Price Turfcare Return To SALTEX

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Price Turfcare Return To SALTEX: Price Turfcare, the UK and Ireland distributor of the Ventrac multi-implement compact tractor and Ryan turf maintenance equipment, is returning to SALTEX on stand B124 on 31st October and 1st November 2018. With the business set to celebrate its second anniversary in January 2019, it’s been an exciting time for Managing Director Rupert Price.

“What is particularly pleasing is that some of our early Ventrac customers are coming back to add further attachments or in some cases, buying another machine. For instance, Darren Baldwin, at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has added a couple of Power Brooms for maintaining the pathways, parking areas and synthetic pitches at their training centre, while Peter Pattenden at Carden Park has purchased a second machine, because he has been so impressed with the versatility of his first machine. Chris Brook of The Club Company purchased two machines; one each for courses in the group that needed a machine with a light footprint in wet conditions. Angus Lindsay of idverde purchased a machine for a new contract with Northampton Borough Council, which requires considerable bank mowing and we’ve been successful with several local authorities in the north of England.”

Price Turfcare Return To SALTEX

“We have come a long way in a short space of time,” he said. “It’s been a roller coaster ride establishing a network of dealers and doing demonstration tours across the UK, but it has worked. We realise that prospective purchasers of the Ventrac have to see the machine in action and we have travelled the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland establishing the brands credentials. Also, the addition of the Ryan franchise last year has broadened our product portfolio, enabling us to offer customers a comprehensive range of turfcare equipment.

To understand why these respected businesses have been impressed by the Ventrac product and to see the latest equipment from Ryan come along and visit stand B124.

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Grounds Staff Surprise PSG Boss

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Grounds Staff Surprise PSG Boss: PSG’s grounds staff went big in their attempts to lay on a special surprise for club manager Tomas Tuchel, who celebrated his 45th birthday on Wednesday.

Having come into work early at the club’s Camp des Loges training centre, Jonathan Calderwood and his team set about preparing a vast welcome for Tuchel in the only medium they truly understand: turf.

“Alles gute zum geburtstag,” read the enormo-message, which translates as ‘Happy Birthday’ for those of you who didn’t make it past the first week of GCSE German.

Click here to read the original article

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Rigby Taylor’s Amenity Supplies Deal

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Rigby Taylor’s Amenity Supplies Deal: Clive Liddiard is a grounds professional who knows what he wants, when he wants it and what he wants it for! It’s a vision that has underpinned his illustrious career, first as a greenkeeper and, more recently, as a groundsman – which has included winning an IOG Industry Award.

And it is a strategy that he is now successfully applying at Framlingham College in Suffolk.

Rigby Taylor's Amenity Supplies Deal

His expert outlook explains why he has signed a three-year preferred supplier deal with Rigby Taylor for all the amenity supplies, including line-marking machines and paints and aerosols, that he and his team of eight groundsmen will need to improve and maintain the standards of the college’s rugby, football and cricket pitches, as well as tennis courts.

The agreement – which he affirms “will bring the sports fields and horticultural areas up to scratch and consistently playable and well-presented” at the college’s two sites (the main college campus and the nearby junior school) is, he says, a win-win situation.

Clive, who in January 2018 was appointed head of grounds at the independent school’s sprawling 108-acre Suffolk site which accommodates pupils aged three to eighteen, adds: “Rigby Taylor get a firm, long-term contract for a set of products and I get all the best products at the best possible price – along with superb and reliable back-up from Rigby Taylor’s technical sales representative, Mark Keysell!”

Clive’s shopping list includes the R9 and R5 seeds (100% ultra-fine rye and 100% fescue blend, respectively), Crossbar selective herbicide and Chikara contact/residual herbicide, as well as Gallup Biograde Amenity foliar-applied herbicide and the Qualgex surface biocide, plus two iGo Advance and an iGo Mini Exclusive line-markers and Impact line-marking paint along with a variety of loams and dressings.

Speaking at an ‘Innovation, Education and Demonstration’ event of Rigby Taylor’s line-marking products at the college – which included GPS line-marking and the award-winning Impact paint technology – Clive commented:

“I haven’t got an enormous budget, but I wanted the best array of products possible to create the ‘perfect picture’ for an outstanding college estate that was founded in 1864 in memory of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Consort.

“It embraces a Victorian school building and a lake, and it overlooks a 12th century castle. We also have a range of sports fields including 17 grass tennis courts and two astro turf pitches (both floodlit).

“The use of these products will not only improve the facilities but, in turn, will also enhance the work of the grounds team. They are a very experienced group and they know what to do and when to do it, but there’s no doubt that with Rigby Taylor’s help we will all see further improvements in the results of our efforts.”

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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Wildflower Project Makes The Grade

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Wildflower Project Makes The Grade: Brunel House in Bristol has recently undergone an ecologically friendly landscaping project, with urban biodiversity at the forefront of the project.

Formally offices and now a new Unite Students property, Brunel House in Bristol will house 246 students who will enjoy a landscape that offers an urban habitat for insects, bats, swifts and other wildlife.

Wildflower Project Makes The Grade

Key to the central landscaping design of this new development is the incorporation of a wildflower meadow, supplied by Wildflower Turf Ltd at the request of construction specialists the RG Group.

Following the RG Group’s winning submission at the 2017 CIRIA BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards, award sponsors Wildflower Turf Ltd were contacted by Sustainability Consultant Colorado Goldwyn with a view of utilising the RG Group’s prize to enhance the Brunel House project.

As well as donating 200m² of Wildflower Turf Landscape Turf, the Hampshire-based wildflower experts also assisted the project with specialist consultancy, recommended and supplied additional turf to meet the project’s requirements, and provided Accredited Partner training to the project team.

Colorado Goldwyn of EQ Consultancy said, “The combination of Wildflower Turf Landscape Turf and Species Rich Lawn Turf has pulled the landscaping scheme together beautifully and allowed for a flow of biodiversity throughout the differing levels of the landscape design.”

The wildflower-led landscaping initiative has focussed on assisting rare invertebrates such as the rare Carrot Mining Bee and Small Blue Butterfly. Additionally, and in collaboration with the RSPB, a number of other recommended ecological initiatives were also defined and adopted as part of the landscaping design.

Wildflower Project Makes The Grade

As well as providing an aesthetically pleasing landscape for the incoming student population, local wildlife habitats have been protected, with the project on track to receive an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating.

James Hewetson-Brown, Managing Director at Wildflower Turf Ltd said “The ecological prosperity that a wildflower meadow can bring cannot be understated, and urban biodiversity projects such as this stretch widely to encompass both social and health benefits.”

Hewetson-Brown continued, “It is anticipated that the local student population will benefit, not only from the beautifully landscaped areas that will promote wellbeing and social interaction, but by gaining a sense of responsibility as they become interested in, and involved with, the protection of local wildlife.”

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New H&S Guidelines May Save Lives

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New H&S Guidelines May Save Lives: An updated set of health and safety guidelines aimed at turf professionals ‘could save lives’ in the wake of a major review.

The Greenkeepers Training Committee (GTC) has launched a free-to-use web-based platform created by the Xact Group that aims to ensure golf club employers un­derstand their roles and responsibilities towards health and safety with regard to golf course maintenance.

New H&S Guidelines May Save Lives

In 2017, the GTC’s Board of Directors commissioned a review of the highly-acclaimed Health and Safety Guidance Notes and the committee is pleased to announce the release of the updated guidelines.

The GTC first worked together with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 1994 to produce the first edition of the Health and Safety in Golf Course Management and Maintenance booklet. By 2000, the health and safety consultants to the GTC, Jon Allbutt and John Davies, were commissioned to review the materials, in line with the many changes in legislation that were happening at that time.

While much of the guidance and best practice was still relevant, the GTC felt it appropriate to review and update and refresh the look and accessibility of the guidance notes.

The GTC consulted with Chris Hammond, health and safety director at The Xact Group, to build on what has been produced before and help to design and implement a web-based platform. The Xact Group work with BIGGA, England Golf, Scottish Golf and Wales Golf in the build and support of their health and safety online systems and provision of additional onsite health and safety and human resources services to member clubs.

GTC Chairman Alistair Booth said: “The aim of the newly-published guidance notes has been to give anyone at a golf club, or associated with a golf club, an overview of their roles and responsibilities towards health and safety and best practice. They have been moved to a web-based platform, making them easier for everyone to access.

“With increasingly-complex machinery and other tools being used on golf courses, these guidelines are hugely important in ensuring all involved in the management of a golf club understand their specific responsibility in keeping staff and golfers safe. As such, if these new guidelines are followed correctly, they could save lives or at least reduce the risk of serious incidents taking place around the golf course environment.”

The web-based platform is packed full of information and guidance on all aspects of golf course management and maintenance, covering areas such as: roles and responsibilities; legislation; greenkeeping safety; events; clubhouse management; establishing a health and safety management system.

The new website can be accessed by visiting the GTC’s website and clicking on the Health & Safety link. Visitors who require further guidance, such as risk assessments and template documentation, can consult their relevant full guidance Health & Safety website, such as BIGGA, England Golf, Scottish Golf or Wales Golf.

The GTC Work Equipment – Record of Training and Competencies wallchart has been a feature in greenkeeping facilities for a number of years. The wallchart is used to aid with the recording of staff training and competence and will continue to be a useful tool. The wallchart can be purchased from the GTC shop online.

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