

The exponential rise in demand for Foamstream systems has seen the growth of Weedingtech’s rental offering, with customers citing the benefits in accessibility and eliminating the sometimes lengthy and complex capital procurement process. Foamstream’s rental package includes the latest high-specification machinery and full technical training for a set weekly rate. In addition, an information of things (IOT) tracker is included as standard, to provide accurate measurement of output and ongoing remote support. Discounts are available for long-term hire of more than six months, with an additional option to purchase the equipment if desired, where 80% of the rental value is returned.

More information on the system, and options available for rent or purchase can be found by speaking with the technical team on hand on stand E057 across the two days.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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