Tag Archive for: Anniversary

GMA Celebrates its 90th Anniversary

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GMA Celebrates its 90th Anniversary: On 10 January 1934, eleven original founders joined W H Bowles BEM, head groundsman of Eton College, at the London Stone Pub on Cannon Street in the City of London to form the National Association of Groundsmen.

The purpose of the association was to improve the status of groundsmen and the standard of groundsmanship across the UK and, since then, the association has worked hard, and adapted, to suit the needs of the ever-changing grounds management industry.

GMA Celebrates its 90th Anniversary

GMA Celebrates its 90th Anniversary

Since its formation, the National Association of Groundsmen developed with the changing needs of the sector. In 1938, the organisation hosted its first Annual Exhibition, now known as SALTEX, at the Hurlingham Club which has continued to grow despite an eight-year hiatus during the Second World War and a two-year break during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first National Association of Groundsmen qualifications were launched for the industry in 1953 and have developed along with changing practices and technological advances into the comprehensive suite of GMA training courses and qualifications, reconised by the Department for Education’s prestigious matrix Standard, on offer today.

The organisation itself developed, becoming the Institute of Groundsmanship in 1969 and changing again in 2020 to become the Grounds Management Association.

Along with the creation of its renowned trade show, SALTEX, and development of top-class education to advance the industry’s skills, the organisation has worked hard over its 90-year history to support and raise the profile of the sector. This has included launching the Industry Awards in 2008, creating the GMA’s Young Board of Directors in 2011, and hosting the first Schools into Stadia event in 2015 to introduce young people to careers in the sector.

For nine decades the GMA remains the leading not-for-profit membership organisation representing grounds managers, grounds personnel, grounds maintenance managers, greenkeepers and all others involved in the management of sports pitches, landscape, and amenity facilities in the UK.

With the association reaching such a significant milestone, the GMA will be undertaking a number of celebratory activities throughout the year, including:

  • Introducing a commemorative brand to celebrate the association’s formation.
  • Launching a new website – a new engaging and user-friendly platform that will optimise users’ and GMA members’ digital experience.
  • Launching refined membership packages to simplify and improve the GMA’s offerings to individuals, organisations, and businesses working across the grounds management sector.
  • Delivering a new GMA Ambassador programme, that aims to better represent all corners of the sector to help raise profile of the industry.

Commenting on the GMA’s 90th anniversary, Geoff Webb said:

“The National Association of Groundsmen was formed by key individuals working in the industry to raise the profile of the sector and improve the standard of its work across the nation.

“Over 90 years, the association has adapted and evolved with the changing world and now, the UK grounds management sector is seen as the world-leader when it comes to sports turf management. This achievement has been made possible through 90 years of support for the sector, including 77 SALTEX exhibitions, industry-leading educational resources, advice and support for sports clubs across all levels through the PAS programme, and more.

“With support from key sporting National Governing Bodies, the Grounds Management Association as it is now called, has grown into a key part of the nation’s enjoyment of sport and our ethos of ‘making sport possible’ has never been more relevant than it is today.

“We thank everyone who plays a part in this hard-working and essential industry, from volunteers and professionals to businesses, and will be marking this year with a number of developments that will benefit the sector, including a new membership offering and website coming later this year, as well as a series of activities throughout the year.”

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Toro U.K. employee celebrates 35-Year anniversary

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Toro U.K. employee celebrates 35-Year anniversary: Toro U.K. Limited honored their long-term employee, Territory Sales Manager Alistair Tod, who recently celebrated his 35th anniversary with the company. Toro U.K. Ltd held a surprise celebration at the Douglas Hayter Visitors’ Centre – newly refurbished to hold sales meetings and on-site training.

Alistair started his career in 1988 as a Technical Service Assistant and 8 months later was promoted to be a Territory Sales Manager. To put it in perspective, the year Alistair began his employment at Hayter was the same year that Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving female Prime Minister of the 20th century in the U.K.

Toro U.K. employee celebrates 35-Year anniversary

Toro U.K. employee celebrates 35-Year anniversary

“Alistair is synonymous with the Hayter brand and has a wealth of knowledge. He is so well liked and respected by dealers and we were proud to celebrate his milestone,” said Craig Hoare, Sales & Marketing Manager, Toro U.K. Limited.

Reminiscing on his time with the business, Alistair recalls that his first day in the office was “a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and the sales and service departments worked closely together. Everybody was so helpful which made it reassuring that I had joined a great company.”

Alistair’s career has spanned many product developments from the Hayter Jubilee range, the growth of the Commercial range, including Prostripe and zero-turn mowers, and the more recent transition to battery power.

For anyone thinking of joining the industry, Alistair’s advice would be to “jump on board because you will be surprised where it can take you. The industry is so diversified, the opportunities are endless.”

Alistair continues to look after the South-East region, with new and established Dealers who join us in congratulating Alistair on this milestone.

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Cobra celebrates 10th anniversary

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Cobra celebrates 10th anniversary: 10 years ago this spring, a new brand entered the garden machinery market and fast became established as one of the leading players, rapidly becoming the go-to brand of choice for many gardeners across the UK.

The brand was launched by Nottingham-based, Henton & Chattell, one of the largest distributors of garden machinery in the UK with more than 1,500 dealerships across the country. Founded in 1931, the Henton & Chattell team used its unique market insight garnered from more than 80 years of being in the industry and knowing customer demands, to launch its own brand: Cobra.

Cobra celebrates 10th anniversary

Cobra celebrates 10th anniversary

Now, to celebrate the brand’s 10th birthday, Cobra is launching perhaps its biggest innovation yet with the introduction of its new ride-on lawn mowers this spring. This significant investment for Cobra really marks the next chapter for the brand. The ride-on mower range features eight models, aimed at helping those with larger lawns to mow with ease and comfort, at an affordable price.

Wanting to bring variety and an extensive range from day to always give customers the ideal solution no matter what size garden they had or task they were tackling, Cobra launched with a bang and an impressive 46 models from day one.

The Cobra range started with the electric GTRM range, which is still a key seller to this day. Followed shortly by the 2-stroke powered brushcutters, hedge trimmers and chainsaws. Instead of big seasonal launches, Cobra instead chose to take a continual approach to new product development and R&D and new products are regularly introduced to the range across all product categories and the range now consists of a staggering 160 products. Staying true to its lawncare specialism roots, 46% of these are lawnmowers – making Cobra the largest powered lawnmower brand in the UK.

Electric handheld machinery was one of the first category expansions in 2014, with hedgetrimmers, leaf blowers and grass strimmers being launched.

A momentous key product development for Cobra was the launch of its battery mower range in 2015, with the MX4140V leading the way, which was followed soon after by the battery handhold range of 24-volt products in 2016 and 40-volt in 2017. The interchangeable battery technology enables gardeners and customers loyal to the Cobra brand, to have battery-powered hedge trimmers, blowers, chainsaws and mowers, all powered by one battery – alleviating the need for petrol power or electric cables.

Over time, the range has continued to expand and now, alongside Cobra’s extensive offering of wider lawncare products such as robotic mowers, scarifiers and aerators, the range also features pressure washers, generators, shredders, cultivators, chippers, multitools and brushcutters.

Notable highlights in the Cobra journey include its limited-edition pink lawnmower that was launched in partnership with Breast Cancer Now in 2019 and has raised more than £20,000 for the charity. Alongside that, Cobra products have received wide recognition and accolades with multiple awards, “best buy” features and endorsements.

Discussing the brand’s growth and success, managing director of Cobra, Peter Chaloner commented: “We are so thrilled with the success of Cobra over the past 10 years, the response and demand from customers has been incredible. We’re really excited about the next chapter with the new ride-on tractors and have lots more product development in the pipeline for the future too.”

“We’ve seen across our nationwide dealer network of Cobra stockists that the demand is very positive and we’re committed to bringing even more products to our dealers.  We are 100% focused on supporting our dealers.”

For further information about Cobra, please visit www.cobragarden.co.uk.

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GroundWOW® helps celebrate St. George’s Park anniversary

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GroundWOW® helps celebrate St. George’s Park anniversary: When the F.A Group Marketing Department wanted a grand scale commemorative design on the centre of pitch four at St George’s Park, North-West technology innovators GroundWOW® were very happy to take the call.

Using their SFX ULTRA™ model, GroundWOW® printed the tenth anniversary design directly onto the perfect canvas of pitch four at one of the world’s leading training and educational establishments. Created pixel by pixel, the image contained the highly detailed design intricacies of the Three Lions as part of an activation that measured a whopping 21 x 17M in size.

GroundWOW® helps celebrate St. George’s Park anniversary

GroundWOW® helps celebrate St. George’s Park anniversary

The whole activation was a class act completed in time for the Home of England Football to welcome The Prince of Wales, President of the F.A. His Royal Highness observed activities across some of the venue’s 13 outdoor pitches, full-size indoor 3-G pitch, and indoor Futsal arena to celebrate the occasion.

GroundWOW’s Chief Commercial Officer, David Pritchard, said it was “an enormous privilege for us to contribute to this event. Our technology is aimed at all sport and so much of our inbound interest has in fact come from football. It was a real pleasure to be on site and a great opportunity for us to showcase what we do at the home of the nation’s favourite sport. None of this was lost on the whole team at HQ, all of whom were immensely proud to have helped create this grand scale art”.

The Staffordshire facility oversees the development of elite English football in a performance-first environment, a fitting location therefore for GroundWOW® to demonstrate its transformative technology that is taking on the sports sector with a performance-first approach.

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Fentons of Bourne’s 35th anniversary

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Fentons of Bourne’s 35th anniversary: Fentons of Bourne Ltd, the family-owned agricultural, estate and turf maintenance equipment supplier, is celebrating its 35th anniversary on 7 April with an Open Day at its head office in Kates Bridge near Bourne in Lincolnshire.

The event kicks off at 10:00 am and will feature working demonstrations from manufacturers including Avant, Becx, Etesia , Farmtrac, Husqvarna, Homburg, Iseki, Major and more. Food and refreshments will be provided and attendees are requested to RSVP by phone on 01788 560466 or email, fentons@fentonsofbourne.co.uk, by 31 March.

Fentons of Bourne's 35th anniversary

Fentons of Bourne’s 35th anniversary

Commenting on his company’s milestone, Glen Bellamy said,

“We are very proud that we have reached this milestone for the business. We have survived the precarious nature of various business cycles, the latest being the Covid pandemic, but we are still here and stronger than ever. I think our longevity is a combination of excellent customer service, the ability to adapt in a dynamic marketplace and a dedicated and loyal staff with unparalleled knowledge of the products we represent. We look forward to welcoming customers to Kates Bridge to help us celebrate on 7 April.”

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