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AEA formally appoint new president

July 1, 2020/in News, People, Press Release/by Elaine Wymant

AEA formally appoint new president: Mr Malin is Managing Director of Etesia UK and has been an active member of the AEA for over 14 years. As President of the AEA Les’ role will be to lead the Board of Directors, while the farm equipment and outdoor power equipment councils and various technical and specialist […]

GGM Group step out for charity

July 1, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Alison Mulrooney

GGM Group step out for charity: A Lancashire business has demonstrated that it will always go the extra mile for charity -even when faced with a global pandemic and tough weather conditions. This weekend, staff from the Colne-based GGM Group completed their annual fundraising walk with a difference – taking on a specifically adapted route […]

AEA formally appoint new president

July 1, 2020/in News, People, Press Release/by Elaine Wymant

GGM Group step out for charity

July 1, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Alison Mulrooney

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

AEA formally appoint new president

July 1, 2020/in News, People, Press Release/by Elaine Wymant

AEA formally appoint new president: Mr Malin is Managing Director of Etesia UK and has been an active member of the AEA for over 14 years.

As President of the AEA Les’ role will be to lead the Board of Directors, while the farm equipment and outdoor power equipment councils and various technical and specialist groups focus on current issues and initiatives.

AEA formally appoint new president

He speaks of the unusual circumstances of his appointment and the way forward for the Agriculture and Outdoor Power sectors.

Due to Covid-19 the 2020, the AEA Annual General Meeting was postponed, leading the Association to take the unprecedented step to nominate Mr Les Malin as its President-Elect. Now, however, and following recently introduced changes in legislation, Mr Malin’s role as President of the AEA has been formalised, as the AGM was allowed to be held virtually, with some 30 participants in attendance, as well as the company legal advisors to ensure all was legally binding.

Mr Malin commented on the alternative course of action, “First of all, I would like to thank the AEA Board of Directors for nominating me to be the next President of the AEA. It is, indeed, against a backdrop of very uncertain and difficult times. With COVID 19 now having taken over from Brexit as the focus of everyone in the UK, the work of the AEA has had to adapt like many other businesses and groups.”

Ruth Bailey, CEO and Director General of the AEA said, “It is indeed very strange times. We are delighted, however, to have Les as our President and welcome his knowledge and experience within the industry to guide us through.”

Les’ early background is rooted in agriculture, where in his early years he worked on a mixed farm and would also use the farm equipment for contracting jobs. He then started his own contracting business in his 20’s. In the mid 1990’s he made his move to outdoor power equipment as area manager for Polaris, after which he worked at Amazone Groundcare before finally moving to Estesia as an ASM, then General Manager and finally Managing Director.

Les has many years of experience both within agriculture and the outdoor power equipment sector and said of the future “This virus has shown us more than ever that Technology has to be the key forward for all of us, we have to embrace the future forget the past and show our customers that we can offer expertise, money saving machinery, environmentally efficient solutions such as robotics in agricultural or the outdoor sectors. We as an industry must embrace these modern methods to safeguard our futures and entice the younger generation into a sector of employment that few people leave if they actively engage in its culture and history”

Mr Malin is due to receive his official chain of office in more certain and safe times but so he knows what to look forward to, we have mocked up his official image.

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GGM Group step out for charity

July 1, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Alison Mulrooney

GGM Group step out for charity: A Lancashire business has demonstrated that it will always go the extra mile for charity -even when faced with a global pandemic and tough weather conditions.

This weekend, staff from the Colne-based GGM Group completed their annual fundraising walk with a difference – taking on a specifically adapted route to adhere to social distancing guidelines, while raising over £3000 for three worthy causes – Greenfingers, St John’s Hospice and Pendlebury Hospice.

GGM Group step out for charity

Managing Director Chris Gibson and his team travelled from his home-town of Lancaster to the businesses’ head office in Colne and then back again, covering a distance of approximately 100 miles – through a combination of cycling and walking. The walking element, which covered over 80,000 steps, covered the Lancashire Witches Walk which passes through the Forest of Pendle and the Forest of Bowland to finish at Lancaster Castle. Travelling through blistering temperatures and torrential rain, the team completed their walk on Saturday afternoon, arriving at St John’s Hospice, Lancaster to a hero’s welcome and a well-deserved afternoon tea with a well-earned beer and fizz.

The team had planned to climb the three highest peaks in England as part of the company’s annual charity walking event, and were disappointed to be unable to go ahead as planned. Undeterred, Chris came up with his own ingenious solution.

He explains more:

“Last year the GGM team completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks in aid of our company charity, Greenfingers, and we were looking forward to this year’s event.

“As part of the Government’s initiative to get us back to work via walking or cycling, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to continue our fundraising. I chose this route because it was created to mark the 400^th anniversary of the trail of the “Lancashire Witches” held at Lancaster Castle and I wanted to recognise the injustice and prejudice of the past and the need continue to fight to remove these from society today. We were able to include several of our team and their families in our efforts, with people undertaking different legs in pairs, to enable social distancing.

The event raised money for charities who are finding themselves cash-strapped during these difficult times. Greenfingers is the company charity for the second year running, dedicated to supporting children who spend time in hospices around the UK, along with their families, by creating inspiring gardens for them to relax in. In addition, funds will also be raised for St John’s Hospice in Lancaster which provides free palliative care to patients with life shortening conditions across North Lancashire, South Lakes and parts of North Yorkshire and Pendleside Hospice in Burnley, which exists to promote and enhance quality of life for people with life-limiting illnesses.

The GGM Group consists of two businesses across two depots. PSD Groundscare is the national distributor of specialist landscaping equipment, including AS Motor and Eliet, Koppl and TS Industrie. GGM Groundscare is a specialist supplier of tractors and high-quality professional land-based equipment for commercial and domestic use. Servicing the North West and Yorkshire, it supplies a range of products from leading franchises including Kubota, Baroness and Amazone.

Chris Gibson concluded:

“I am hugely proud of what our staff have achieved this weekend. It was teamwork in the truest sense, and we all worked hard to make the event work while adhering to social distancing. The youngest participants were just seven years old and as a family business, and it was fantastic for us all to come together.

We’d like to extend our thanks to Chorley Nissan who loaned us a support vehicle and Lisa and the team at St John’s Hospice who waved us off and then welcomed us back with refreshments.

“It’s a key part of our ethos at The GGM Group to give something back to the local community so for this event we’ve decided to support both St John’s Hospice in Lancaster and Pendleside Hospice in Burnley, as local charities who are desperately in need of funds at this time alongside Greenfingers our nominated company charity.

The GGM Group set a target of £1000 for the event which it has already smashed, with a current total of over £3000. You can support this worthy cause by donating at https://www.sponsorme.co.uk/scottgrieve/chris-gibsons-cycle-and-walk-challenge.aspx

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.

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AEA formally appoint new president

GGM Group step out for charity

AEA formally appoint new president

GGM Group step out for charity

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

AEA formally appoint new president

AEA formally appoint new president: Mr Malin is Managing Director of Etesia UK and has been an active member of the AEA for over 14 years.

GGM Group step out for charity

GGM Group step out for charity: A Lancashire business has demonstrated that it will always go the extra mile for charity -even when faced with a global pandemic and tough weather conditions.

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