Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

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Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Briggs & Stratton, one of the world’s leading providers of power solutions has announced the appointment of Jamie Bailey as the company’s New Business Development Manager for Electrification, leading Briggs & Stratton’s electrification strategy across EMEA.

Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Briggs & Stratton appoints New Business Development Manager for Electrification

Jamie steps into the role following five years of successful development within Briggs & Stratton, having progressed from Service Technician within the UK market to Regional Technical Service Leader for Central Europe, later expanding his responsibilities to include Southern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India.

In his new position, Jamie will lead efforts to support and accelerate Briggs & Stratton and Vanguard Battery Systems’ electrification initiatives across the EMEA region. He will help identify new business opportunities, strengthen customer relationships and support the continued growth of the company’s evolving power solutions portfolio as it progresses its transition towards electrification and new technologies.

Over the course of his career at Briggs & Stratton, Jamie has built strong relationships across the business and developed extensive technical knowledge of a wide range of products and applications. Through his close work with OEMs, distributors, and dealers throughout the region, he has also gained valuable commercial insight and a strong understanding of customer needs across multiple markets.

Philipp Deubel, Senior Director of Sales at Briggs & Stratton EMEA, added: “Jamie brings a rare combination of technical expertise, commercial awareness and strong customer relationships to this role. He understands both our products and our markets extremely well, which will enable him to play an important role in supercharging our growth and electrification ambitions across EMEA.”

Commenting on his appointment, Jamie Bailey said: “I’m really excited to begin this next chapter with Briggs & Stratton. Electrification is a fast-moving and important area for our industry, and I’m looking forward to working closely with our customers, partners and teams across EMEA.”

The appointment reflects Briggs & Stratton’s commitment to advancing electrification and innovative power solutions across EMEA. Leveraging his extensive experience, Jamie will support the company’s efforts to deliver customer-focused technologies and drive long-term growth across the region.

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Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

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Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

Green-tech, one of the UK’s leading suppliers to the landscaping, forestry, construction, and environmental sectors, is proud to announce its new name: Origin Green-tech.

Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

Green-tech becomes Origin Green-tech

 

The new identity reflects the company’s place within Origin Enterprises plc, a global leader in sustainable land-use solutions. While the name is changing, everything customers value about Green-tech remains the same: the people, the specialist expertise, the high-quality, innovative solutions, and the outstanding service that have been core to the business for over 30 years.

The rebrand reinforces the company’s purpose of creating sustainable Living Landscapes, helping customers shape environments that thrive through innovation, trusted expertise and complete solutions. From urban greening and biodiversity enhancement to forestry, infrastructure and environmental restoration, Origin Green-tech is uniquely positioned to support projects that deliver lasting environmental value.

As part of this evolution, the established and respected British Hardwood Tree Nursery will strengthen the Origin Green-tech business while continuing as a trading brand alongside John Chambers Wildflowers, Green-tree Soils, and Groundtrax Ground Reinforcement Solutions.

For customers, this means much more than a new company structure. Bringing these respected specialist brands together creates a single partner capable of supporting every stage of land management and landscape creation. Customers can now access the UK’s trusted wholesale supplier of bare-root trees, shrubs, hedgerow plants and planting accessories, as well as wildflowers, landscaping materials, soils and substrates, erosion control products, and environmental solutions, through one connected business. Origin Green-tech offers complete solutions from concept through to completion, giving customers one trusted partner for every stage of their project.

Mark Andrews, Managing Director of Origin Green-tech, explains, “Our new name reflects who we are today and where we are going, but it doesn’t change what matters most to our customers. They will continue to work with the same knowledgeable people and receive the same trusted service that Green-tech and British Hardwood Tree Nursery have always been known for.

What this does change is the opportunity for our customers. By bringing together our range of specialist brands and leveraging the strength of Origin Enterprises, we are creating one business with a breadth of solutions, technical knowledge and practical experience to support projects from concept through to completion.

Whether our customers are creating woodlands, delivering greener cities, restoring natural habitats, or supporting infrastructure and landscape projects, they can now access everything they need through one trusted partner. That gives them greater confidence, greater efficiency, and complete peace of mind in knowing they have the right partner for every project.

The launch of Origin Green-tech marks more than a name change. It represents a business with broader capability, deeper expertise and an even stronger commitment to helping customers create resilient, sustainable landscapes.”

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Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

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Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration’s Terralift system celebrates 50 years of successful deep aeration treatment of bowling greens, sports turf, golf clubs, parks, trees and more.

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

At the end of September, when bowling clubs are thinking about carrying out end of season maintenance, aeration is a concept that is thought about but rarely addressed. Scarifying, re-seeding, and top dressing are on the front line of the main budget planning. Forgotten are the days when games had to stop play because the ground was waterlogged. A nuisance at the time, but now is the time to bring this problem up at a committee meeting and address it.

The Terrain Aeration Scamper Terralift machine was designed 20 years ago to be able to access most bowling greens. The Scamper Terralift machine hammers a hollow probe (1 1/2″ ( 37mm width) one metre into the soil before releasing a controlled blast of compressed air, to a maximum of 20Bar/280 psi. This pressure is monitored or changed by the operator, so there is a slight movement of the top surface before the turf settles back down. Then, the operator knows that he has aerated the ground from one metre to the top surface. On the tail end of the release of compressed air, dried seaweed is incorporated which sticks to the walls of the fractures and fissures created by the main air blast.

Over a period, the seaweed expands and contracts with the moisture content of the soil, swelling and contracting – similar to breathing underground, helping to keep the fissures open longer. The machine uses 2m centre spacings on a staggered grid pattern, each shot interconnecting with the previous ones, ensuring the whole area is aerated and decompacted. The probe holes are backfilled with an aggregate, with the top 1″-2″ backfilled with normal top dressing material. Once this deep aeration treatment has taken place, it would not be required for at least another 10-12 years, so it is extremely cost-effective. Deep aeration treatment of a green takes around 5 to 6 hours. The engine/compressor unit is kept off the green with an umbilical air hose to supply the compressed air, thus reducing weight on the green as well as having to start and stop the machine every two metres.

It is preferable that the greenkeeper slits or hollow tines before the Terrain Aeration treatment, to relieve the surface tension so the air can gently blow through those top holes. The treatment can take place before top dressing and re-seed. but if ground conditions at that time deem the green too wet, then the end of season maintenance can continue and later, the Scamper Terralift can come in and aerate the green. There is enough time to fit this in before March of the following year. Terrain Aeration has at times even treated a bowling green mid-season – one had a black squidge where the bowler’s back foot was placed. If the treatment hadn’t taken place, that green would have played itself out until the end of the season. It would not have been repaired/replaced. That green survived and is going strong many years later. One club commented that after Terrain aerated their green on one of their matches, rain stopped play. They found that they could only have one pint from the bar before the green had drained away of water and play could continue.

A final point. Clubs considering laying in drains will have disruption to their green, but still have compaction panning in between the drain runs. With a track record of treating greens for over thirty years, it’s certainly worth Terrain Aeration taking a look before committing to the expense of laying drains.

Terrain Aeration works nationwide, providing deep aeration relief for waterlogging and flooding  for bowling greens, sports grounds, amenity areas, golf courses, public spaces and house builders.

Terrain Aeration 01449 673783 www.terrainaeration.co.uk

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Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

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Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian, which operates three championship courses, took delivery of four Turf Pro 500 robotic mowers in April following a successful trial programme with Toro and the autonomous technology specialists from Reesink Turfcare. Since then, it has seen savings of up to 40 labour hours every week.

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

The introduction of this new technology reinforces the club’s commitment to innovation just a year after completing a full Toro fleet refresh.

“I’m always considering what’s best for the golf course, what’s best for the golf club and what’s best for the staff,” says Paul Armour, Course Manager. “We’re constantly looking at ways to move things forward and I think this is definitely the future.

“Ten years ago I wouldn’t have believed we’d see this so soon, but the industry is facing ongoing staffing challenges and technology like this helps us use our people more effectively.”

Working overnight across 16 fairways, the autonomous mowers allow the greenkeeping team to focus on detailed course presentation and agronomic work.

“We’re saving between 30 and 40 hours a week during the growing season,” Paul confirms. “The four machines are cutting four fairways each, overnight, so the golfers never see them working.

“When we first discussed the technology, some of the team asked if it would replace greenkeepers,” he says. “The answer is absolutely not. We’re still looking for staff and, with three golf courses to maintain, we never have enough people.

“What it’s done is free our team from spending hours sitting on machines. Instead, they’re hand mowing more areas, spending more time on bunker maintenance, trimming and presentation work, and focusing on the finer details that make a difference to golfers.”

Beyond labour savings, the club is already seeing additional operational benefits. “These mowers are rotaries not cylinders, yet the quality of the cut is very good. They don’t collect the grass clippings; these are left on the surface and that’s potentially feeding the grass and improving it. Results from this will take some time but it looks like it could be another promising benefit to using these machines.”

The autonomous fleet complements the club’s wider sustainability programme, including solar-powered charging infrastructure. “We installed solar panels in 2025 and are increasingly using renewable energy to power our growing fleet of electric equipment, the Turf Pros included. This brings significant fuel savings and there’s less oil and less servicing.”

The Turf Pro fleet is currently operating across Gullane No.1, No.2 and No.3 courses, with charging stations located around the site. Following installation and mapping support from Reesink Turfcare, all four machines were operational within 10 days.

While the technology required an initial learning period, Paul says performance has exceeded expectations.

“It’s been pretty seamless,” he says. “Like anything new, there’s a learning curve, but the support from Toro and Reesink has been excellent. The team has embraced it and some of them now help manage the machines, monitor schedules and look after the fleet, which increases their skill set.”

Discover how Toro autonomous and robotic solutions could benefit your course by calling distributor Reesink Turfcare at 01480 226800, emailing info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk or visiting reesinkturfcare.co.uk.

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Avant Tecno’s Charity Golf Day raises over £10,500

Avant Tecno’s Charity Golf Day raises over £10,500

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Avant Tecno’s Charity Golf Day raises over £10,500

Manufacturer of compact multifunctional loaders, Avant Tecno, recently held a charity golf day with the goal of raising funds for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Avant Tecno’s Charity Golf Day raises over £10,500

Avant Tecno’s Charity Golf Day raises over £10,500

Held at Suffolk Golf Club in Bury St Edmunds on 9th July, the event brought Avant dealers, partners and industry contacts together for a day of golf, networking, food and fundraising in support of the lifesaving charity.

With fundraising initiatives including sponsored holes, a raffle and a charity auction, Avant exceeded its target, raising an impressive £10,526.

“What a fantastic day – it was an honour to bring our network together to play golf for a good cause! A huge thank you to everyone who attended, donated and helped us surpass our fundraising goal for such an important charity that helps save countless lives around East Anglia” says Raimo Ala-Korpi, Managing Director of Avant Tecno UK.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance charity provides advanced critical care to the most seriously ill and injured people in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, by air and road.

Funded by public donations, the charity’s specialist doctors, critical care paramedics and pilots deliver advanced treatment, equipment and medication directly to patients, giving them the best possible chance of survival.

Following the announcement that Cambridge Airport – one of their bases of operations – is closing, coupled with rising fuel costs, the East Anglian Air Ambulance now relies on public support more than ever.

“Without funding, the East Anglian Air Ambulance simply couldn’t continue providing the rapid, lifesaving care that so many people depend on. That’s why we’ve stepped up to show our support, holding an event that not only raises money, but also spreads awareness for the incredible work that the charity delivers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year” adds Raimo.

After the round of golf, the charity event moved from the green to the clubhouse, featuring a BBQ, a charity raffle and auction, with prizes including a signed England rugby shirt, a golf holiday in Portugal, a luxury spa break and a week’s hire of both an Avant loader and a Leguan spider lift.

The tournament’s top golfers were also announced, with the Longest Drive going to Harrison Ferris, an impressive individual score of 44 points for Dan Hill and the Norwich City team taking top honours with 94 points to lift the coveted Avant Trophy.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the generosity shown by everyone who attended. After the overwhelming support, we’re already looking forward to hosting another charity golf day in 2027!” concludes Raimo.

Founded in Finland in 1991, Avant Tecno are the world’s first producer of the compact loader – a multi-functional machine built to tackle a wide range of tasks with ease and efficiency.

With over 200 attachments designed to meet the needs of their customers, Avant loaders support productivity across construction, plant hire, agriculture, landscaping, equestrian and property maintenance applications.

For more information about Avant Tecno, visit https://www.avanttecno.com/uk

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