Tag Archive for: Awards

Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards

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Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards: The 2023 26th annual Racecourse Groundstaff Awards is now open for submissions.

New for 2023, the Richard Linley Award will reward the best newcomer to British horseracing. The Award is named in honour of Richard Linley, the former BHA Senior Inspector of Racecourses who recently retired after 35 years of service.

Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards

Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards

The awards celebrate excellence in turf husbandry across British racecourses and are unique in that they remain the only dedicated awards for groundstaff within the sport.

The core Racecourse Groundstaff Awards celebrate the winners and runners-up across the three racecourse types: flat, jump and dual purpose. The winners of each category will go onto the RCA’s Showcase Awards on Thursday 23rd November at Aintree Racecourse where an overall Groundstaff Champion will be crowned.

The winners of the 2022 Racecourse Groundstaff Awards were announced last November with Agrovista Amenity, DLF Seeds and Duralock proud sponsors.  As with previous Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, an expert judging panel comprised of the representatives from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Racecourse Inspectorate, Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) and the National Trainers Federation (NTF) judged the awards, and the

2022 winners were as follows:

Flat Racecourse of the Year

Winner – York

Runner Up – Salisbury

Dual Purpose Racecourse of the Year

Winner – Ascot

Runner Up – Ayr

Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards

Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards

Jump Racecourse of the Year   

Winner – Cartmel

Runner Up – Warwick

Special Merit Award

Winner – All racecourses for fortitude and resilience particularly in light of COVID, changing regulation and climate change.

Neil Wyatt Lifetime Achievement                     

Winner – Brian Meikle, Kelso

Most Improved Newcomer                                 

Winner – Luke Randall, Warwick

Groundstaff Champion

Winner – Cartmel

Commenting on the awards, Holly Cook, Racecourse Services Manager, said: “The Racecourse Groundstaff Awards recognise and celebrate the hard work, dedication and commitment of the groundstaff teams across British Racecourses, and are highly coveted and strongly contested by racecourses. 2022 saw the return of the awards for their 25th renewal, following a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the entries from racecourses clearly demonstrated the ongoing commitment to providing the best possible racing surface.

Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards

Agrovista & DLF Seeds Sponsor Racecourse Groundstaff Awards

“The RCA is extremely grateful to our partners at Agrovista Amenity, DLF and Duralock for their support of the awards.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

For more information about MM Sports Seed, visit www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

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GMA Awards sponsors announced

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GMA Awards sponsors announced: With nominations and entries within a month of closing, the GMA is delighted to announce confirmed sponsors of the 2023 Industry Awards. With support spanning the entire sector, sponsors range from leading sporting bodies to businesses within the groundscare industry.

ISEKI UK & Ireland has shown its commitment to recognising industry talent and supporting the sector by becoming this year’s Platinum Sponsor, in addition to sponsoring the Independent School Grounds Team of the Year award. Alongside ISEKI, other industry businesses sponsoring awards include:

GMA Awards sponsors announced

GMA Awards sponsors announced

Infinicut – Professional Tennis Courts Grounds Team of the Year

DLF Seeds – GMA Grounds Manager of the Year

Origin Amenity Solutions – Young Groundsperson of the Year

SGL – Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year (Elite)

Agronomic Services Ltd – Professional Rugby League Grounds Team of the Year

Sarah Cunningham, Director of Commercial and Events of Grounds Management Association said:

‘The GMA Industry Awards is one of the highlights of our calendar and we’re delighted to have received such positive support from across the industry. The event is created by the industry to celebrate the achievements of the industry, and it’s great to have leading organisations from the sector supporting the event.

We’re particularly looking forward to the evening being hosted at Headingley Stadium for the first time and are eager to welcome guests to a ceremony of celebration in the surroundings of such a historic sporting venue.’

Premier League, Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League and England & Wales Cricket Board are amongst the National Governing Bodies who are keen to show their appreciation for the industry’s valuable contribution to sport by sponsoring awards for their respective sports.

Jason Booth, Chief Operating Officer at Grounds Management Association said:

‘To have sporting National Governing Bodies support the GMA Industry Awards this way is testament to the vital role grounds staff play in making sport possible and the importance of celebrating their work. As an organization, the GMA are determined to provide a platform to recognise the grounds care industry and the fantastic examples of work from volunteers to professionals.’

The GMA Industry Awards were created to celebrate excellence within the grounds care industry and in a year of expanded categories, there is now also the opportunity to nominate someone deserving as well as the chance for hopefuls to enter themselves.

The ceremony, which is set to take place on Wednesday 29th November, will be located at Headingley Stadium’s recently renovated events suite. A prime location for all-season sports, the stadium, which is home to Leeds Rhinos and Yorkshire CCC, is a natural fit to host the prestigious ceremony.

Nominations and entries are still open for the GMA Industry awards with sixteen categories available. The last date for nominations is 7th August, whilst entries are open until 14th August.

To apply for an award, complete the form on the GMA Industry Awards website: https://gmaindustryawards.uk/

Find out more about the Industry Award sponsors here: https://gmaindustryawards.uk/sponsors/

To discuss sponsorship and other brand partnership opportunities, email Sales Manager Jill Rodham at jrodham@thegma.org.uk.

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Instructors and Assessors shine in inaugural awards

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Instructors and Assessors shine in inaugural awards: The hard-work and dedication of Lantra’s Instructor and Assessor network were recently celebrated at the inaugural Instructor Excellence Awards at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.

Over 40 Instructors were in attendance for the ceremony, which also saw Lantra hosting a networking session whilst delegates enjoyed a celebratory hog roast lunch.

Instructors and Assessors shine in inaugural awards

Instructors and Assessors shine in inaugural awards

Lantra staff presented winners with industry excellence awards for categories in 4×4, tractors, lift trucks, pesticides, pest control, health and safety, ground-based chainsaw, tree inspection, aerial arboriculture, plant and machinery and also landscape tools.

As well as individual industry awards up for grabs, there were also categories for outstanding contribution, best newcomer and longest serving Instructor. Trophies and winner prizes were kindly sponsored by Lantra partners EGO Power Plus and Cooper Pegler.

One of the highlights of the event saw Edward Willmott – a Lantra Instructor of 53 years – sharing an insightful and moving speech about his time teaching cattle hoof trimming whilst accepting his longest serving award.

Stephen Roberts, Head of Instructor Network at Lantra, said: “We were delighted to celebrate the fantastic achievements of our committed Instructor and Assessor network at the recent inaugural event ceremony.

The talented and often unsung individuals inspire and motivate Learners and the next generation daily, imparting key skills and knowledge whilst delivering crucial courses in the environment and land-based industries. A huge congratulations to all the brilliant and well-deserved nominees and winners!”

Sam Jones of SCJ Training, winner of the excellence in ground-based chainsaws and outstanding contribution awards, commented: “I’m so grateful to the Lantra Provider Network for voting for me in the recent Lantra Instructor Awards. It was even better that I actually won a couple of awards! I have been teaching chainsaws as well as other Lantra courses for many years and it is so fantastic to be recognised for my contribution to developing the skills of others.

“I am passionate about training and developing people” Jones continued. “To be awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award was a real surprise to me yet a welcome one as again, my hard work behind the scenes has been recognised.”

Off Road Consultancy’s Leanne Putt also said about the event: “We had a fantastic day and it was a great opportunity to network with other Instructors and Providers. It was a real surprise and an honour to have received an award. It’s nice to receive the recognition of the hard work that we all put in.

“I’m so grateful to be involved with Lantra as it’s such a friendly and supportive environment. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year for great food, great atmosphere and a thoroughly enjoyable day.”

Freelance Instructor Roger Madge added: “I am still on a high following the Instructor Awards on Friday. It was such a great surprise to have received an award and I am absolutely chuffed!

It was a fantastic day and so good to get together with Instructors, Providers and the staff at Lantra.”

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Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards

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Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards: Each year Reesink UK highlights its dealers who go above and beyond in providing exceptional standards of customer service, goals and considerations with its Aftermarket Dealer Awards.

Lee Rowbotham, service and training manager at Reesink UK, says: “The relationship between distributor and dealer is vital to the success of both businesses. In many cases Reesink’s dealers have that all-important customer facing contact. We appreciate how vital that role is and feel strongly about strengthening our relationship with our dealers wherever possible. That’s one of the reasons why the Aftermarket Dealer Awards came to fruition.”

Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards

Customer service at the heart of Reesink awards

The awards recognise an overall Dealer of the Year for Excellence in Customer Service, alongside outstanding performance in three key areas: Service, Parts and Skills. For the first time this year, Reesink also recognised its dealers that showed the greatest improvement across all key areas in a brand new award.

The new award is designed to reward dealers that showed the biggest step up across all sections of its KPI scoring: service, parts and skills with Devon Garden Machinery scooping this inaugural award.

Steve Dommet from the company says: “This award recognises the efforts our after sales team has put into raising standards and improving the service we provide our commercial customers. As this is a new award it was a pleasant surprise when we found out we’d won.”

Dealers are scored across all three key categories in keeping with Reesink’s Service Level Agreement. The dealer that achieves the highest combined score across categories is awarded the overall Dealer of the Year for Excellence in Customer Support. This year that award went to Reesink Turfcare South East who also won the gold award for Excellence in Skills. Tom Clark, branch manager of Reesink South East says, “Receiving these awards is a proud achievement and recognises our staff members doing a good job. It shows customers we’re a trusted brand as an award winner in what we do to be recognised as one of the best in the field.”

The runners up in these respective categories were Lloyd Limited and Oliver Landpower, who both took home silver awards.

When it came to Excellence in Parts, Revill Mowers took the gold award, with Gammies Groundcare taking silver. Stan Grewar, parts manager at Gammies Groundcare, says: “We’ve got a young team and this award reflects their hard work. I’m very proud of them, I know that the company and the parts department are in safe hands with them.”

Excellence in Service saw Cheshire Turf Machinery win gold while Redtech Machinery took silver.

Mark Woodward, service director at Cheshire Turf Machinery claims: “We are continually investing in our customer service and the excellence in service award is our eighth award since 2017. All of our staff have been brilliant in maintaining and improving standards since the Reesink service level agreement was introduced.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate one of our service technicians, Chris Hester. He’s our first technician to successfully complete the prestigious Toro Master Tech course.”

Lee concludes: “Reesink has always prided itself on delivering fantastic after sales service and the Aftermarket Dealer Awards recognise those dealers who do an exceptional job at upholding this customer service standard. We’d like to thank them all for their continued hard work and incredible work ethic, it’s a real pleasure working with them year in and year out.”

To learn more about Reesink’s aftermarket offerings including genuine parts, machinery servicing and maintenance advice, customers can get in touch with their local Toro Genuine Parts dealer or service centre or contact Reesink via reesinkturfcare.co.uk.

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GMA’s Awards to be hosted at Headingly

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GMA’s Awards to be hosted at Headingly: The Grounds Management Association have today announced that its annual Industry Awards will return on Wednesday 29th November 2023, with this year’s event being hosted at Headingly Stadium in Leeds for the first time in its12-year history. 

The GMA awards ceremony celebrates excellence within the groundscare industry, recognising the outstanding performance of volunteers and professionals working across the sector.

GMA’s Awards to be hosted at Headingly

GMA’s Awards to be hosted at Headingly

Having previously taken place in Birmingham’s NEC in tandem with the delivery of SALTEX, Europe’s largest tradeshow, this year’s ceremony will operate as a standalone event and be hosted at Headingly Stadium in Leeds.

Geoff Webb, CEO of Grounds Management Association said:

‘We are thrilled to announce the return of our Industry Awards this November, especially given that the event will be hosted at Headingly Stadium for the first time.’

‘The GMA Industry Awards is the highlight of our year as we bring the industry together to shine a spotlight on the exceptional achievements of volunteers and professionals. The decision to move away from SALTEX and host a standalone event was made following industry feedback and allows for the focus of the evening to be celebrating and raising awareness of the skills and hard work grounds workers deliver all year round. With Headingly Stadium home to all-season sports, this felt a natural fit for the event this year and we look forward to welcoming the sector to such an impressive venue this November.’

To discuss sponsorship opportunities, contact Grounds Management Association Sales Manager Jill Rodham at jrodham@thegma.org.uk or on 07754552405.

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