BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

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BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA: The British Association of Landscape Industries’ (BALI) careers initiative, GoLandscape, has forged a partnership with YMCA Training to support their work on delivering industry apprenticeships in the wake of a 28% shortfall in the number of apprenticeships being undertaken in the UK*.

Along with a decrease in apprenticeships, the Open University have recently reported that only 8% of companies in the UK have drawn from their levy, proving that more support is needed to inspire, educate and encourage industry employers to understand the benefits of taking on apprentices as part of their workforce.

BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

YMCA Training – part of Central YMCA – helps young people find new opportunities through work and training. Every year, thousands of apprentices are trained and go on to build rewarding and fulfilling careers.

BALI’s Education Officer, Stephen Ensell, said; “GoLandscape is proud to support YMCA Training in the industry apprenticeships they offer; their bespoke training means that, nationally, they can help landscapers develop a workforce that addresses the skill shortfalls they so desperately need, which in turn helps boost the economy and grow their own business. We are really looking forward to supporting and working with them in the promotion of the industry”.

BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

 

BALI’s GoLandscape initiative launched nationwide in March 2018 at RHS Garden Wisley and has already made significant progress in working with employers and industry colleges to provide more opportunities for school leavers and career changers to find suitable employment within the landscape industry, where their skills and knowledge are mapped to the needs of businesses operating in both domestic and commercial capacities.

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Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

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Duncan Ross At Longridge GC: Duncan Ross Sports Contractors has used its drainage expertise to successfully revitalise three fairways at Longridge Golf Club that had previously suffered heavily with water retention.

The 18-hole, 5,904-yard, course provides outstanding views over the Ribble Valley, Forest of Bowland and the Fylde coast, and, is maintained to an exceptional standard by Course Manager, Andrew Read, and his four staff.

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

During his 18-years at the club, Andrew had to contend with moisture retention on the third and ninth fairways. Recently, this had caused the third fairway to become near unplayable and action was taken to bring it, and the ninth and eleventh fairways, back in line with the rest of the course.

Duncan Ross was picked to rectify the drainage issue based on Andrews requirement to find a contractor capable of delivering a high quality and tidy project.

He said: “It is the first time that Duncan has worked on our course. I know of the company’s reputation through word of mouth from other greenkeepers and going on Twitter and seeing the videos and work they have done recently, so it’s the overall reputation and recommendations which swayed it for me.

“The third fairway this time last year was horrible. It was black in places, you could hardly walk on it, so if you can’t walk on it you can’t really play golf on it.

“We had more problems when it came to cutting because it would make a mess. In the autumn it never dried up, so I had a meeting with our greens chairman and explained that we needed drainage work done, and they went to the council and funds were made available.

“We then got Duncan on site and he looked at the third, ninth and eleventh fairways and came back with a plan. I had drawn some plans up and Duncan looked at those and decided what the best way to achieve it was, and he’s got the experience, so we were happy to go with what he recommended.

“Going into September we’ve had over 160mm of rain and the drains have started working well. We’ve checked the outlets and there is loads of water coming out of them, so it’s been a sound long-term investment.

“The third fairway and the ninth, which is a short fairway, are now playable. I checked the outlets on the ninth recently and they were running well, and the fairway is dry.

“Golf is a 12-months a year sport now, in the past getting into September and October people started putting their clubs away but now they want to play all year round. The ninth used to get churned up because we’d need to have buggies on for people that couldn’t walk around the course, so we did the ninth because it was wet but also to make it more playable and get the buggies going on there.”

Whilst the main objective of the drainage installation was achieved on the third, ninth and eleventh fairway, Andrew and the club’s members were also impressed with the clean and diligent nature the Duncan Ross team carried out the project.

Because the course had to be allowed time to dry out from the wet winter, work began during May for two weeks when the course was in use. This meant work needed to be flexible and accommodate competitions the course was hosting, requiring the work to be done in a clean and tidy way, something the company is renowned for doing.

“The men worked around us, if we had a competition on then they would move onto another fairway, so the only disruption was the drainage lines that were left afterwards but they were nice and tidy, and the golfers were really impressed with the work and how tidy everything was,” Andrew explained.

“The golfers are happy and we’re happy because we didn’t have to spend time clearing up after the work, we were able to concentrate on looking after the rest of the course instead.

“The club members and the council will look at it and be happy to use them again because the site was always left in a tidy condition.”

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John Deere Among Best Brands

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John Deere Among Best Brands: John Deere has again been named among the world’s most valuable brands in an annual ranking undertaken by leading brand consulting firm Interbrand. John Deere is now ranked 88th in the Best Global Brands research announced in October 2018, rising four spots from a year ago. Interbrand estimates the John Deere brand to now be worth approximately $5.4 billion, a 12 per cent increase on last year.

“A decade after the global financial crisis, the brands that are growing fastest are those that intuitively understand their customers and make brave iconic moves that delight and deliver in new ways,” said Charles Trevail, Interbrand’s global chief executive officer. Interbrand said its brand valuation is based on three key areas – financial performance of the brand; the brand’s influence on purchase decisions; and the brand’s strength to create loyalty and sustainable customer demand.

John Deere Among Best Brands

“This recognition emphasises the success of our 70,000 employees worldwide who work each day to deliver on the company’s core values of integrity, quality, commitment and innovation,” said Samuel R Allen, Deere & Company chairman and chief executive officer.

John Deere has been included in the Best Global Brand ranking since 2011, when Interbrand estimated the value of the John Deere brand to be $3.65 billion. The Interbrand methodology was the first of its kind to be certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation requirements for monetary brand valuation.

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

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Vandals Leave Pitch Out Of Action

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Vandals Leave Pitch Out Of Action: An east end football club which encourages men over 30 to get fit is out of action until next year, thanks to heartless vandals who ruined the pitch.

Glasgow Titans have a pitch in Tollcross, and use it for training and games as part of a weight loss programme.

The club shared the bad news on Facebook that the pitch is now unusable, thanks to deep track marks caused by an off-road vehicle.

The post reads: “It’s a huge blow for our club as we worked very hard to find a settled home where the club could train and play our home games. With enquiries being made for funding looking to improve the facilities around the pitch, it’s frustrating to say the least that this needs to be put on hold due to this act of mind-numbing vandalism.

“Given what was used to damage the pitch, it had to come from within the very community we are helping which is completely baffling as to why someone would do this.”

The Glasgow Titans was set up to get east end men back into exercise, promoting weight loss and a boost to mental health, and hoping to tackle low life expectancy in some areas of the city.

With no owners or shareholders to fall back on, there’s no set date as to when the Titans can return to their pitch – but members have called upon local businesses and organisations to help where they can.

The Facebook post ends: “The club will fulfill all our home fixtures and will continue to schedule more if the opportunity arises. It just means we have to move around a bit, pay a bit extra, until the pitch can be repaired next year. No one will stand in our way in our battle to improve our health.”

If you can help put them back on track then get in touch via the Glasgow Titans Facebook page , or by emailing glasgowtitansfc@gmail.com

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New Aquatrols Team Structure

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New Aquatrols Team Structure: Aquatrols Europe, world leader in the development of cutting-edge water management products and bio nutritional solutions, is pleased to announce several new appointments within the Sales and Account Management team.

Alan Jack has assumed position of Account Manager covering Scotland from October 2018. Alan takes over from Graham O’Connor who has begun a 12-month sabbatical at Aquatrols Corporation of America, relishing his new role as a Product Manager. Alan has an established background in the golf and sports sector, including greenkeeping experience and more recently, Area Sales Manager for Fairways GM Ltd, working in the amenity market.

New Aquatrols Team Structure

Hamish Crichton, formerly Head of Sales at loyalty agency Stream Comms Ltd joined in September 2018, taking on the role of Account Manager in the Midlands. Hamish fills the shoes of Gerald Orme who retired at the age of 74 after 15 years in the business. Hamish brings extensive experience in commercial operations and sales and marketing. He has a keen interest in golf and intends to put that knowledge to good use whilst tackling the more intricate technical aspects of his new role.

The latest appointment from this innovative, fast-paced company is Alan Pierce. He will cover Eastern England as Account Manager and will join the team in January 2019. Alan takes over from Michael Fance, who assumed position as European Account Manager and technical support for AEL in September 2018.  Alan brings previous extensive experience from both commercial and technical parts of the turf industry. He is a BIGGA Master Greenkeeper and joins us having recently been working as Group Sales Manager for the well known John Deere dealer, Burden Bros Agri Ltd.

Aquatrols continues to invest in people, recognising and developing talent to realise future success. The team looking forward to working with you.  Innovate:Improve:Inspire

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