Tag Archive for: Appoint

Soil Scout appoint Richie Stephens

Soil Scout appoint Richie Stephens: Richie Stephens has been appointed to the position of Sales Executive for Soil Scout, effective from 4 January 2021. In his new role Richie will be responsible for identifying new business opportunities and generating sales, whilst also developing existing customer and reseller relationships.

Richie will be working alongside Soil Scout’s VP of International Sales, Adam Sedgwick.

Soil Scout appoint Richie Stephens

Soil Scout appoint Richie Stephens

Prior to his new position, Richie was Course Manager at Ringway Golf Club in Cheshire and previously Head Greenkeeper at Flixton Golf Club. Richie has spent much of his career in management roles building fantastic relationships with fellow greenkeepers, groundsmen and contractors from across all sports. He has also been commended for demonstrating a forward thinking approach to his work and embracing new technologies and better working practices.

Richie commented: “I am delighted to be joining Soil Scout at a really exciting time for the company. I’m looking forward to working with a great team promoting the huge benefits of such an innovative product. It’s a change of direction for me, but I hope to bring my 20-years experience in the sports turf industry to help Soil Scout’s customers achieve their soil monitoring goals.”

Commenting upon the appointment, Soil Scout CEO Jalmari Talola said: “We are delighted to welcome Richie to the Soil Scout team. He joins us with a wealth of industry knowledge and will be a huge asset to our relatively small but fast-growing operation.”

Adam Sedgwick commented: “We are really pleased to be able to appoint someone with Richie’s understanding and enthusiasm for the industry. He demonstrated a real passion for our remote real-time soil monitoring products and he’s a highly driven individual who will bring a new dynamic to the sales team.”

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GreenMech appoint Phoenix Hire & Sales

GreenMech appoint Phoenix Hire & Sales: Strengthening their representation in Wales, GreenMech Ltd have announced the appointment of leading plant and tool dealers, Phoenix Hire & Sales Ltd.

Operating out of five depots across South Wales, the GreenMech range of pedestrian, road-tow and tracked chippers becomes the latest franchise in their specialist Arb and Grounds division.

GreenMech appoint Phoenix Hire & Sales

GreenMech appoint Phoenix Hire & Sales

With a client base spanning hire firms, engineering, utilities, railway contractors and more, Phoenix have the largest fleet of tool, plant and access equipment for hire and sale in Wales. Their team of 85 highly trained staff ensure they have both the product, and knowledge, to meet the variety of customer demands. In addition, their dedicated service department offer exceptional after-sales support, responding to most customer callouts within just four hours.

Phoenix Sales Director Jason Derraven said, “We are delighted with our latest appointment as GreenMech dealers. Since becoming a Stihl main dealer, we have had no end of enquiries for these impressive and robust machines and it is great that we can now finally fulfil customer demand. The GreenMech range complements our plant hire fleet which also means we can now fully support our customers including those in the rail sector, with a complete range of de-veg equipment and woodchippers for hire or sale.”

GreenMech Sales Director, Martin Lucas added, “We are fortunate to work with a fantastic network of dealers – renowned for providing second-to-none service and support – and Phoenix Hire & Sales becomes the latest addition to that ever-growing list. We look forward to working together with them to share our extensive woodchipper range with the Arb specialists in their area.”

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Precision Microbes appoint Gary Robertson

Precision Microbes appoint Gary Robertson: Precision Microbes has appointed Gary Robertson as their new technical sales director for the United Kingdom.

Gary has held various positions during his 25-years in the turf industry including golf course manager, groundsman at a Premier League club, working in Bulgaria as a construction and grow-in manager and more recently as technical sales manager at Consolidate Turf.

In his new role, he will be overseeing the expansion and development of Precision Microbes products in the UK amenity sector. The range of products is already popular in Europe with football teams in Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga, and expanding on this success within the English winter sports and golf market is a target for Gary.

Precision Microbes produce blends of up to 60 different microorganisms that can benefit the plant in different ways. These blends focus on the behaviour and benefits of microorganisms on the plant and the growing medium which it lives in.

Gary’s arrival at the company has unfortunately coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, with this in mind, a greater level of sensitivity has been adopted regarding a lower key introduction.  He feels that the products Precision Microbes offer can assist turf managers who may be disrupted or feel short of renovation time as a result of the uncertainty over the re-opening of golf facilities or the resumption of this season and beginning of the 2020/21 season.

Gary explained: “I’m confident Precision Microbes are set up to have a beneficial impact on the UK turf market because they offer a diverse and evolving product range, particularly with the growing demand for alternatives to chemical products.

“Regardless of the green space that you manage, turf issues are generally the same across the board to a lesser or greater extent. The golf establishment continues to adjust with changing landscapes and environments in order to strive for their own individual perfect playing surfaces. Spring and Autumn renovations often take place under less than ideal climatic conditions. This can result in prolonged surface disruption and slow recovery leading to frustrations. It is certainly well documented that oxygen within the profile is a necessity, and incorporating Precision Microbes as part of your primary maintenance programme will supplement this process.

“Our products have been successful at football clubs in Europe, and we’ve seen excellent results not only during renovations but as part of a continued maintenance programme.  Given the current circumstances, these products could be used on pitches to naturally reduce the organic matter without putting them out of action for any length of time.

“Modern pitch surfaces such as Hybrid stitched, carpet systems or even the older stabilised systems have quite specific renovation and maintenance requirements.  Our organic range will complement existing practices and potentially alleviate some of the issues resulting through the inability to turn the surface over.”

Strong Grass Hybrid is a blend of beneficial microorganisms that colonise the leaves, plant crown, rootzone and rhizosphere. Their main objective is to promote strong, healthy root growth and to breakdown organic matter and fertilisers so that they can be easily taken in by the plant. It contains extra beneficial microorganisms that eliminate black layer, and pathogens that infect plants, help keep the plant healthy, thereby helping it fight off pests and infections. It can be applied by spraying directly onto the surface or through the irrigation during a normal cycle.

For further information contact: gary@precisionmicrobes.com

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Symbio appoint Biological Science Specialist

Symbio appoint Biological Science Specialist: Symbio has appointed biological science specialist Dr Deidre Charleston, Ph.D. as Research and Technical Manager, bringing over 20 years’ extensive experience of field trials, data collection, new product development, testing of compounds and mixtures and fulfilment of UK and EU pesticide regulatory and labelling requirements.

Growing up in South Africa, the daughter of a game ranger, Deidre’s early experience of wide-open spaces and respect for the natural world later developed into a life-long passion for biological science. After graduating from university, her early career was spent working as a research scientist in Africa investigating ways to improve integrated pest management (IPM) in agriculture.

Symbio appoint Biological Science Specialist

Symbio appoint Biological Science Specialist

Her career path has included managing trials programmes at Microspore and Arysta Life Science as well as laboratory trials in plant pathology and entomology. At Scotts Miracle-Gro, she was responsible for managing the Levington Research station in the UK, running 100-200 field trials a year and leading international biocide projects.

Prior to joining Symbio, in her role as Curriculum and Quality Manager at Easton and Otley College, her responsibilities included academic and subject leadership for land-based studies, and delivery of plant and soil science, pest control and PA01 training for NPTC qualifications.

She comments, “I’m very excited about joining Symbio which really takes me back to my roots in scientific research but combines that with a focus on the value of education. My role has three key aspects to it. Firstly, to review our current product portfolio and run new, rigorous trials so that we are continually updating and adding to our knowledge with scientific data. Secondly to focus on education; making the science more accessible by running seminars and events, talking about soil biology and helping users understand how our products work best. The restrictions on pesticide use will only keep increasing so we need to be looking at equivalent, sustainable alternatives. Lastly, I’m going to be improving and developing new products, with science-based innovation that will make a difference to the way we manage sportsturf in the future”.

Dr Deidre Charleston can be contacted on Tel: 07968 344029 and by email at deidre@symbio.co.uk.

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Avant appoint Sales Manager

Avant appoint Regional Sales Manager: John Spencer Sales & Marketing Director, AVANT Tecno UK Ltd commenting on the recent addition to the team had these words to share “ With continued growth and expansion, we at Avant Tecno UK have been looking for a regional manager to join our team for the North of the UK, to assist our dedicated dealership network and make sure our Avant owners continue to receive the personal touch that we pride ourselves on.

We have met with many people over the past months to find someone that would meet with our criteria and eventually we have found the best candidate, that upholds our values, vision and understands our customer’s needs.

Avant appoint Regional Sales Manager

Avant appoint Regional Sales Manager

Peter Barfield was introduced to me personally by a contact within our network and came highly recommended. Peter joins us with a vast knowledge and experience of the plant/machinery industry, and I truly believe he is going to be a great asset to the Avant Family.

 I look forward to introducing Peter to our current dealer network and working with him to strengthen our close relationship with our customers, plus he will be assisting in the growth of our already extensive Avant Network throughout Northern England and Scotland bringing Avant closer to the wider audience.”

Peter Barfield Regional Sales Manager for AVANT Tecno UK Ltd upbeat about his new position commented “ I am very pleased to be joining Avant Tecno UK, it’s a family company (Finnish) with family values, every employee is valued the same no matter what job they do.

The Avant product it superb and is made to very high standards, its what you would expect from a manufacture in Finland. The range covers many industries including, landscaping, forestry, agricultural, construction and many more. With the recent addition of the 860 series Avant have raised the bar on compact loaders, this will appeal to even more markets.

I am very excited to be joining an excellent team and hope I can add to their continued success.”

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Campey Appoint New Directors

Campey Appoint New Directors: Julia Campey has been appointed as the new managing director of Campey Turf Care Systems, with former MD, Richard Campey, taking the position of Chairman.

As part of the company restructure, John Campey and Lee Morgado have been appointed directors and Neil Armstrong, who joined Campey in 2010 as accounts manager will take up the position as company secretary.

Campey Appoint New Directors

Julia has been a key figure at Campey since 2004 and has been the sales and marketing coordinator for the last ten years. In this role, she has developed the corporate presence of the company throughout the UK, Europe and other parts of the globe, including the USA, Australia and Asia. She has organised exhibitions as well as educational tours for overseas visitors and provided invaluable support to the sales team in the pursuit of excellence in product development, sales and back-up services.

Richard is stepping aside from his previous role and handing over the day to day activities to his daughter, but he remains an integral part of the company, and he will still be involved in many sales and educational events.

Speaking about Julia’s appointment, Richard said: “I’ve had a lot of successful years at this company, and I’m very proud of what we have achieved. Julia has been a part of that success for many years and has extensive knowledge of our product range and the industry, and I’m very confident in her ability to take Campey forward.

He continued: “Lee has worked his way up through the company over 13-years and has a great understanding of how we operate and has a brilliant relationship with our customers and dealer, not just here in the UK, but throughout the world. Lee and John have been great assets to us, and I think both will use their practical experience to great effect in the boardroom.”

Lee, who started with Campey in 2006 in the workshops, has seen his role in the company grow and change direction over the years. He started life at Campey in the workshop and progressed to be a sales demonstrator before taking on numerous renovations across Europe and further afield before becoming product specialist for southern Europe and has also seen his sales area expanded to cover Denmark.

Along with John, Lee has a vast amount of experience from the field and both will work actively in the new structure to maintain the founding principles of the company, ensuring that Campey continues to innovate, educate and provide excellent customer service.

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Limagrain UK Appoint Sam Horner

Limagrain UK Appoint Sam Horner: Sam Horner has been appointed as Limagrain UK’s new amenity seed specialist covering the south of England, the company has announced.

Sam has been involved in the sports turf industry for over twenty years and brings with him a wealth of experience.

Limagrain UK Appoint Sam Horner

It all started at his beloved Gloucester Rugby where he first became familiar with sports turf maintenance. He then went onto study sports turf at college and after graduating he landed a job at Tewkesbury Park Golf Club. Sam quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to deputy course manager before accepting the position of golf course manager at Gloucester Golf Club.

Five years ago he moved into a sales and marketing role within the amenity industry but continues to ‘work on the tools’ by offering match-day support for the grounds staff at Gloucester Rugby.

Commenting on his new position at Limagrain UK, Sam said that the opportunity was just too good to turn down.

“It was a very easy decision – all the way through the process I knew that if I was offered the job then I was absolutely going to take it. Limagrain is an outstanding company, in terms of its product portfolio and its reputation – the way it conducts itself is very professional. Limagrain has always been a leading company in the industry working at the very high end of sports turf and opportunities like this do not come along very often – I was always going to take it.”

With immediate effect Sam will now be offering technical advice and full support on products such as Limagrain’s leading brands of MM and Designer grass seeds and Colour Splash amenity flower mixtures.

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm.

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AEA Appoint New President

AEA Appoint New President: Newly elected President of the AEA, Mr Adrian Winnett, speaks of the need to retain and attract young talent into agriculture and engineering.

The UK agricultural engineering industry needs to continue finding ways to retain and attract young talent, not just from within but also from outside the industry, according to the newly-elected President of the AEA.

AEA Appoint New President

Adrian Winnett, Managing Director of Argo Tractors operations in the UK and Ireland, said: “It is a terrible shame that beyond our own circle neither of the words ‘agriculture’ and ‘engineering’ resonate in terms of a career choice with the majority of young people.

“Yet we all know what challenging, fulfilling and rewarding opportunities there are in agriculture generally and in the agricultural and groundscare machinery sectors in particular.”

Speaking at the annual conference of AEA, the organisation for machinery manufacturers and importers, Mr Winnett suggested that from the outside, agriculture is often thought of as being another world, of being insular and open only to those already in it with personal experience of farming or at least of rural life.

“We must do our bit to help change those perceptions if we are to capitalise on the wealth of talent that, at present, is attracted to other industries and commercial sectors.”

After two years as Chairman of the AEA’s Farm Equipment Council, Adrian Winnett was elected President by fellow members of the AEA’s management board.

“It’s an honour I couldn’t have imagined when I left school and started repairing tractors at my father’s equipment dealership in Towcester,” he said. “And, frankly, it wasn’t something I could foresee at any other time during my career in tractor and farm equipment sales.”

In September 2018, after around 10 years running the Amazone farm equipment business in the UK, Adrian Winnett was appointed Managing Director for the UK and Irish markets by Argo Tractors, the Italian manufacturer of Landini and McCormick products, with plans to recruit a larger team to support an expanded dealer network as a driver for increased sales.

“Dealer networks are restructuring as more manufacturers go ‘full line’ in the hope of securing more business from their dealerships,” he points out. “Argo remains focused on its core products – tractors from 43-310hp – while emphasising its support for dealer independence, which enables them to decide on the other products they sell.”

As President of the AEA, his role will be to lead the management board while the farm equipment and outdoor power equipment councils and specialist groups on manufacturing, training and education, chemical applications, sprayer testing, service management and all-terrain vehicles focus on current issues and initiatives.

“Consultation on proposed legislation as it impacts machinery and helping members interpret and implement new rules when they are introduced remain key functions of the AEA, along with the statistics and export services,” says,” Mr Winnett. “As our relationship with the rest of Europe and the world evolves, I think membership of the AEA by agricultural and outdoor power equipment companies has never been more important.”

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MTD Appoint Scott Hawkins

MTD Appoint Scott Hawkins: To support their continued growth and increase in sales, MTD Specialty Turf Products have announced the appointment of Scott Hawkins. Scott joins the team as Territory Sales Manager for the South East area, a role which will see him offering additional sales support on both the Cub Cadet TMSystem™ and INFINICUT®.

Scott joins MTD on the back of 2 years as Football & Cricket Head Groundsman at the La Manga Club in Spain. During this period he was responsible for overseeing all elements of grounds maintenance for the natural grass soccer pitches and cricket facilities – both of which are regularly in use by leading teams from around the world for warm-weather training. Prior to this, Scott worked at Fenner’s Cricket Ground for the University of Cambridge and began his career at Essex County Cricket Club.

MTD Appoint Scott Hawkins

Upon embarking on his latest venture, Scott said, “I’m very excited to be taking up this new position and working with such technologically advanced machinery. I have already enjoyed a busy BTME in Harrogate and look forward to using my knowledge and experience as a groundsman to work alongside turf managers, in both the golf and sports turf markets, helping them to achieve their aims.”

With work, and in his spare time, Scott enjoys travelling and is a keen sportsman – playing golf, cricket and tennis when time allows.

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ICL Appoint Barry Browne

ICL Appoint Barry Browne: ICL Turf & Landscape is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Landscape & Industrial National Sales Manager.

Barry Browne has worked in the industry for a number of years and brings with him a wealth of experience. Prior to joining ICL he spent 14 years working for Green-tech starting as a product specifier, from where he went on to hold the position of Team Manager.

ICL Appoint Barry Browne

Commenting on his new position, Barry revealed that he is relishing the new opportunity ahead. ‘I’m passionate about my work am very much looking forward to the challenge ahead, ICL are a company I have always had great respect for and I’m delighted to be joining the team”.

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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