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Aspen fuels a cleaner way of working

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Aspen fuels a cleaner way of working: As one of the largest associations of its kind, Orwell Housing provides housing for more than 7,500 residents by managing over 4000 properties across East Anglia.

Powering the maintenance services, as well as helping to lower the associations carbon footprint, is 2 and 4-stroke petrol from Aspen Fuel – a switch made by Repairs and Estates Manager Simon Bennett three years ago, and one that’s delivering improvements on a daily basis to the workforce, the residents and the machinery alike.

Aspen fuels a cleaner way of working

Aspen fuels a cleaner way of working

Simon manages all elements of the direct labour operations (DLO) from co-ordinating the 75-strong workforce to sourcing and purchasing equipment across the repairs and estates division. “We renew our machinery every three years” explains Simon, who has been with Orwell Housing for ten years. “To help us with our objective or carbon neutrality, some of what we now invest in is battery powered but, with the diversity of items like mowers and woodchippers that we have on our fleet, for these we’re looking at better and cleaner ways of fuelling them and that’s where Aspen comes in.”

“I was familiar with Aspen Fuel but always just assumed it would be much more expensive for us than pump fuel. It wasn’t until I sat down and did a cost analysis, factoring in the downtime of the team going backwards and forwards to the forecourt, that I could demonstrate Aspen was a viable choice.” Being ethanol-free and virtually free from sulphur, benzene and other hazardous hydrocarbons, Aspen alkylate petrol burns cleaner than regular petrol making it safer and greener for operators, machinery and the environment.

“The operators like using it – they notice the reduction in noxious fumes and don’t go home smelling of petrol come the end of the day. This is also a major plus for those tasks where we’re in close proximity to the residents.” He continues, “Three years in, we’re also seeing a big reduction in the number of machinery breakdowns we’re experiencing with is a further cost saving.”

Overall, Simon feels the whole Aspen experience has been really positive for the group. “We order Aspen in bulk, with the cans being collected by the team as and when they need them. This way, we can easily monitor usage and, with the plastic containers being fully recyclable, we are also reducing our output to landfill. I’ve recently done another cost analysis, which has shown that purchasing Aspen has actually decreased our annual fuel bill by approximately 10-15%.”

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A new era begins for Lloyds & Hunter

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A new era begins for Lloyds & Hunter: Lloyds Mowers and Hunter Grinders will be making their first BTME appearance since being acquired by the Howardson Group, manufacturers of the Dennis and SISIS brands.

This strategic alliance signals exciting times for the two well respected brands.

A new era begins for Lloyds & Hunter

A new era begins for Lloyds & Hunter

Lloyds has always manufactured and supplied products that deliver on performance while requiring minimum maintenance. The Paladin pedestrian mower is a classic example of a quality product that can stand alone and deliver the cut today as it has done, for many decades. Also on show will be the Lloyds Leda Gang Mowers.

Hunter Grinders is known worldwide in golf and stadia for their grinding performance on cutting cylinders and bottom blades. The company has steadily built up a reputation for supplying strong, accurate, precision grinders.

BMTE visitors can find Lloyds Mowers and Hunter Grinders on stand 140. Company representatives will also be on hand throughout the event to talk about the products in more detail.

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Lantra to open New Year with a bang

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Lantra to open New Year with a bang: Lantra is kick-starting the New Year with a bang by attending and exhibiting at BTME, the prestigious event for golf and sports turf professionals.

The Lantra team is set to descend on Harrogate Convention Centre in January to be a prominent and positive presence at the annual BTME exhibition which attracts thousands of BIGGA (The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association) members, turf managers, golf club owners and industry decision makers.

Lantra to open New Year with a bang

Lantra to open New Year with a bang

Lantra will be on hand at the event, which runs from 24th to 26th January, to champion the cause for skills development, how interested industry professionals could potentially start their journey to become Lantra Instructors or Assessors, and spotlight a range of courses in Pesticides, Ride-on Mowers, Groundcare Machinery and the latest addition to the training suite, Landscape Multi-Tools.

Ian Sumpter, of Mow-Sure, who is also a Lantra Instructor and Assessor, will be delivering some of the Machinery Maintenance training suite as part of the ‘Continue to Learn’ classes that take place around the exhibition between the 22nd and 25th January.

David Fisher, Lantra’s Head of Industry Partnerships (Landscape and Rural) will be available on the Lantra stand to offer expert advice on courses designed to meet the challenges, innovations and regulatory rules in the industry.

David said: “BTME is a major event, and we are very much looking forward to using this exhibition to promote the need for CPD, upskilling, and ensuring people work productively, legally and most importantly safely.

“We recognise that, like so many other land-based industries, a shortage of suitably skilled labour is a major issue in the sports turf and wider landscaping sector.

“A key solution to addressing this skills gap and growing the sector is without doubt high quality, industry-recognised training and qualifications.

“That’s why we believe it’s crucial we attend events like BTME to share details of our latest training initiatives.

“Our training is trusted by the Landscape and Sports Turf sector as we deliver high-quality, industry-recognised courses to support workforce skills development.

“Lantra’s new Landscape Multi-Tools and updated Ride-On Mowers training courses will certainly be worth checking out at BTME 2023 as they cover technological advances in both petrol and battery powered machinery. We also have an increasing number of sports turf related customised provision training courses being offered through our network of approved training providers.”

For further information about BTME 2023 please log on to https://www.btme.org.uk/ Lantra will be in Hall 1 on exhibition stand 146.

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Child safety on farms a major priority

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Child safety on farms a major priority: A FREE course, launched by Lantra to help protect the safety of children on farms, has received an encouraging response from Learners.

Since the October school holidays, Lantra has already received more than 70 enrolments on its Child Safety on Farms Course and, of those, around a third have already passed the certificate.

Child safety on farms a major priority

Child safety on farms a major priority

The course covers a wide range of areas including children on the farm and the law, children and tractors, children and ATVs and children and falls.

It also covers child safety around equipment, and harmful substances, and the importance of having a farm safety checklist.

On completion of the free course, participants can download their Lantra Child Safety on Farms Course certificate.

Paula Smyth, Director of Lantra Ireland, said: “Part of the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP) Action Plan Targets involves promoting child safety on farms.

“Lantra, who are an FSP farm safety affiliate, has developed this bespoke training course specifically for people with children who live or work on farms.

“This is a unique and hugely important course which will contribute towards the FSP Action Plan targets which we are proud to support.

“The uptake of this course is very encouraging as it is a tragic fact that there are various dangers on farms that sadly claim lives and cause injuries each year.

“Farming is a wonderful but also hazardous occupation – and it is the only high-risk industry that deals with the presence of children.

“Their health, and indeed everyone’s health, should be of paramount importance and concern and through courses and initiatives, like our free Child Safety on Farms Course, we hope people can better recognise and avoid potential dangers on farmland.”

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Origin create a buzz at SALTEX 2022

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Origin create a buzz at SALTEX 2022: The Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS) team has declared SALTEX a successful show. It ended on a high with their stand being announced as the Stand Award Winner by the GMA. They were voted the best in the large spaces category due to the excellence in stand design and customer experience.

Speaking about their experience OAS Marketing Director Kate Humes commented, “This was our first major show under the new marketing stewardship, and we were delighted with how it went. There was an impressive turn out with high profile visitors and exhibitors old and new.  The Origin Amenity Solutions stand was buzzing from the minute the doors opened. It was well organised and provided an ideal platform to catch up with customers, suppliers, and industry friends. Winning the Best Stand was the icing on the cake.  A lot of work goes into designing and building a stand of this scale and it was nice to be recognised for the team’s efforts.”

Origin create a buzz at SALTEX 2022

Origin create a buzz at SALTEX 2022

Origin Amenity Solutions combines four major industry brands – Headland Amenity, Rigby Taylor, Symbio and Turfkeeper. The group was established just over a year ago and their impressive presence at SALTEX demonstrates their commitment to the industry and positions them as a leading force in amenity and grounds management.

The stand was a hive of activity with live demonstrations of the Beacon application, the newest feature of the digital Turfkeeper platform offering push-notifications direct to mobile devices.  One visitor commented, “This is a fantastic new feature. Just what I needed.  It means I can keep my eyes on the jobs and my teams workload while I’m away from my desk. Simple but brilliant.”

The new Tiny Pro X robotic line marker made its debut appearance at the show and was incredibly well received.  Kate continues, “there was so much interest in the GPS Tiny Mobile Robots range and particularly the most recently launched robot, the Tiny Pro X.  We actually sold three machines on the stand which was cause for celebration.”

Elsewhere on the stand Dr Deidre Charleston profiled Symbio’s compost tea packages that are specially formulated using Symbio’s composting microbial technology. Many visitors to the OAS stand viewed the microbes in HD highlighting the types of microbes present after different brewing lengths.

Not just restricted to their stand, Research & Development Director Geoff Fenn and Angus Finlayson, OAS Turf Trials Research Manager took to the seminar area to explain about the Origin’s £1m Turf Science & Technology Centre and the importance of research in the amenity industry. It was well received, and the audience learnt about the variables to consider when conducting trials, the trial process itself, and how the team ensure all trials are completely unbiased.

The OAS team came out in force to support the GMA Awards. They sponsored the Young Grounds Person Of The Year category and  Origin Amenity Solutions Commercial Director Andy Russell presented to the worthy winner Dylan Thompson of Doncaster Rovers FC.

Andy Russell adds, “We were delighted to support the industry and the GMA.  Saltex is always a good event for networking, catching up with customers and launching new products. We had a lot of visitors to the stand, some great meetings, and some interesting leads. Overall it was a valued and worthwhile event for us.”

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