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A spotlight on Chris Turpie

September 1, 2020/in News, People, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

A spotlight on Chris Turpie: Chris Turpie, amenity specialist for Agrovista Amenity, provides an insight into his career to date, his varied client base, and his pride at building up an impressive customer portfolio. Chris has been working for Agrovista since 2010 and credits the challenge of working on a completely new project as the […]

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production

September 1, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Hollie Doman

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production: Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, will relocate all manufacturing of Jacobsen professional turf equipment to its facility in Ipswich, U.K. The move will begin this fall and be completed in stages over the next several months. This move will enable the company to focus its […]

A spotlight on Chris Turpie

September 1, 2020/in News, People, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production

September 1, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Hollie Doman

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

A spotlight on Chris Turpie

September 1, 2020/in News, People, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

A spotlight on Chris Turpie: Chris Turpie, amenity specialist for Agrovista Amenity, provides an insight into his career to date, his varied client base, and his pride at building up an impressive customer portfolio.

Chris has been working for Agrovista since 2010 and credits the challenge of working on a completely new project as the only motivation needed to accept the job. At that time, the nation was suffering from a recession hangover and Agrovista did not have a local authority and industrial division. Never one to shy away, Chris got straight to work.

A spotlight on Chris Turpie

“It was a huge challenge and arguably the biggest highlight of my career,” said Chris. “I didn’t have a ledger when I joined but I’ve built one over the last ten years and that was no mean feat especially during a recession. This was at a time when local authorities weren’t spending money, so yes, it’s an achievement and I’m proud to have played a part in building up this side of the business.”

Chris originates from Scotland but moved south when he accepted an assistant greenkeeper position at the prestigious London Golf Club in Kent. Four years later, and following a two year spell at Boughton Loam, he embarked on a new role in construction working for Championship Sports Surfacing. In his two years at the company he worked on some fantastic projects.

“I constructed four grass tennis courts at the Bank of England during that period and was also involved in the construction of Pennyhill Park – the England rugby team’s training ground. We built a version of the Twickenham pitch at Pennyhill and the team trained on it for six weeks twice a day in the lead-up to their 2003 World Cup glory. It was a great project to be a part of and we completed it within six weeks.”

Chris then spent six years as an area sales manager for Fleet Line Markers before he joined Agrovista Amenity. A decade later and he hasn’t looked back.

“It’s no secret that this is the longest I’ve ever been with a company and every picture tells a story,” he said. “I have absolutely no desire to leave – Agrovista is an exceptionally good business and they really support their staff. They invest in their people and there are plenty of opportunities for progression.”

Chris continues to work closely with his portfolio of customers which he has worked hard to establish over the last ten years. In fact, not many people know that Chris is closely involved in helping to keep some of London’s most iconic open spaces maintained and well groomed.

“I look after some of London’s Royal Parks including Hyde Park and Regent’s Park. I work closely with the contractors and take soil samples, provide advice, recommend products, and write reports. It’s a pleasure working on these sites.

“The diversity of my portfolio is incredible, and the variety is probably the best part of my job,” he continued. “There are no two days that are ever the same, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

From Royal Parks managers to airfield operations managers, from contracts managers to greenkeepers, Chris’ working days are indeed varied. He admits to relishing the opportunity of learning everything he can about his customers and the sectors they represent. However, he has also found that each of them has their own challenges to overcome.

“Everyone has their own obstacles but in particular, contracts managers trying to run a council contract have not got an easy task,” he said. “They are always under huge demands to save as much money as they can and quite often it can seem impossible. There’s also quite a high turnover in council contracts which presents challenges for me.”

Born in Scotland, Chris enjoys spending time with his family and following his two football clubs – Liverpool FC and Heart of Midlothian F.C.

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Textron to relocate Jacobsen production

September 1, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Hollie Doman

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production: Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, will relocate all manufacturing of Jacobsen professional turf equipment to its facility in Ipswich, U.K. The move will begin this fall and be completed in stages over the next several months.

This move will enable the company to focus its investments, skill, and improvements in mower production on a single facility, and leverage existing resources and expertise at its Ipswich facility. The plant, which currently builds Jacobsen and Ransomes mowers, is the oldest manufacturer of motorized lawn mowers in the world, in operation for more than 187 years.

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production

The U.K. facility will produce mowers for all regions, including North America. Jacobsen will maintain its sales and customer-care teams in North America, and its network of North American distributors, to serve its customers in the United States and Canada.

“We are excited to establish our Ipswich, U.K. facility as the worldwide manufacturing center of excellence for Jacobsen equipment,” said Simon Rainger, Vice President, Turf for Textron Specialized Vehicles. “This move will enable us to operate more efficiently, and expand on the legacy of innovation and quality that our Ipswich plant has built over its long history.”

Jacobsen continues to develop new products to serve its customers around the globe. The brand will launch a robust slate of new mowers this year, including the quiet, highly efficient Eclipse 360 ELiTE electric greens mower powered by Samsung SDI lithium-battery technology, and the new AR530 and AR730 contour rotary mowers, designed to be safer, easier and more cost-effective to maintain and operate.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

A spotlight on Chris Turpie

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production

A spotlight on Chris Turpie

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

A spotlight on Chris Turpie

A spotlight on Chris Turpie: Chris Turpie, amenity specialist for Agrovista Amenity, provides an insight into his career to date, his varied client base, and his pride at building up an impressive customer portfolio.

Textron to relocate Jacobsen production

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