Agrovista UK electrifying delivery fleet

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Agrovista UK electrifying delivery fleet: Agrovista UK has started its journey towards replacing its delivery fleet with electric powered vehicles.

Agrovista UK is committed to reducing its carbon emissions and recently revealed that it has already set out a new range of measures and commitments designed to improve the health of the planet.

Agrovista UK electrifying delivery fleet

Agrovista UK electrifying delivery fleet

Chris Sprigg, Strategy and Planning Manager, offered a greater insight: “The use of diesel is our biggest CO2 emission so if we can move to a sustainable electricity supply as an alternative then that will put us on the right track towards our net carbon zero objectives. We have already moved onto electric vehicles for our car fleet, and I’m pleased to say that we currently have 44 vehicles in this respect.

“Furthermore, we have already started to install electric vehicle charging points at the depots and the objective is to have every depot installed with charging points by the end of 2022.

“This gives us a good starting point but the biggest impact we can make is if we are able to fully electrify our delivery fleet. We have already started this process and it is extremely exciting.”

Over recent years there have been phenomenal developments in electric and battery-powered technology and manufacturers have been quick to embrace it. In many sectors there are now a wide range of alternatives to diesel and petrol – whether it be in the form of machinery, tools, or vehicles. There is however still an element of range anxiety (a fear that a vehicle has insufficient range to reach its destination) and Chris admits that he is no exception.

“The thing that we really are nervous about is range anxiety – which is a real issue,” he said. “It has to be a change of mind and attitude and we must make sure that this not only fits our green credentials, but it must also fit commercially too. It needs to be absolutely the right solution for us and our customer.”

Agrovista UK has already begun testing a range of potential electric vans and Chris revealed that the trials are being carried out by the company’s delivery drivers.

“We have had some really good feedback from the drivers to say that they like driving them, that they like the experience, and that they think it is the way to go. They have said that they are proud to be part of this very forward-thinking initiative.

“Now we need to find the right vehicle that will help us to achieve the support we need to give our customers through a fleet of electric vehicles. Let us not forget that our customers also have emission targets, and this is all part of the process.

“We need to develop what we have learnt from the trials and continue to try different vehicles,” he continued. “It will be a gradual transition rather than in one big hit and maybe in five years’ time I’d hope to see electric delivery vans fully integrated into the fleet.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/

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New Technical Area Sales Managers for ICL

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New Technical Area Sales Managers for ICL: ICL has announced the appointment of Rob Ainscough and Fergal Greenan who both join the company as Technical Area Sales Managers.

Rob Ainscough, Technical Area Sales Manager – North West England

Rob has always held an interest in the science behind sports surfaces which he says was ignited after playing a wide range of sports from an early age. His interest was piqued furthermore when he carried out his school work experience with the grounds staff at Bolton Wanderers FC.

New Technical Area Sales Managers for ICL

New Technical Area Sales Managers for ICL

This work experience convinced Robert that he wanted a career in sports turf and after school he embarked on a National Diploma at Myerscough College. During his studies he volunteered to be part of the greenkeeping team at the Scottish Open which took place at Loch Lomond Golf Course.

His career in greenkeeping quickly took off and after a spell at Loch Lomond he became the Deputy Head Greenkeeper at Leigh Golf Club.

To further continue his development Robert accepted a two-week trial at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. His trial was quickly extended and after gaining six months experience here he went onto spend a further year in Australia working at Manly Golf Club and Royal Sydney Golf Club.

Upon his return to the UK Rob was offered his previous position Leigh Golf Club and was quickly promoted to Head Greenkeeper at 25 years old.

Fergal Greenan Technical Area Sales Manager – Ireland

Based in Ireland, Fergal joins ICL with an excellent combination of industry qualifications and practical experience.

His extensive skillset has been displayed while working on various major golf courses in the US through the prestigious Ohio State Program.

New Technical Area Sales Managers for ICL

New Technical Area Sales Managers for ICL

Fergal also boasts a Bachelor of Agricultural Science Horticulture, Landscape and Sports Turf Management, together with a Certificate in Teaching, which was utilised in his previous role as a Lecturer (in Horticulture) at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Fergal will be working under Colman Warde, Ireland Country Manager, to build the business and to support ICL distributors.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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

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Artistry meets mastery at A.F.C Bournemouth

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Artistry meets mastery at A.F.C Bournemouth: After a stringent search for a new rotary mower, Ian Lucas, Head of Grounds at A.F.C Bournemouth, concluded that the electric Dennis ES-34R was the by far the best choice. 

Ian has been the Head of Grounds at A.F.C Bournemouth for the past three and a half years and has developed a glowing reputation in many sectors of the grounds management industry. However, it could well have been a quite different story.

Artistry meets mastery at A.F.C Bournemouth

Artistry meets mastery at A.F.C Bournemouth

Having excelled in art at school he originally set out to be a graphic designer by trade. However, after struggling to land a relevant position, Ian started working at his local golf course. This was not just on a whim because he had previously maintained a local football pitch, but what makes this even more remarkable is that he offered to work at the golf club for free for the first two months. His quality standard of work was quickly recognised, and he was rewarded with a full-time position – which he occupied for three years.

He then continued to hone his new craft by going on to work at another golf course, Southampton F.C and an independent school before being appointed Head of Grounds at A.F.C Bournemouth.

Ian may not have ended up following his original career path but those in the know will confirm that he is still an artist in his own right. One look at his work will tell you that he has an incredible eye for detail and that extends to every aspect of his job, including the purchasing of new equipment.

He certainly left no stone un-turned when it came to looking for new rotary mowers.

“We had demonstrations carried out for every single electric and petrol rotary mower you can think of,” he said.

“With our previous rotary mowers, we had got to the point where they needed either replacing or repairing. It was quite common to get maintenance issues every two years with them and we wanted something that would last us longer.

“The club is looking at taking a greener approach, so we decided to narrow our search down to the electric rotaries. We spent a lot of time with all the various electric rotary mowers to make sure we made the right decision. We looked at the design, build quality, battery life and the cut and collection. The performance when the grass is dewy or luscious was important for us because we cut nearly every other day on grass that is likely to be damp and I didn’t want issues with the chute clogging up.

“It was the new Dennis ES-34R which ticked these boxes and proved to be the best overall.”

The ES-34R is a 34″ (860mm) battery powered twin blade rotary mower using the latest lithium-ion battery technology. It is ideal for fine turf mowing and cleaning up operations in stadia and training facilities. Utilising the contra rotating hardened steel blades and low chute ensures maximum collection performance.

While allowing ground staff to achieve an aesthetically pleasing appearance and desired playing surface, the E-Series range will also help meet sustainability and environmental initiatives, minimise carbon footprint, emissions, running costs, HAV’s and noise without any range anxiety.

Ian revealed that the club purchased two Dennis ES-34R’s and he explained how they are now playing an integral part in his maintenance programme at both the Vitality Stadium and the training ground.

“We’ll use them straight after a game to hoover up the debris and the beauty is that, because of the size of the ES-34R’s, we now have two people doing this rather than four. This frees up the other two members of staff to do other jobs such as divoting. During the week we may well use them twice more on the stadium pitch before switching to the Dennis G860 cylinder mowers for matchday preparation.

Artistry meets mastery at A.F.C Bournemouth

Artistry meets mastery at A.F.C Bournemouth

“At the training ground we use the ES-34R’s a lot. They work incredibly well because the cut on them is fantastic and very comparable with a cylinder mower. Therefore, at the training ground we can use them to hoover, repair, cut and present all in one go. This is a huge time saver.

“The battery life is unbelievable on the ES-34R’s,” Ian continued. “One mower will do a whole pitch and you can still have at least 40% battery life left. Other mowers we trialled just couldn’t compete in this respect.”

The Dennis ES-34R is also fitted with a weatherproof colour LCD programmable display and keypad which operates the machine and will feed back information to the operator including ground speed, battery charge level, instructions and much more. This can easily be updated and customised to suit individual customer requirements – something which also continues to impress Ian.

“I love the computer side of it,” he said. “Most of the time we run it on the maximum revolution of the blade to get the maximum suction but sometimes we drop to half that and drop our speed levels for areas that we have recently seeded. This is important in areas such as goal mouths because we are constantly seeding there. By dropping the speed and power levels it means we can still cut those areas without hoovering the seed up. This of course was not possible with our old rotaries, so it has made a real difference.

“I also like how (through the LCD display) you can see how far the mower has travelled and how many hours it has been in operation.

“Another good feature is that you can pre-set the turning speed so when you get to the end of the pitch, you can simply press the button and it will automatically drop your speed, so you have more time to turn. This is great because you no longer have to rush or turn the mower off and back on again.

“These two Dennis ES-34R’s have certainly saved us a good amount of time and I would also confidently say that so far they have helped us to be more efficient.”

A video of the ES-34R in action at AFC Bournemouth can be viewed here

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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Terrain Aeration for London garden square

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Terrain Aeration for London garden square: The award-winning Earl’s Court Square Garden was originally laid out as part of the Edwardes Estate in the 1870s, and construction of the properties of Earl’s Court Square began.

It was well-managed with professional gardeners until the Second World War, when the original cast-iron railings were removed and five emergency water tanks filled the southern half of the garden. Post-war it became much neglected and remained more like a building site until the mid-seventies when the present layout was designed. A children’s playground was added in 1980 and the mature London plane trees were pruned and maintained. The Earl’s Court Square Garden is one of the 37 Garden Squares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Terrain Aeration for London garden square

Terrain Aeration for London garden square

The garden is much used by residents and hosts neighbourhood social events which ultimately led to the ground becoming severely compacted and dried out in summer, while in winter it became heavily waterlogged. Aeration was done regularly, and the grass re-seeded, but the problems remained.

“We learned of the work done by Terrain Aeration in Hyde Park after Winter Wonderland,” says Katrina Quinton, Chairperson of the garden management sub-committee, “and we thought the principles would apply here. They were scheduled to come to us in 2020, but a period of heavy rain and then Covid-19 intervened. The garden was a godsend for the community during lockdown, but the pooling was still a major problem.”

As soon as they were able, Terrain Aeration treated the area using their Terralift Tracker, which is designed for access in tight spaces. It works in the same way as the full-size Terralift machines used in Hyde Park. The Tracker hammers a hollow probe one metre into the soil, releasing a blast of compressed air to fracture the compaction and create interlinked fissures. They simultaneously injected dried seaweed into the fissures, and this expands and contracts with the moisture content in the ground. The probe is inserted in equal spacing on a grid pattern, to ensure the underground fracturing overlaps. The resulting holes are top-filled with Lytag, lightweight aggregate, to provide a long-term aeration and ventilation shaft which will encourage air and water into the root zone. The result is a healthier soil structure; the compaction is relieved and a stronger root growth is promoted. The areas in the garden around the trees, which are greedy for water, were also treated to a depth of eighteen inches.

Katrina says: “the wonderful collection of people from Suffolk and their strange-looking machine came and worked without fuss, leaving the area clean and usable immediately. The following day it rained heavily and we’re delighted to say there was no longer any pooling. A great job.”

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Grassroots hero wins award

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Grassroots hero wins award: A Redcar volunteer has been crowned the winner of the FA & McDonald’s Grassroots Grounds Team of the Year award.

Read the full article from Gazette Live here

Grassroots hero wins award

Grassroots hero wins award

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