STIGA Showcases Cutting-Edge Technology at Allianz Stadium

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STIGA Showcases Cutting-Edge Technology at Allianz Stadium: The STIGA team brought their full range of robotic and professional mowing solutions to the home of England Rugby this week, giving the grounds team at Allianz Stadium the opportunity to put the latest machines through their paces. 

As the newly appointed Official Groundskeeping Partner of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), STIGA was eager to give the Allianz grounds team hands-on experience with the brand’s innovative product range, including its latest autonomous robot mowers, award-winning APX PRO, battery-powered equipment and new electric tractors.

STIGA Showcases Cutting-Edge Technology at Allianz Stadium

STIGA Showcases Cutting-Edge Technology at Allianz Stadium

The STIGA team were amazed at how pristine the pitch looked, even though there had been a tough England v Argentina match the day before. It really highlighted just how tip-top and excellent the grounds staff are when it comes to maintaining their pitches and training grounds.

The roles of groundspeople within the RFU are far-reaching and span both professional and volunteer levels. These experts play a vital role across the RFU, from professional staff at Allianz Stadium, such as the Head Groundsman, to Regional Pitch Advisors who support clubs through the Pitch Advisory Service. At the community level, volunteers help to maintain pitches.

The multi-year partnership with the RFU reflects STIGA’s commitment to easing the load on volunteers and professional grounds teams in pitch maintenance, while ensuring world-class playing surfaces for players at every level. As part of the agreement, STIGA will support the maintenance of pitches and green spaces across the country, from elite England Rugby training facilities to grassroots clubs, by providing access to its cutting-edge autonomous mower technology and professional battery-powered tools.

Designed to deliver outstanding results with minimal effort, STIGA’s intelligent, wireless mowing systems help optimise turf care, reduce workload, and ensure consistently high-quality playing surfaces across the game.

James Gordon, Managing Director of STIGA UK, said:

“As Official Groundskeeping Partner of the RFU, it was very important for STIGA to bring our professional mowers and specialist rugby ground equipment to Allianz Stadium for the grounds team to try first-hand. 2026 will be a superb year for showcasing the quality and innovation of STIGA products, while also supporting clubs as we continue to help elevate standards across the sport.”

Jim Buttar, Head of Grounds and Technical Operations for the RFU, added:

“This has been a superb opportunity to see which STIGA lawn care products will be of greatest value, not only to us at Allianz Stadium but to grassroots clubs across the RFU. We are really looking forward to this partnership, which will allow clubs to excel both on the pitch and in the care of their grounds.”

STIGA will support both the England senior men’s and women’s teams, alongside grassroots rugby clubs across the country. With more than 90 years of garden care expertise, STIGA combines advanced technology with sustainable innovation to deliver professional-level performance on every surface.

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GVA become the preachers of benefits of Aspen Fuel

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GVA become the preachers of benefits of Aspen Fuel: ‘Your environment, our responsibility’ is not just the strapline of contractors GVA – it’s very much a motto the company embody everyday in their operations with National Highways, utility providers, countryside managers and other leading land agencies throughout the UK.

Longstanding users of Aspen 2 and Aspen 4 across their machinery fleet, their confidence in the environmental and operator benefits of alkylate fuel has moved from being simply their fuel of choice to a core element of their brand new GVA Training school.

GVA become the preachers of benefits of Aspen Fuel

GVA become the preachers of benefits of Aspen Fuel

Already familiar with the firm from over 20 years’ experience in the arboricultural industry, Andrew Fletcher joined GVA in September 2024 to become their new Corporate Training Instructor and Coordinator. He came with a clear vision – to build a training centre that reflects best practice across the industry and just a few short months later, and with LANTRA qualifications to teach across 10 specialist disciplines under his belt, that vision became a reality in the form of GVA Training.

“It’s been incredibly exciting – to develop this new project within such an established and well-respected business” Andrew explains. “Because of GVA’s growth, we see a steady stream of new recruits so it made complete sense to develop a training model to run alongside our operations which supports our clients and demonstrates our commitment to continual professional development and high safety standards.”

Courses are open to anyone, and include a dedicated segment on fuelling – focussed on the science, environmental and operator health benefits and practical advantages of Aspen Fuel over regular petrol. “We see it in our day-to-day business – the reduction in smoke/haze, the lack of strong odour, the benefits it brings to engine life and equipment performance. It’s now about informing the next generation, many of whom have heard about Aspen but some who only experience it hands-on for the first time when they come and learn with us. They notice the difference straight away” he adds.

“During the morning maintenance session, trainees get the chance to inspect machines from GVA’s own fleet which is where they can clearly see Aspen’s cleaner burn and reduced carbon deposits. Come the afternoon, its outdoor training using both battery tools and conventional equipment fuelled exclusively with Aspen.” This combination of theory and practice, Andrew says, helps to overcome any perceived barriers some of the attendees sometimes have. “Cost always comes up, but when you factor in that Aspen is pre-mixed with 2-stroke oil, the reduction in machinery maintenance, downtime, not to mention the health benefits, it pays for itself. We’re fully converted which makes it easy to present with confidence.”

With support from their local Aspen distributor Stuart Taylors International, GVA Training has welcomed over 100 students since the scheme launched in April 2025 and with demand steadily increasing, they expect numbers to grow rapidly over the coming year. “We use Aspen because it works. Now it’s brilliant that we can teach so many others why!”

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Toys bring festive cheer to communities

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Toys bring festive cheer to communities: Generous JCB employees have delivered another record year for the company’s annual Christmas Toy Appeal – donating an amazing 1,787 gifts.

Donations poured into 15 different collection points across the company’s UK plants when the appeal was launched in November, beating last year’s total of 1,700 presents.  Now the bulk of the gifts have been handed over to Stoke-on-Trent charity the Hubb Foundation for distribution to families in the greatest need.

Toys bring festive cheer to communities

Toys bring festive cheer to communities

Hubb Foundation Operations Manager Tom Beecham said: “JCB’s Christmas Toy Appeal means so much to us as a charity and it means so much to the children and families we work with in Stoke-on-Trent. Christmas is a challenging time of year, so to bring some happiness and positivity to children at this time of year is wonderful. We can’t thank JCB and all the employees enough for their ongoing generosity.”

The first batch of gifts was delivered to thrilled pupils at the New Ford Academy in Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent by JCB-sponsored athlete and Olympic silver medallist Adam Burgess and JCB apprentices Kitty Hulme, Lewis Durham, and Lucy Pepper.

Deputy Head Tracy Moller said: “It was wonderful to see the excitement on the children’s faces as the gifts were distributed. We would like to thank all the fabulous employees at JCB for their generous donations.”

Since the appeal’s launch in 2022, employees have donated almost 6,000 gifts for distribution to children and young people. In Wrexham, gifts donated by JCB Transmissions’ employees are being given to the Salvation Army for local distribution. A number of gifts were also donated to Cheadle Primary School for distribution to families.

Helping to co-ordinate this year’s appeal were  JCB apprentices: Kitty Hulme, 20, of Newcastle under-Lyme, Lewis Durham, 20, of Derby, Lucy Pepper, 23, of Stoke-on-Trent, and Will Jenkins, 20, of Stone.

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Price Turfcare and Ventrac at BTME 2026

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Price Turfcare and Ventrac at BTME 2026: Price Turfcare, will have a bigger stand, 122 in Hall 1, at BTME 2026, enabling them to exhibit a wider range of Ventrac products. There will be three of the 4520 tractor units showcasing an Aeravator and over seeding box combination, a triplex cylinder mower attachment and a front mounted bucket with rear mounted fertilizer spreader.

Just some of the more than 32 different attachments available. Ventrac has been particularly successful in the golf sector since being introduced into the UK by Price Turfcare. Hundreds of machines have been sold to courses over the last seven years. The BTME show stand will exhibit what is proving specifically attractive to golf course managers and operators, which is the fact that one tractor unit can complete many tasks such as mowing rough areas, collars, tee tops and fairways.

Price Turfcare and Ventrac at BTME 2026

Price Turfcare and Ventrac at BTME 2026

Then, within minutes, it can be used for aeration, top dressing, drainage or path reclamation tasks but for less capital outlay than something like a traditional fairway mower. The uniquely low centre of gravity allows more precipitous (up to 30 degrees) areas of the course to be tackled without fear of tipping of slipping. This versatility ensures Ventrac users get more out of the traction unit than they would out of a job specific machine. Come and see for yourself why so many golf courses are migrating towards Price Turfcare and the unique Ventract range.

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Springdale Resort’s Jeremy Boone becomes 91st Master Greenkeeper

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Springdale Resort’s Jeremy Boone becomes 91st Master Greenkeeper: Jeremy Boone, general manager and director of agronomy at Springdale Resort, has become the 91st Master Greenkeeper since the certification’s inception in 1990. 

In doing so, Jeremy is just the 37th person to possess both Master Greenkeeper and Certified Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS) classifications – two of the highest accolades available to experienced golf greenkeepers on either side of the Atlantic.

Springdale Resort's Jeremy Boone becomes 91st Master Greenkeeper

Springdale Resort’s Jeremy Boone becomes 91st Master Greenkeeper

It is an achievement Jeremy, who works in North Carolina, has been striving for since 2022 and he was overcome with emotion when Deb Burnett, learning and development manager at the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), called to deliver the news.

“It’s been quite a journey,” he said. “It’s been at least three years of trying, with some failing along the way, but each time I refused to give up.

“When Deb called, she didn’t say that I had passed or failed, she just said, ‘I called to see if you’d be available to come over here to BTME in January’. It was the best way to tell me I’d passed. I just lost it.

“People had told me it would be worth it when I got through, and I didn’t know how right they were. I told her she’d have to talk for a minute because I couldn’t.”

Jeremy’s greenkeeping journey began in 1991, when he transferred to NC State University to study turfgrass management and committed to a career in golf. Over the following decades he worked across four states, earned CGCS status – a designation he has now held for 25 years – and first became aware of the Master Greenkeeper qualification in 1996 when he noticed ‘CGCS, MG’ alongside Gary Grigg’s name.

He later stepped away from golf to run a local hardware business, helping expand it from one store to five, but was ultimately drawn back when Springdale came calling, with his family having deep roots at the North Carolina venue.

“The only reason I came back was this golf course,” he said. “My mother, father and grandmother worked here. My grandparents are buried within a few hundred yards of it. This place drew me back. Without it, there would be no Jeremy Boone MG.”

In joining that exclusive club, Jeremy has also achieved something personally meaningful.

“I’m probably the first Native American to be a Master Greenkeeper – I am an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians,” he explained. “That is the reason why I have such an affinity and a tie to the land.”

Jeremy was inundated with congratulatory messages from fellow Master Greenkeepers and colleagues across the profession – support he describes as humbling. He also paid tribute to Springdale owner Lex West for his encouragement throughout the process and said none of it would have been possible without his wife, whom he calls his greatest supporter.

Most recently, Jeremy has progressed into the general manager role at Springdale. It was not a transition he had planned to make, but the circumstances brought about by a natural disaster set him on an unexpected new path.

“I was happy being the superintendent,” he said. “I love being outside and I love being with the grass. When the hurricane hit, I volunteered to step in as interim general manager until we got through the disaster. We thought it would take a few months, maybe six.

“Then the owner told me he wanted me to take the general manager role permanently. I remember saying I’d spent the last five years trying to convince him the superintendent is the most important person on the golf course, and now I wasn’t going to be the superintendent anymore. He just said, ‘You’ll do fine’.

To qualify for the Master Greenkeeper Certificate, a candidate must have at least 10 years’ experience working as a greenkeeper including three years as a course manager, head greenkeeper or superintendent. Certification includes the completion of a rigorous assessment programme that covers all aspects of golf course management.

Master Greenkeeper is a mark of distinction and is highly respected in the golf industry, signifying the holder has achieved the highest level of professional expertise with a commitment to maintaining the highest standards of golf course management.

You can find out more about Master Greenkeeper on the BIGGA website, www.bigga.org.uk

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